The first time I saw the Johnny’s live (which incidentally was the last time I saw the Johnny’s live) was in Christchurch, New Zealand, about 1984. It remains as one of the best pub gigs I have ever witnessed, (and I have been to a few), so when I hear the cow-punk icons from the eighties are playing at my local for a once off gig, I round up my posse, and we hightail it to the Prince Of Wales in Nundah.

High Kudos to Toowoomba band Because Of Tomorrow. This was to be their CD launch, and when someone suggested that The Johnny’s might be available to play, they jumped at the chance to have a few extra punters at their gig. With default house musos The Fred Band and local toilers Six Ft Hick on board, a gig was born and the punters came. So how did the Johnny’s come to be in Nundah for a one off gig, the first for about eight years? As lead singer/guitar slinger Jonesey explains, “we came up to Brisbane to play a party for this chick I dig. This is a way to pay for the flights”

So I’m not building my hopes up too much, as it is an ad hoc gig. With no playlist, the crowd is encouraged to call out what should be played next, and The Johnny’s duly oblige, knocking out favourites such as Injun’ Joe and There’s Gonna be a Showdown, as well as a couple of ditties not played for 20 years. Yet play they do, and as if it were only yesterday that they were ripping up the Gladstone in Christchurch and a ton of other pubs all across Australasia, (albeit without the hay-bale fights), and the crowd is just as receptive. These are fans here, like Lee who caught a cab from Thornside, which cost him sixty-five bucks. He has no idea how he is going to get home, but couldn’t care less. There is something about a band that has this kind of experience. The licks seem to come effortlessly and natural. No amount of lager can impede the pluckin’ and strummin’, and it was all garnished with the irreverent good humour that is trademark Johnny’s stage banter. I did wish they played Chainsaw Baby, and maybe if they had scrawled a playlist on a coaster before the gig they might have, but apart from that I have had a more than satisfying dip into the nostalgic pond of my past youth.

Staggering home with my ears ringing and my mind humming, I might not have a brand new CD in my pocket, but I do have brand new fond memories, and I think the Johnny’s might have a brand new full proof plan should they ever need to pay for more airline tickets to Brisbane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmZQGZHilow http://www.thejohnnys.com/ http://www.princeofwaleshotel.com.au/