John Waite, Eric and Marc Johnson
Spin Nightclub
Saturday, March 10

First off: Congratulations are in order to Marc and Eric Johnson, leaders of Wonderdrug and owners of the Pop Machine recording studio. In the past week, they took a show that was last-minute and that nobody knew about, and turned it into the event of the week.

Of course, it helped that the artist was John Waite, but it was the Johnson Brothers that packed the house for an artist that, really, no one has even thought about in years.

“We knew we had limited time; we tried to be smart about who we told about this,” Eric said.

Despite a cliché-ridden guitarist sidekick, Waite performed a cool acoustic set. He made a Bad English song (“When I See You Smile”) rock, and turned in a killer version of his signature hit, “Missing You,” during which Waite showed us he still has the great set of pipes that made him famous.

Then, with a nod and a wink, Wonderdrug jumped up and tore through a mini-set that included Waite’s other solo hit, “Change,” and a rip-roaring run-through of “Universal Soldier,” a song co-written by the Johnsons.

Spin Nightclub was packed and starting to shine like the diamond of Broad Ripple Village once again. The Johnsons were on top of the world playing with one of their heroes, and they proved that with a little luck and some hustling, anyone could pull off a big rock show in very little time.