The Jeff Pulver Blog: Stories from the Road: Michael Johns

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May 18, 2008

Stories from the Road: Michael Johns - The American Idol Vampire

Long before Michael Johns was discovered in 2008 by fans of American Idol, I first met Michael Johns on September 9, 2000 at CJ’s Landing in Atlanta. Back then he was better known as Mike Lee and when I first saw him, he was singing while a friend played guitar. I caught up with Mike a few days later when he was my guest at a party I hosted where Stoke 9 opened for Smash Mouth at The Tabernacle.

I later learned that Mike Lee was orginally from Perth, Australia and the lead singer for a local Atlanta band called Film. And during the Fall of 2000, after getting to know his band and after hearing them play a couple of gigs, I helped the band out in the production of their February, 2001 E.P., ”..rolling..”. In fact, I remember thinking the band’s E.P. was a great E.P. (it still is one of the best CDs from an Indie band I have heard to date).

In February, 2001 I invited Mike Lee (and his guitar playing friend) to perform in San Francisco at the party for a developers conference that I produced. All these years later, I still remember the way he improvised the lyrics to the Barenaked Ladies’s “If I had a Million Dollars.” Mike Lee was a natural born entertainer.

Leading up to a conference party that was taking place in March 2001 in Phoenix, I ended up producing a mini US tour for The Commitments which included gigs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Phoenix. After booking gigs at the House of Blues in Chicago and LA, I invited Mike Lee and his band mates in Film to join the tour and open for The Commitments. And as advertised, both Film and The Commitments played the Vanderbilt on Long Island and the House of Blues in Chicago and Los Angeles before arriving in Phoenix to play at another conference party that I was hosting.

After the party in Phoenix came to a close, and after Mike Lee had a number of drinks, while backstage and still at the venue, Mike was speaking with the person responsible for my event operations. At some point during their conversation and without any provocation, Mike decided to bite my VP of Operations and left an impression of his teeth marks on her arm.

While in 2008 his voice has been heard by millions of people and has left a lasting impression with everyone who watched the current season of American Idol, that night Mike Lee left an impression in someone's arm that took a few weeks to disappear. While he later blamed his alcohol consumption for the biting incident, it was something I never experienced before or since with any of the artists who performed at any of my parties.

All these years later I thought it was great to see Mike Lee in the spotlight on American Idol. I had thought he would have made it to the final three. He had my vote. Thanks to American Idol I do hope his career will finally take off. But I can never forget what he did that night in Phoenix. For me, Michael Johns is the American Idol Vampire.

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Tags: Michael Johns, Mike Lee, American Idol, film, The Commitments, Jeff Pulver