Live Review: Daniel Johns

29 May 2015 | 11:43 am | Paul Smith

"There were a few touches of the old Silverchair frontman here and there (a sudden crotch grab, a bit of guitar wielding and a fair bit of strutting and posturing), Johns was, for the most part, fully immersed in his new work."

More Daniel Johns More Daniel Johns

“I never thought I’d say this again, but this is our first show,” Daniel Johns proudly stated towards the end of this debut live airing of his new solo material for Vivid LIVE.

Not that he seemed uncomfortable or nervous and by that stage it was already clear his transformation from rocker to electronic music maestro was complete. Whilst there were a few touches of the old Silverchair frontman here and there (a sudden crotch grab, a bit of guitar wielding and a fair bit of strutting and posturing), Johns was, for the most part, fully immersed in his new work. Dissolve and Preach were intense and saw Johns absolutely absorbed in their sound whilst Imagination took that a step further and almost touched on the self-indulgent, though that was more likely all part of John’s relief at finally getting his new work heard. So much so that he played nearly the complete album.

Despite being so new, By Your Side, with its joyous refrain, sounded an immediate classic whilst Too Many and Surrender were full of electro soul. There were the obligatory nods to his Silverchair past with a heavy bass version of Straight Lines, desperately lacking the original’s bite, though After All These Years, sung with nothing more than a hint of piano and a whole lot of reverb and echo, was a moving highlight. The Dissociatives’ effects-laden Young Man, Old Man also got a look-in. His three backing singers and four-piece band, all resplendently dressed in white, as was Johns, didn’t miss a beat. Johns managed to get the crowd standing by the end for the glorious dance of We Are Golden before closing with an electro cover of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. It seemed an odd choice at first but as Johns basked in the song it suddenly all made sense. His dreams have come true, and they were well worth sharing.