The bestselling Apra Silver Scroll and twice Tui award winner returns to the resort for the first time in seven years and vaguely recalled playing a big show in a pub, where the power kept blowing out and an electrician had to be summoned.
"That was with a full band and I do remember sitting on the front of the stage with an acoustic guitar, trying to keep the drunken Friday night crowd happy," Johnson laughed.
It was a slightly different line-up this time, with himself on piano, three friends on guitars and no drums, but it worked well in small venues, Johnson said.
"We've worked really hard on making the show vocal.
"We've got four singers - myself, Ted Brown, Ben King and Wayne Bell - and everyone's singing four-part harmony, which has been quite a challenge to work out, but it really sounds fantastic."
Johnson was excited about the myriad adrenaline-fuelled activities every time he was in the Wakatipu, but he said he always ended up "taking a nice walk round the lake and having a coffee. It's so beautiful, I don't feel the need to throw myself off a bridge or anything.
"It feels like another world to me, even in New Zealand."
Musicians in each town on the tour were invited to submit a track online so Johnson could choose a local support act for each gig. Half a dozen acts from the Wakatipu applied, but Johnson chose Christchurch singer-songwriter Mel Parsons.
"We had a couple of real young kids who definitely had potential, but were probably a little bit too fresh to be doing a 25-minute set yet. There's a few folkies out there, but we ended up with Mel Parsons, who's definitely on her way up and I just think she's really an incredible talent and I think people really enjoy what she does."
A Kiwi in California for almost nine years, Johnson gets back to New Zealand at least twice a year to eat the food and enjoy the hospitality.
"There's a few Kiwis there and a lot of Brits. They love the sun and they never go home. New Zealand always feels like a club to me, like I'm a lucky member of the club, and if I had a dollar for every American who said, 'Oh my God, I want to go there', I'd have about $180,000."
• Greg Johnson plays at Prime Waterfront Restaurant and Bar tomorrow. Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm. Tickets are available from Prime Waterfront Restaurant and Bar, Ticketmaster or online from Greg Johnson's website, www.gregjohnsonmusic.com
Ticket winner
Congratulations to Elle McCammon, of Lake Hayes Estate, who won two tickets to see Greg Johnson perform in Prime Waterfront Restaurant and Bar tomorrow, plus two signed CDs of his latest album, Secret Weapon. Picks of the Week
TODAY
9.30pm: AC/DC tribute rockers Sniper Alley bring the noise to Revolver, with support from Queenstown rockers Mince on Toast. The night has a "Westie" theme and prizes will be offered for the biggest bogan. Entry $5 on the door.
TOMORROW
10pm: Wellington drum 'n' bass duo the Upbeats return to Subculture. Tickets $15 from the Church St venue, Quest and Dash Tickets online, or $20 at the door.
10.30pm: High octane Christchurch five-piece rock band Von Voin Strum play their self-titled EP in Dux de Lux. Free.
TUESDAY
6pm: Paintings, photography, sculptures, stencil art, jewellery, poetry and more by Wakatipu and travelling artists is presented in Artculture, in Subculture.
Speaker's Corner begins 8pm. Free.
8.30pm: A 10-year-old girl enters a bizarre world of gods, monsters, spirits and sorcerers in the 2001 anime favourite Spirited Away, presented by the Queenstown Film Society, in Dorothy Brown's Cinema, Arrowtown.
