For Daniel Johnston, Tonight’s the Night
March 7th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Word just reached us that local songwriter/artist Daniel Johnston has canceled his opening weekend performance at SXSW due to illness, but as usual with all things Johnston, there’s a silver lining, and it’s this: Johnston is suddenly scheduled to make a post-show appearance at tonight’s March 7 performance of Speeding Motorcycle, peripatetic director Jason Nodler’s rock opera based on Johnston’s sweetly unrefined music and self-mythologized life, currently running at Austin’s Zach Scott Theater. To be clear, Johnston isn’t in the play (though longtime cohort Kathy McCarty, of Glass Eye fame, takes a notable star turn), but he’s scheduled for a brief after-show performance with the rockin’ post-show band at 9:30 pm.
There are plenty of reasons (fantastic songs, well sung, and a comically heartbreaking storyline) to grab a ticket to any of the remaining performances in Speeding Motorcycle’s run (the play opened Valentine’s day and is up through April 13), but if you’re looking for a hometown event of international cult-epic proportions, you’ll want to be at the Zach tonight.
