Review: Daniel Johns In Conversation: What If The Future Never Happened? @ Palais Theatre (Melbourne)

As soon as I heard Daniel Johns was doing a series of in-conversation events, I knew I had to go.

Being an Adelaide native, this meant travel. Melbourne is my favourite city to travel, and also the cheapest to get to so it was an easy decision.

As soon as tickets went on sale, I bought one. I figured out my travel and accommodation later.

The final instalment of the four-date tour (13 November), I arrived early at Palais Theatre to soak up the atmosphere.

It was beautiful to feel the electricity in the air already. So many people from all ages and walks of life converging in one place, with a mutual love for Daniel Johns and Silverchair.

As Melbourne was the last show, I’d heard whispers about the merch stand selling out, so I made a beeline to the merch area to see what mementos I could gather.

I was a little disappointed they had no Mind Riot shirts, but I did get a FutureNever shirt, a copy of the show programme and the elusive guitar pick I’d heard about.

Basically, if you hold the guitar pick to your smartphone it unlocks a Dropbox link with bonus tracks from Daniel’s ‘FutureNever’ album.

Standouts personally was a song called ‘Start To Heal’ by Mind Riot (essentially a reworking of ‘Israel’s Son’ performed by Mind Riot, the fictitious band from the ‘What If The Future Never Happened?’ short film) and Daniel’s version of Silverchair’s hit song ‘Freak’.

I was early to find my seat, the theatre still fairly empty. It didn’t take long for that to change. Eventually it seemed to fill to capacity. I was thrilled to meet three fellow fans sitting on either side of me, and we all struck up conversation until the show began.

While waiting, we were treated to a soundtrack of Silverchair and Daniel Johns classics. The vibe in the room was incredible.

When the show began, we were greeted by the iconic Australian legend Dylan Lewis who was the host of the event. He was his usual jovial self, full of love and energy that was infectious.

He conducted the usual introductions, outlining what to expect and the rudimentary housekeeping, which included a very strict ‘no filming’ policy.

It was then time to introduce and welcome the man of the hour, Daniel Johns. It was all love when he entered and he took his seat onstage.

Daniel and Dylan were seated on a couch in a loungeroom-type setting, which I found reminiscent of the ’90s TV Show ‘Recovery’. Dan was noticeably more comfortable based on previous show reviews, which was great to see. He seemed genuinely very happy to be onstage in a room full of fans.

After a little bit of banter and chit-chat, we were treated to the first of a few early demos. It was a song Daniel had recorded in his family home whilst the family slept, on his four-track recorder, called ‘All The Time In The World’.

It had ‘Cemetery’ vibes, and was quite dark and haunting. When asked why this song didn’t make it onto ‘Neon Ballroom’, Daniel replied: “I forgot about it.”

The second demo we were treated to was an excerpt of ‘Waiting All Day’, a song which formed part of Silverchair’s final album ‘Young Modern’. It wasn’t too different to the released version, other than being a little more raw and unpolished.

Dylan asked Dan at this point about his songwriting process. Daniel shared that he’d usually grab the nearest instrument and attempt to repeat what he could hear in his imagination.

There was also mention of Daniel having said at one stage that ‘Diorama’, ‘Young Modern’ and The Dissociatives’ (Daniel’s alt rock band with DJ Paul Mac and The Presets’ Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes) self-titled album formed a trilogy. However, there was no clear answer to the validity of this.

We were then introduced to Julian in person, who joined the Silverchair touring band on keyboards (2001-2003). Julian featured on the ‘Waiting All Day’ and ‘Straight Lines’ demos we were about to hear.

The discussion onstage centred around the genesis of ‘Straight Lines’ before playing an early demo, which was a highlight of the evening for me. Dylan mentioned this was the only show of the tour they played it (as each show was promoted as being a unique experience, with various guests and demos shared).

The song was predominantly Daniel singing and Julian on the keys, until a big synth bass hit. Although only a demo, it was beautiful and anthemic. This was further highlighted by the entire audience clapping in time with the song, which ended in a standing ovation. It was magical.

What followed next was two hilarious quotes from Dylan. The first was in the form of a question, asking Daniel if hearing the demo made him “feel a thing, or is it like tickling yourself?”; he then followed up by saying it gave him “goosebumps on his dick”. Suffice to say, laughter erupted in the room.

The final demo we were treated to was referred to as a future demo, because it was unheard and unreleased. It was called ‘Can’t Stop Loving You’. Daniel said he felt it had ELO. vibes. Composed primarily of some heavy bass and Daniels vocals, it was yet another example of the beauty in Daniel’s songwriting.

At this point, Dylan asked Daniel how it felt to be in front of a crowd of fans again to which he replied: “It’s been beautiful,” before bursting into tears.

We were then introduced to Adam ‘Van Damme’ Alexander, who was the sound designer for Daniel’s short film ‘What If The Future Never Happened?’.

Adam spoke a bit about when he first met Daniel, and described the brief Dan had given him for the film: “Needs to be visceral and authentic.” Adam then went on to say that Daniel “writes melodies that tell stories”.

Dan was asked what made the film so special (to him) and his first response was “oh sh.t”. On further reflection, he cited Rasmus King as being the reason.

Rasmus played young Daniel in the film. He went on to describe Rasmus as being “so meta” after he calmed Daniel on set, where he said he’d been close to a nervous breakdown.

By this juncture, the show had run approximately two hours and it was time for the screening of ‘What If The Future Never Happened?’. I found it to be a great film, which highlighted some pretty heavy subject matter such as bullying and trademarks of ‘boys’ in the ’90s.

This was highlighted by a quote where Dan asks Rasmus why he does music to which he replies: “Music helps me with feelings and sh.t.” Dan replies: “The world doesn’t like boys with feelings.”

After the end credits rolled, we were treated to a well-produced film clip for the band Mind Riot, with their song ‘Start To Heal’.

Overall, the night was memorable and absolutely beautiful. As a fan of both Daniel and Silverchair, I only hope this may be a stepping stone to Daniel performing live again or, at minimum, more special events like this one.