Daniel Johnston

Review: It was a night of drama at the Metro with an apparent power outage meaning that doors opened well after the advertised opening time, leaving punters with the choice of queuing up in the rain, or holing up somewhere drier and more booze-providery. It also meant that actually getting up the stairs and into the place was more of an ordeal than it would otherwise have been - although given the reputation of the headliner (who reportedly wandered off after a song and a half at Monster Children gallery earlier in the week) one wouldn't have expected a drama-free evening.

Perhaps Kid Sam were bumped from the night because of time, or perhaps we were still waiting to get up the stairs when they played, but Old Man River were running through new-sounding material by the time beers had been grabbed and positions secured. It seemed like a truncated set too, as the Cirque de Soliel Beatles mash-up Love was soon killing time before the headliner. It was both a reminder of Johnston's obsession with the Fabs and, as it turned out, also what drama writers call "foreshadowing".

This is where the review gets tricky. On the one hand Johnston's just not very good live, bashing away at his tiny, dreadful-sounding electric nylon-string guitar; but then, that was exactly what was expected: the audience (which was considerable) were there not because of the music, but because of the man himself - looking heavy, grey and wearing a t-shirt with "Australia" emblazoned thereon and what appeared to be a leather Akubra. When the Old Man River folks came out to back him a third of the way in the sound improved, but visually we were left with Johnston glued to the spot, reading from a music stand as his left arm fidgeted and twitched. Those hoping for classics like ‘I Had Lost My Mind' or ‘Walking the Cow' would have left disappointed, especially since barely competent runs through ‘You've Got To Hide Your Love Away' and ‘Revolution' got a look in. No-one's going to declare it the most musically arresting gig of their lives, but still: who ever thought they'd see Daniel in the flesh? Andrew P Street, pic by Jason Catlett