Country, prog, metal, folk (and every other disenfranchised genre you can name) collective O'Death dominated the final day of the Philadelphia Popped! Fest, but didn't let their powerful set get to their head. Among the hundreds in attendance, O'Death may have been Daniel Johnston's biggest fans. Like most bands that performed Sunday, they uttered a few obligatory, humble words at sharing a stage with the songwriter, and when Johnston performed, they got right down in front to pay their respect.

Johnston, who was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, took the stage at around eleven thirty. With his fist tightly clenched, shaking with a suggestion of palsy, Johnston led an enthusiastic audience through some of his best loved songs, including "Man Obsessed" and "Speeding Motorcycle." After only fifteen minutes, he awkwardly mumbled an apology and left the stage. The crowd look worried, but Johnston promptly returned with some help: a backup guitarist and a two-litre bottle of Diet Mountain Dew.

"I'm losing my voice," he warned. "But there are no refunds, so I'm going to do my best."

When Capitol Years joined Johnston to perform the Beatles' "Help," John Lennon's "Isolation," and my all-time favorite song by the songwriter whom Johnston idolizes, "I'm So Tired."

"It is very late," he quipped.

 

By the end of the show Johnston's voice could hardly be heard, a rasp as fragile as the image the singer struck. But, it wasn't really his voice the audience came to hear. They came to see the legend of Daniel Johnston, an artist whose work transcends sickness, a man who was his own sacrifice to his dreams. It was a beautiful performance that transcended irony.

"Daniel, I'll be your girlfriend!" screamed the annoying girl in front of me.

At his most lucid, Johnston turned and winked, "See you backstage."

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