Johnny Boy at Stay Beautiful: See You Running Back And Forth

Dec 3, 2006 · 3 minute read

Most embarrassing moment of the evening: heading back to Stay Beautiful, lost, as usual, in my own dreamworld, and almost bumping into Lolly. Oops.

To think that I was disappointed that I missed their April concert this year; mind you, having seen them twice, I would still go for a third time before the year is out.

After a very thorough sound-check (seriously, it lasted longer than the performance, and was quite fascinating to hear some of the sacrifices that have to be made to bring an album like Johnny Boy out in a live setting; backing tapes stopping and starting at odd times, syncing up video footage, etc.), the band came on at eleven, Johnny Boy's Adventures On The Wheels Of Steel leading in to Johnny Boy Theme, introduced by Davo by saying "This could have been a Christmas Number One!", Lolly countering with "Well, perhaps a January one." Is that a hint? Are we going to see singles next year? The question remains unanswered, but who cares as Robert De Niro runs across the projection screen, Lolly again breathlessly asking "Johnny, we're your friends, what they hell's got into you?" (and her curling 'r's in War on Want being another highlight).

The crowd was somewhat more animated than the Luminaire concert, although we were lacking the dancing accompaniment of Kieron and Alex DeCampi. Chat between songs was fairly brief, but everybody seemed to be having a great time.

Exactly the same running order as back in June; I still don't know how Bonnie Parker's 115th Dream sounds like a 1930s Ford running across a dirt track, or why All Exits Final sounds like Grant Morrison's Kill Your Boyfriend compressed into two minutes. But they do, and they're still sublime. I'm repeating myself, and will be repeating myself again in twenty days time.

And then…well, you know what's coming.

"This could have been Christmas number one last year, this year,the year after, and the year after fucking that, you know. This is You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Fucking Deserve"

If there's a hint of regret, it quickly disappears as the Be My Baby drumbeat kicks in.

"And I just can't help believing, though believing sees me cursed"

Anything but a cynical stab at the Christmas market. "Yeah! Yeah!" Lots of dancing down at the front, lots of singing, glitter hanging in the air as the fireworks shoot across the speakers. Just wonderful.

To end, like last time, a riotous cover of The Ramones' Sheena Is A Punk Rocker, the club erupting into a punk hoe-down, as images of Dylan, Smith, Rotten, et al flash across the projection screen. A Merry Christmas from Johnny Boy, just as good as you could imagine. Here's hoping that 2007 brings more from them…