OVER THE EDGE NEWSPAPER. COREY WINTEMUTE STAFF WRITER T had never even heard of B.A. John- ston until this past month when Ilearned he was coming to town. For a mere five dollars I saw him perform at Sergeant O Flaherty’s pub with the Dazzlebrights and Richard Kreuger, and my outlook on life has improved ever since. Richard Krueger opened the night with an all acoustic set. He managed to make his single acoustic guitar rock pretty hard, The Dazzlebrights were the next band to perform and they did not disappoint. They played for just under an hour and at one point Eva went into a facemelting guitar solo that I would have liked to see more of, While both these acts played great it would have been impossible for any act to not be overshadowed by the phenomenal per- formance of one B.A. Johnston. Ienjoy B.A Johnstons albums but with their lo-fi uality I did not know how it would translate into a live performance, Sparkler in hand, Johnston stormed the stage to the Rocky theme with his Hamilton Tiger Cats flag draped over): his head* It was at this moment that I knew the audience was going to witness. - something special. Accompanied by only his Value Village keyboards and beat up acoustic guitar, B.A. Johnston played his quitky nerd anthems that are familiar to. anyone who grew up in a small Canad- ian town. A few of his standout songs were “Sleepin With My Walkman” and NOVEMBER 22, 2006 “Your Roommate'’s a Couchetard.’ The former, he explained, was about “your roommates fuckin, and my roommate is my mom, imagine that pleasant lullaby every night.’ While the songs were entertaining on their own, it was B.A. Johnston's show- manship that really set the tone of the night. It was high energy and in your face. He describes himself as a “fat lazy chud” so it was a surprise to see him jumping all over the place, climbing on the bar, and at one point running out the door while still singing. It was no doubt hot dancing around in his child sized snowsuit that he said his mom bought him to come to Prince George, so he was topless by the third song, Johnston is like a fat, sweaty, white version of James Brown. His dance moves were incred- ible, filled with an interesting variety of crotch thrusts and fist pumps. The setting of the show was definitely intimate, there were no more than 30 people in the crowd, but I would not have it any other way. It allowed B.A. to interact with thé crowd and jump into a few peoples laps seductively. He finished off his set with a few back to. back‘camp- fire” acoustic songs. B.A. unplugged, lit- erally, as he simply strolled around the audience with his acoustic guitar, seren- ~ ading various groups of people. B.A. Johnston redefined for me the role of entertainer, This was definitely the best live concert I have ever seen, and most likely ever will see, If B,A. "Jobnstok ' ever, comes to Prince George again, I hope you all go check him out because I guarantee _ you will walk away from the show with a ‘feeling of gratification. ARTS & CULTURE A. Johnston: COREY WINTEMUTE STAFF WRITER After having my mind thoroughly blown by B.A. Johnston's live perform- ance, I could not resist buying his latest album “Call me When Old and Fat is the New Young and Sexy.’ This was prob- ably the wisest purchase I have made all year as I have been listening to the al- bum non stop for over a week now. If you are not familiar with B.A. John- ston, his website describes him as “a fat lazy chud who lives with his mother in Hamilton, Ontario. He only leaves the house to play shows, work as a fry cook, and to go on sporadic dates that his mom gets for him at her hair salon.’ As a fat lazy man myself I felt'like I had found my soul mate when I read this, Johnston plays the majority of his songs to the presets on a Value Village keyboard, or his trusty guitar complete with “Argo- nauts Suck” sticker. Occasionally he is joined by some beautiful backing vocals, a drummer, and sometimes even a good ole banjo. With his Casio bass party grooves and metaphors about poutine and comic books, you might jump to the conclusion that B.A. Johnston is nothing more than a novelty act. This is not true; in fact a majority of his songs come straight from the heart of someone who knows how it feels to be alone on a cold Hamilton night. If you can stop yourself from shaking your hips to the albums opener “Chud Love” you will notice such sad little lines such as “I didn’t ask baby Jesus to be so repulsive to woman.’ This is the beauty of B.A. Johnston, he as able to wear his heart on his sleeve for the sake of your entertain- ment, and entertain he definitely does. The album alternates between the up beat keyboard songs that he says ate temniscent of a “fuckin Miami bass party” and the lower key songs with just him and his guitar. This is very effective as you are just getting into his acous- tic songs and then he pulls you back in Fat Lazy Chud” with an in your face Casio riff and starts singing about trying to sleep while your roommates are copulating. The first time you listen to this album:you will probably be _ rolling onthe floor laughing, but it is with repeated listening that you ap- preciate the underlying beauty of most of these songs. Of course songs like “Sleepin With My Walkman’ and “The Fart That Got Away” are nothing more than pure hilarity, but tracks like “Pitfallin For You” and “Lies I Tell My- self” are intensely honest songs about heartache and loneliness. Johnston ha: the ability to. write songs that nerds anc fat lazy chuds everywhere will be able tc relate to instantly, “Call Me When Old and Fat is thi New Young and Sexy” is one of mi favorite albums of the year, and will b in heavy rotation on my personal playlis for a long time, Rather than promote hi latest album, B.A. Johnston himself sai that his previous album “My Heart is Blinking Nintendo’ is actually his bes: I would have to agree with him but thi album is still great nonetheless.