One of the ways I dealt with it was to absolutely accept it, and think: ‘Right, they’ve told me this thing is inoperable – if I’ve got 10 months to live, I just want to do it, I don’t want to spend 10 months running around after second opinions or false hopes.’ In a way, it was a kind of comfort zone, accepting that I was going to die and all the questions of mortality had been sorted out for me. “I didn’t plan to feel that way about death,” he says. Promoting a farewell tour, he gave a series of interviews that provoked not an outpouring of public sympathy, but something approaching a weird envy: we should all be so lucky to face imminent death with the kind of calm, philosophical acceptance that Johnson displayed. Then, in early 2013, he announced that he had terminal pancreatic cancer. He was already a cult figure in the rock world: a founder member of Canvey Island’s celebrated punk precursors Dr Feelgood, whose unwavering devotion to old-fashioned rhythm and blues and taut, explosive guitar playing had inspired everyone from Paul Weller to Joe Strummer of the Clash. But that’s precisely what Johnson seems to have become, thanks to what he calls “the twists and turns of the last two or three years”. I could have watched and listened all night and it would have been an absolute pleasure.Still, good company or not, he doesn’t look much like a candidate for national treasurehood, or “a 100-1 shot for the title of Greatest Living Englishman”, the latter bestowed on him by a Guardian critic a few years ago. He is not the world's strongest vocalist of course, but he more than did justice to the songs, and given that he wrote many of them, who can rightfully complain? The high tempo set included 'All Through The City', 'If You Want Me, You've Got Me, 'The More I Give', 'Dr Dupree', 'Going Back Home', and 'Roxette'.ĭownside? You bet, it was over too quickly. Wilko was full of his trademark moves - jerking away from the mic during vocal breaks and skittering across the stage with that open-mouthed look of astonishment on his face, machine gunning the crowd with a smile on his face, or punching out the riffs from his trademark black and red telecaster. The by comparison, boyish, Howe drove the evening along with his no-nonsense drumming. So too did the svelte 64-year-old Watt-Roy cutting a dash and throwing some remarkable shapes and faces as he wrestled his bass around the stage. In Lincoln, Wilko looked fit and well especially considering his recent trials and tribulations. Wilko has recently been playing dates as a trio alongside former two former Blockheads bassist Norman Watt-Roy and drummer Dylan Howe (son of Steve, Yes guitarist). One week in late 2013 he and Roger Daltrey recorded a remarkably joyful album album given the circumstances entitled 'Going Back Home' which turned out to be one of the finer releases of last year. Happily, unbelievably even, Wilko has made the most remarkable of recoveries and this new lease of life has seen him back on the road again doing what he loves. Sunday 17 May found Wilko Johnson headlining the Lincoln Blues Festival, almost a year to the day after cancelling his planned 2014 headline performance there on doctor's advice after undergoing a major operation to treat him for terminal pancreatic cancer.
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