Daniel Johnston Concert

Last Friday 8/15 I went to Turner Hall in Milwaukee to see Danie Johnston. I was not expecting to go, but hours before a concert my friend Val called me and bought one to many tickets and asked if I'd go. Boy she's lucky I never do anything, so I went.
The concert started with this older gentleman from Michigan playing on his acoustic guitar. He only played five songs and that was nice.
The next band, was a local band called the Candliers. I really liked them. They had your "normal band" setup along with a horn player and a banjo player. The male and female vocalists were both really good giving every song a nice full sound.
Up next was the famous Daniel Johnston. Now I will admit, I didn't know much about him, except the music that we have of him at 90fm. But because I've heard of him and I love going to concerts, it was hard not to pass up this opportunity. I'm sure a lot of people probably won't like him because he is a little "out there," but Daniel Johnston has gone through a lot in his life having mental health issues. Even though his music is so simplistic, it was one of the most interesting concerts I've ever watched. He first started with an acoustic set, he played some guitar and then a college friend who tours with him finished the set on the guitar with Daniel just singing. Then they took a break, which I thought was weird since at the time he hasn't played for very long. During the break (of course) I got myself another PBR Tallboy (refreshing!). When Daniel Johnston came back from his break the Candliers came out on stage with him as his backing band. The female vocalist had a binder of the Daniel Johnston songs that the band knew how to play. The dissapointing part of the concert was Daniel Johnston started singing "Speeding Motorcycle" (the one song I actually knew), and the Candliers didn't know how to play it. Daniel Johnston said, "Aren't we playing this song?" The band shook their hands. The crow was not very happy. But the rest of the show was great. The Candliers did a great job playing with Daniel Johnston.
Before leaving I bought one of Daniel Johnstons CD's, "Late Great Daniel Johnston." It was the last CD they had too. It is a really neat album. The first CD consists of covers of Daniel Johnston done by a lot of great artists such as M. Ward, Tom Waits, and TV on the Radio. The second CD are all the originals of the covers on the first CD. I've been listening to that lately.
After driving around Milwaukee, getting some delicious pizza, and some sight seeing we got home at 3:30am. I was tired, but had a great time. If only Stevens Point could get the shows Milwuakee does. I would then have no reason to move away.