Calvin Johnson
South Union Arts in Chicago
6/29/7
I don’t have too much to say about Calvin Johnson beyond what Brad over at Radio Free Chicago said here. I will echo the sentiment that him playing and singing “Lonesome Sundown” with Julie Doiron was the highlight of the set and I’ll add that the oddest point was perhaps when Calvin sang a Happy Birthday song to Julie in no parts harmony with the lowest baritone imaginable. He asked the audience to sing along and we were more than willing but had no idea how to make the occasion of the song sound less sullen.
I have a great deal of respect for Calvin Johnson due to his long career with bands like Dub Narcotic and Halo Benders but be prepared for a very strange set, which will probably not be accompanied with any kind of setlist and might include a 45 minute cover of Television’s Venus De Milo. South Union Arts is a very strange venue to begin with being that it is half church and half music venue with a neon Jesus Christ on a cross above where the musicians play. This seemed to fit Calvin’s set perfectly. People in the audience were not sure how to take him exactly…should they gnash their teeth, clap, or even leave? He is an enigma and aside from his very strange dancing moves, does not seem to show much emotion or give any clues about what he might be thinking . He speaks in the same low voice he sings in and he gives you the feeling that the way he sees the universe is drastically different than the way anyone else does. He’d be the perfect person to score a David Lynch film (why hasn’t this happened yet?)