Jonathan Guthrie
It was pretty much everything I expected it to be, nothing more or less, in some ways a bit “meh” which I’ll get to soon, but great to see Daniel giving us some kind of an appearance and it was great to see him in a non performance setting.
IMPORTANT: Daniel did show us a ‘future’ demo which when quizzed by Dylan, he revealed that it is a demo for a song from a potential solo album he’s been working on… And to read between the lines. 🥳
Also Daniel gave a shoutout to Chris who was in the audience!
Highlight for me was the showcase of demos which were:
‘All The Time In The World’ : I loved this, the vibe and the harmonies, although I can’t shake off thinking that it’s such a ‘Something in the Way’ Nirvana ripoff… maybe it’s the real reason why they excluded it from NB…
‘One Way Mule’ Mangrove Studio demo: Interesting to hear, the 2nd verse was shorter and followed by the instrumental, the structure near the end slightly different, but overall felt like the same song but just the band version without dubs.
‘Hey Brother’ - Hathaway/Palmer demo: Hearing this was absolute gold! I’d heard the tale about Daniel and Luke Steele recording some kind of demo and burying it in a graveyard in the UK which they retold the story tonight. Daniel apparently forgot he’d sent it to somebody prior to doing this (can’t remember who, some crew or producer) via email and went on thinking it was gone forever. Turns out that person still had a copy of it. It gave me vibes of Sgt Pepper/Benefit of Mr Kite, like a weird circus pop song. It felt maybe a little more of a Luke song than Daniel but totally different to what became DREAMS…
‘Girl’ (excerpt) - New song: Absolutely amazing. Started with pretty much vocal-only and reminded me of Imogen Heap, the drums kicked in, and it started sounding more like a Fleetwood Mac song by the chorus. The most similar song would be “Reflections of a Sound” (the YM demo version) or “Love to Live” but think a more downtempo and stripped back arrangement, but similar vocal/harmony heavy chorus and very uplifting. Super radio friendly too. If he doesn’t mess it up it could be my favourite song of his since like… Diorama and The Dissociatives album… I hope to hell he doesn’t drag in some C grade collaborator to screw up the arrangement and make it all electronic and soulless.
Not sure if I forgot any other demos. Machina Collecta was not played tonight which is disappointing…
The film. Wow. This is where it tanked. Felt like the show was wrapped up but then had to wait 20 mins interval just for the film to start.
Incredibly cringe and self indulgent. But it feels like a self indulgence that was also not self imposed… like this whole FutureNever brand was forced onto him by management? it’s very weird to see Daniel commit to a project like this and think it’s a good idea. I was expecting a story about either Silverchair or Daniel Johns, and it was neither. It kind of told no story at all, with a vague backdrop of Newcastle (mostly seen in the credits, which was the best part of the film). A therapy session with himself in a laundromat (find it hard to believe his family didn’t own a washing machine? Why at night?) Then he defeats high school bullies with Marvel powers…. Wtf is this FutureNever slop?? It should have just been released on the web back when that album was still relevant. Something to watch and instantly forget about. The hype up to premiering the film just made it feel so much more of a flop. Also, the acting is terrible. Not just Dan’s. But Rasmus was pretty awful too. Like Home And Away-esque. It was also just very deflating to watch this as a ‘passion project’ from one of my life long idols. It’s like if John Lennon lived to go on and make a 20 minute Marvel movie about himself. Definitely needs to stick to just releasing music.
All in all I appreciated the conversation element to the show. It didn’t feel as unstructured to me as some people made out. I agree with some of the comments that he never really got a chance to answer anything very deeply, but I’m not sure if there’s anything deeper to the demos to be said really. Dylan did ask a few questions like where his inspiration comes from and a little into his method which I found interesting - to which he said stuff about how he doesn’t really sit and try to write music, he waits for an idea to come to him and then drags himself to a Piano/Guitar etc. The show was just overlong for something that was just a couch conversation… I think 2.5hrs which is a long time for something like this. imo Could have started earlier, and just ditch the film part of it, or stick the film on the guitar pick downloads for people to go home and watch…
SignificantWave586
Brisbane Show
(Apologies I forgot to take notes, was trying to be as present as possible so I’ll do my best!)
