Damaged Daniel's pulled off a perfect repair job

Johnston was a handsome, wacky teenager who started making music on crude equipment that he hoped sounded like The Beatles. For a moment, he was the talk of the town in Texas. But his "eccentricities" soon developed into intense and sometimes violent manic depression, as documented in award-winning film The Devil And Daniel Johnston. There was a glimmer of hope when Kurt Cobain started wearing a Daniel Johnston T-shirt in 1992, leading to Johnston being offered a million-dollar record deal - but he was in an institution, and wouldn't sign.

Slowly, however, more and more musicians began to discover and popularise his music (Beck, Flaming Lips). And Johnston, though clearly damaged, at last seems to have found the right medication and a way of making playing live okay for him - and revelatory to the audience packing every pew in the Union Chapel.

Johnston beamed like Father Christmas as he walked on, strumming at an electric guitar. His music is often described as childlike, and it's true that he plays with the guileless gusto of a toddler, but lyrically, and in his delivery, there is truth and a knowingness.

"There's no telling how cruel love can get," he sang, his high-pitched, wobbly voice floating above a rather sinister guitar, clanging against the chapel walls.

The show became magical when Johnston was joined by lo-fi folk stars Adem and James Yorkston. Their guitar and pump organ on one of Johnston's most loved songs, Some Things Last A Long Time, was nothing short of breathtaking. Johnston physically shook as he sang. "Are you still with me?" he asked, unaware that grown men were dabbing at their eyes.

He returned after a break, first with an acoustic guitarist for a spare, sincere version of You've Got To Hide Your Love Away and then with a full band for a clutch of clumsily rocking hits. It was a joy to see him telling jokes and enjoying the experience.

"I want to leave you with a gift," smiled Johnston, alone again for finale True Love Will Find You In The End, a song that recalls the fragile optimism of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. People jumped to their feet to applaud as he left. It felt like an astonishing ending to a painful chapter in his life - and hopefully the beginning of a glowing new one.

Daniel Johnston, Mark Linkous, Scout Niblett, Jad Fair, James McNew
Union Chapel
Compton Terrace, Islington, N1 2UN