Hamilton slacker poet/ funnyman/ mischievous leprechaun B.A. Johnston always brings in a dedicated crowd and leaves them smiling, when he plays the Owl Acoustic Lounge, even on a surprisingly busy Tuesday night as he did, June 21.
I caught most of the opening set from local band the Rainbow Patrol who channeled the spirit of the ’90s in the vein of the Dandy Warhols and Gin Blossoms, before ending their set with more of a psychedelic, stoner rock groove. And I completely missed local punk trio Advertisement.
There weren’t as many people as I expected, but still a good sized and good natured crowd of about 60 people. Johnston returned their good vibes in spades, cracking bad jokes about Medicine Hat and about “the shittiest mall in town” and joked about that, then about Meatloaf collapsing on stage in Edmonton, not knowing that almost happened at his Lethbridge show.
He stood on chairs, rolled around on the floor in the middle of the crowd with manic energy.
He began his set with a newer song about shopping at No Frills and delivered a bevy of favourites like “Deep Fryer in my Bedroom” “McDonalds Coupon Day” and “Bad Cat Sitter,” as he stripped off a multitude of layered T-shirts and switched hats as often as he switched instruments.
He bashed away at his battered acoustic guitar, a Discman and a couple of keyboards playing an array of cheesy ’80s sounds, he cursed at one of the keyboards which kept cutting out, but barely missed a word of his songs. Neither did his audience who sang along while he tried to plug his keyboard back in.
He jumped onto a table with manic energy and a knocked over a couple of people standing on chairs trying to see over the crowd clustered in front of the stage. They were all right though.
He sang another new song about man buns, rolled all over the floor some more and ended up behind the bar where he fed bartender Braeden a bottle of booze.
He wound down his frenetic show with his GST cheque song, which had the crowd singing along and officially ended it in the women’s bathroom where he usually ends his Lethbridge shows.