I found the crowd to be a little dead, I think we were trying to keep it chill and respectful but I was expecting a bit more honestly. It was like being in a big living room hanging out with Daniel which I guess is exactly what he was going for. The stage set up was nice and Dylan Lewis had enough energy for the whole crowd lol. Daniel seemed super nervous at the start but really relaxed into it by the end, which I’ve heard was the same for the other shows too
I was a bit saddened by a few disrespectful audience members, they asked us numerous times not to film and to turn our phones off and for some reason people just kept doing it. Crazy how a room full of adults couldn’t respect one simple request that was clearly important to him. Dan did make a comment and seemed genuinely annoyed but then played it off as a joke. The “bring back the chair” banner was also pretty tone deaf and honestly a lot of the audience sighed and made comments when we saw it. Dan looked so excited to see what the banner said and you could tell he was a little deflated by it. He’s spoken numerous times about the trauma he has from Silverchair and it’s like a huge theme of the film, they could’ve written something encouraging to Dan instead and it felt like a wasted opportunity on their part
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
✨
The film was okay, I really enjoyed the part where young Dan was getting beaten up and morphed into older Dan laughing in their faces because he made something of himself and his bullies didn’t. There were some really powerful parts of the film but I won’t write about it here so you guys can experience it for yourselves when you go to the other shows/watch it when it’s released. Plus Dan explicitly asked us not to write about the show on the internet lol. I do think the night would’ve flowed better if they had played the movie first and he could answer questions about it after, just would’ve made more sense in my opinion
The demos were cool, I especially like Girl and the one that sounded like Something In The Way which I can’t remember the name of now. It was beautiful to witness the boys friendships and comfortability with each other and I’m glad Dan seems to have genuinely good people in his corner. I just wanted to be up on that couch hanging out with them, such nice normal guys
It was nice to see him shout out Ben & Chris too, and it’s sweet that Chris came to support him. Sad I didn’t get to meet him but happy I got to be in the same room as almost all of Silverchair haha.
I thought we’d get to see a bit more of Dan but happy for the time we got, he’s such a chill and funny guy and just seems so warm and kind. But we know all this already 🤘
Would love to hear the thoughts of anyone else who went or if you have any questions about anything! 🧡
Diana Cruz
Still wrapping my head around last night, to be honest…
It was lovely seeing Dan, even if I could barely see his face under that hat 🫣🤣. Just to be clear, this is all purely my personal take. I went in with zero expectations. I know Daniel’s an anxious soul and was never going to be the centre of attention, even on his own night.
But something strange happened when he walked on stage… I got this wave of emotion. I’ve got four kids, and honestly, it felt like watching one of them, especially one of mine who has Selective Mutism (which I reckon Daniel may have struggled with his whole life too). It felt like I was in the audience cheering on my own child, getting excited every time he spoke or even just murmured something.
At times, it was hard to make out what he was saying. He kept avoiding the mic or wasn’t speaking into it properly, which made it a bit tricky 😂.
The demos were genuinely beautiful, that part was a real treat. And it’s exciting to hear that a new album might be on the way 💿. Fingers crossed. That said, the talk in between was a bit “meh”. There weren’t really stories or any real flow, it felt a bit awkward, if I’m honest. Buth that’s actually how they describe it: raw, chaotic, improvised….
Dylan Lewis absolutely saved the night.
He was brilliant!! kept the energy up, made us laugh, and really held the whole thing together. Such a natural, and his vibe is just so infectious 😷😂❤️.
I guess when it came to the film, I had slightly higher expectations, maybe hoping it would be a bit longer or dig a little deeper. The production was actually really solid, visually stunning, beautiful sound design, so I thought we might be in for something a bit more expanded.
But in the end, it felt more like a slightly extended version of the short we’d already seen, the one he’s been teasing and promoting for a while now. The only new scene was in that dreamlike laundromat where a future version of Daniel shows up and speaks to his younger self.
It was a tender moment. He tells the kid version of himself that he’s going to be alright, that the future never really happens to the bullies, and that while he might grow up a bit “weird,” he should just keep going and keep chasing his dreams.
It was a sweet message, but also quite short, and I guess I was left wanting a bit more. Still, I really appreciated what we did get: the imagery, the soundscape, the production…all beautifully done.
It kind of feels like it leaves the door open for something more. Maybe there’s a second part to come?
Either way, I saw it as something deeply personal, almost like a catharsis. A film not made for applause, but for healing. And in that sense, I think it did exactly what it needed to do.❤️