{"id":12217,"date":"2013-04-30T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/?p=12217"},"modified":"2013-04-30T12:57:05","modified_gmt":"2013-04-30T10:57:05","slug":"falling-mirror-johnnys-back-at-the-barnyard-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/falling-mirror-johnnys-back-at-the-barnyard-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"Falling Mirror: ‘Johnny’s Back…’ at the Barnyard Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sunday
\n28 April 2013<\/div>\n

For one night only, 80s legends Falling Mirror (the original members and some new ones too) performed a packed show at Willowbridge’s Barnyard Theatre. The night was especially significant given the fact that the band hardly ever performed live during their 30+ years of making music.<\/p>\n

\"Falling<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Despite having two #1s in the 80s (Neutron Bop<\/em> and the mega-hit Johnny Calls the Chemist<\/em>), Falling Mirror are a bit of an obscure band, with an alternative style that both kept them from major success and created a cult following of devoted fans.<\/p>\n

It seems like there’s a renewed interest in the band that has been growing even before the release of their first album in years, 2010’s Special Agent Duck<\/em>; my dad made the comment that not everyone gets the band, but those who do tend to become pretty obsessed with them and want to do everything possible to support them.<\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0\"Falling<\/a><\/div>\n

This certainly seems to be true; up until recently, vocalist and lyricist Nielen Marais was living under a tree (literally). This, added to the knowlege that they were never really a live band and only ever played a handful of gigs, makes the big show they put on last Sunday a feat that verges on the miraculous. One Small Seed did great in-depth piece about the band, their comeback and the documentary about them that’s currently in the works, check it out over here.<\/a><\/p>\n

The new line-up consists of the founding members Nielen Marais, Allan Faull (guitar, backing vocals) and Pat Humphreys (drums and designer for the band’s album covers, posters and recent line of super cool T-shirts) as well as Harvey Cohen (bass), George den Das (Keyboards) and Sharon Clifton (acoustic guitar & vocals).<\/p>\n

Nielen’s Dylanesque vocals were as compelling as ever, and his physical performance was hypnotic and compelling. \u00a0Allan’s truly an incredible guitar player. I liked the addition of Sharon’s guitar and backing vocals but wasn’t a fan of her lead vocals.<\/p>\n\n\t\t