Daniel Johns: In Conversation was a fan privilege and a powerful reminder of the songwriters’ genius

Across the night, audiences were taken into the ‘forgotten’ and embryotic tracks from the once-in-a-generation songwriter

There was a gentle kinship of the crowds in the foyer of the heritage Palais Theatre in St Kilda last night. It was like a secret society where what happens in the Palais, stays in the Palais. Everyone knew the rare experience they were about to witness and the buzz of energy and genuine appreciation to be there were palpable.

Of course it was all to bask in the glorious godlike presence of Daniel Johns, gaining fly-on-the-wall access into his lounge room to see him hang out with friends, discuss his magical music career and the intimate conception of his sonic fetus’ that would spawn into spiritual awakeners, and to be the first in the world to enter his visual foray with feature film, What If The Future Never Happened?.

Daniel Johns: In Conversation. What If The Future Never Happened

When: Thursday 13 November

Where: The Palais Theatre, St Kilda

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Carried into our seats by the swells of Silverchair masterpieces ‘Across The Night’, ‘The Door’, and the light dimmer ‘Emotion Sickness’, it was both a comfort for what was to come but also bittersweet knowing it was as close as audiences will get to hearing these tracks in a live setting. The standing screen behind a lounge room re-creation, featuring a gorgeous chocolate velvet modular, fuzzed into Recovery mode showing footage of a young Daniel Johns with the livewire Dylan Lewis skanking, jamming and chatting about new Silverchair singles. These clips introduced Lewis as the host for the evening; a trusted friend of Johns and main-man of radio and television. Lewis was joined by collaborator, documentor and confidant of Johns’ Luke Eblen, aka Ebflow. These videos continued as a trend of introducing guests throughout the night, including a huge career highlights reel of Johns. But before the main attraction walked onto the stage, Lewis took the time to set the scene, ensuring to create a safe space for conversations for Johns, one that was full of positivity, light and love.

You see, the fact that Johns was even stepping back in front of crowds was a huge deal – following a lifelong battle with the limelight, a tumultuous relationship with the media, and a rollercoaster health journey that drove Johns into a cocoon-state for some time, his public presence has become almost non-existent. Add to the mix his already shy nature, speaking on stage without a guitar as his armour was out of the question. But these shows may have changed everything.

When the video called upon Johns to enter, he was met with an uproar of applaud and ‘woos’ from the crowd – a genuine welcoming and appreciation for his time, presence, and energy. It was immediately reciprocated, with Johns seeming to feel at ease. From the very first question from Lewis, “What do you hope people get out of tonight?”, which Johns returned with a “I don’t know” (reminiscent of his teenage interviews), and Lewis countered with “You’ve had four shows to rehearse and come up with some kind of answer to that question”, it was clear what we were in for – an informal, spontaneous, funny and honest narrative where stories, tales, lots of hugs, and gifts in the form of song took the centre.

It was really an observation of genuine friendship, love and at times almost worshiping of Johns’ on the stage from the co-hosts and guests. From chats about Johns’ Laneway appearance in 2019 to play ‘Freak’ alongside Whatsonot (who was supporting in the crowd last night), to unpacking the creation of four tape demos, this was a rare treat for long-time Silverchair sitters.

The Music

Digging through what he thought was his long-lost archive of demos over the last year, Johns delivered four unheard tracks to audiences during this special event. The first started with a ‘forgotten’ demo, ‘All the Time in the World’, recorded in whispers in his family home bedroom during the writing of the 1999 album Neon Ballroom. Acoustic and raw, this immediately transported us to the eyebrow ring, long dishevelled hair Johns.

The second would be the starting version of ‘Waiting All Day’ from the bands final album in 2007, Young Modern. It was followed by bringing out Silverchair insert and key force in the album making process, Julian Hamilton of the Presets. Together they discussed the auditioning of Hamilton to join the band during the Diorama album cycle tour on keys, and the integration of Hamilton into the creation of Young Modern, particularly his stake it creating anthemic ‘Straight Lines’. Now, this song and album are divisive for long-term Silverchair fans – myself included. I personally never warmed to ‘Straight Lines’, perhaps because it followed on from the lifetime masterpiece that was Diorama, or perhaps it was because it never felt like Silverchair for me, or maybe I didn’t want to admit that it instantly felt like the bands’ swansong. Alas, ‘Straight Lines’ never did anything for me, until last night when the dust-covered, raw-edged, beautiful stripped back but always building version of the song was played. Production-less but intensely powerful, this version brought instant goosebumps and the tear-ducts threated to leak. As the crowd clapped in time to the carrying drums and people rose to their feet, John’s stood from the couch and made his was to the front of the stage with conductor presence. As it came to its crescendo, the air in the room shifted – we all just witnessed magic and I’ll never be able to shake that feeling or forget what I heard in that room.

The tears weren’t just from my end but from Johns who following, released his deep gratitude – “These shows have changed everything”.

The final song was an unreleased, potential new entry into Daniel Johns solo catalogue. This one I might just keep reserved for myself and my fellow present audience members – we don’t want to let you into too much of our shared secret session. But I will say the experimentation, the heavenly melodies and the full-bodied sonic smothering were key to this newie!

The Film

Before wrapping the In Conversation component of the show, Johns and co brought out Adam Alexander
music director of What If The Future Never Happened? to discuss the integration of Johns catalogue in the film and the development of its sonic palette.

The night finished with a world premiere screening (albeit following the other three shows) of the John’s debut film featurette and acting foray, What If the Future Never Happened?. This semi-autobiographic story weaved reality and fantasy, entering an alternative universe where present Johns acts as a guide to a young Johns, with sci-fi elements and a healing energy.

These shows were formatted to be such a special and rare glimpse into Daniel Johns world, craft, and companionships, whilst also being a cathartic and perhaps healing process for the musical genius. It was a true privilege to be at the Palais for this event.