Gig Review: Antony & The Johnsons, Manchester Academy 3, June 28, 2005

Although excited about the prospect of seeing Antony & the Johnsons live, I was somewhat unsure of what to expect. My impression of Antony was of a tender, shy singer who would probably spend most of the evening hiding behind his piano, using his voice to emote and do very little talking between songs. After all, he writes vulnerable and tender songs about loneliness and longing and, well, longing for belonging.

The venue was packed to the rafters and intensely hot. The band came on stage without Antony, with lead guitarist Rob instead playing a long introductory instrumental track which I found a bit much. I was relieved when Antony, a virtual giant in stature, finally made his appearance, sporting long black hair, and a sloppy pirate shirt. Much to my amazement, in the crowd, I somehow managed to find the one spot where with all of my four feet and ten inches, I could see his every facial expression and vocal endeavour. Watching him sing is quite an experience. Barely opening his mouth, he’s all twitching chin and soaring melody, even if he hardly manages to enunciate a syllable. Such is the power of his voice that he can express the mood of his songs with his tone alone, although, to be fair, it would have been nice to have been able to make out the lyrics, especially to the songs with which I am not familiar.

The first few songs were performed to a quietly reverential crowd, the atmosphere only broken by a man bringing flowers to the stage, until Antony himself shattered all my illusions by beginning to make jokes about the heat. He happily entered into a dialogue with the audience, remarking that the temperature of the room made him think the band were accompanying us on a journey into hell. It was entertaining banter that continued throughout the course of the gig, with Antony discussing hauntings, gay discos and at one point imploring the crowd to boo after the next song (and then looking shocked when we did as we were asked). He proved himself to be a warm, witty and charismatic performer.

As for the singing, it was nearly faultless, except for the enunciation problems. They performed particularly beautiful renditions of “You Are My Sister,” “Hope There’s Someone,” and “Candy Says,” and stayed fairly true to the arrangements on the record, relying mostly on Antony’s voice and his piano, with tactical use of guitar, bass, cello, accordian and violin. Watching them on stage was quite haunting as you can see every emotion from every word pass across his face and out through his lips. It’s what you hope from a performer, but so often fail to receive, with many singers more intent on receiving adulation than delivering a thing of great beauty to their fans.

I had read so much about this band before seeing them, having implored Ledge to buy the I Am a Bird Now album on the basis of reviews alone and it is rare that a performer is able to live up to his hype. Antony and his band, however, delivered a performance of delicate beauty and staggering emotion which lived up to all expectations I had going into the show. If you have the chance, go witness this for yourself.

5 Responses to “Gig Review: Antony & The Johnsons, Manchester Academy 3, June 28, 2005”

  • The Ledge Says:

    Yes, it was a truly excellent gig, although it took a little time to get going. I’m not completely taken with the album – there’s a couple of really annoying songs on there – but live they were the real deal, thanks to Antony’s superb voice and endearing personality and to the band’s exemplary musicianship.

    Highlights were “Hope There’s Someone”, “You Are My Sister” and the booing at the end of Leonard Cohen’s “The Guests” which was so powerful that the band were clearly taken aback.

  • The Indie Credential » Blog Archive » The Ledge’s Top 10 Gigs of 2005 Says:

    […] 5 » The Ledge’s Top 10 Gigs of 2005 1. The Arcade Fire, Leeds Festival, 28th August/Manchester Academy, 4th May 2. Pixies, Manchester Apollo, 30th August 3. Joanna […]

  • The Indie Credential » Blog Archive » Justhipper’s Top 15 Gigs of 2005 Says:

    […] Top 15 Albums of 2005 Justhipper’s Top 15 Gigs of 2005 1. Arcade Fire, Manchester Academy, May 4th/Leeds Festival, August 28th 2. The Tears – Manchester Academy 2, Fe […]

  • used cars houston Says:

    certainly like your website but you need to test the spelling on quite a few
    of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling issues and I to find it
    very troublesome to tell the reality however
    I will certainly come back again.

  • AllanTWielgasz Says:

    Howdy very cool site!! Guy .. Excellent .. Wonderful ..
    I’ll bookmark your site and take the feeds also? I’m happy to seek out a lot of helpful information right
    here within the submit, we’d like work out extra techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing.

    . . . . .

Leave a Reply