I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: December 14, 2022] Lemonheads

Back in 2018, I saw Evan Dando play a solo set in Jersey City.  It was him with an acoustic guitar and he played over forty songs.

It was a shambolic affair, but fun.  I didn’t really feel compelled to see him again, but I thought it would be fun to see him with a band.  And when he announced this 30th Anniversary of It’s a Shame About Ray, my favorite album of theirs, I grabbed a ticket.

Juliana Hatfield finished and didn’t really need to clear her gear (as we’ll see).  And yet for some reason, it took Evan and the other two guys almost 45 minutes to come out on stage.  

This wasn’t an auspicious sign.  I was actually 40% surprised the show hadn’t been cancelled outright.  But it sounds like Evan Dando has gotten his shit (somewhat) together, so maybe this is a new lease on life for him.  

Eventually the band came out on stage.  Bassist Farley Glavin and drummer Lee Falco came out first.  Then Evan came out on stage, grabbed an acoustic guitar and they launched right into “Into Your Arms.”  This is one of my favorite songs of the 90s–so sweet and delightful.  I had literally no idea that it was a cover until I was reading someone else’s review of this tour (it was written by Australian duo Love Positions (Robyn St. Clare (who wrote the song) and Nic Dalton).  It sounded like he hadn’t really warmed up yet and this was his way of easing into the show.  He didn’t hit any of the higher notes.  But he still wounded quite good.

Dando is known for playing a lot of covers.  The next song he played was released on his solo album Baby I’m Bored, but it was written and performed earlier by Ben Lee.  I think he might have stopped abruptly because Falco seemed rather surprised that the song was over.  He followed that with “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness” a John Prine song that Kurt Vile has recently recorded as well.

Then Evan traded in his acoustic guitar for an electric and, just like with opener On Being an Angel, the electric guitar was so loud it drowned out Evan’s vocals.  It sounded pretty terrible from up front (I assume it sounded better in the back).   And this was such a bummer because for this part of the show he was playing the best songs off of Come on Feel the Lemonheads.  

I probably should have wandered to the back of the room for better sound (it’s not like the visuals were all that great).  But I feel like every time I move places I wind up somewhere worse.  The lights were predominantly those awful blue lights, so the band was bathed in blue without much else going on.

As they played through the songs, Falco and Glavin added the perfect backing vocals.  And, I will say that even though the sound was not mixed well for me, it was still great hearing these songs played loud and rocking.

Dando had a pedal which seemed to give his guitar two settings.  There was a quieter one–where you could more or less hear him sing–and then the louder one.  He used the quieter setting for most of “Dawn Can’t Decide” (a personal favorite), but then for the chorus he seemed to jam on the pedal which, to the best of my knowledge only seemed to make his guitar louder.  And sharper.  It wasn’t a particularly good sound.

The band sounded great on “The Great Big No” (terrific backing vocals) and no pedal.  

Then they shifted gears to the Car Button Cloth album and played four songs from it.  The guitar woes were still there but I think they must have turned up his mic because his words were more audible.  I didn’t really think I’d need ear plugs for this show but I was so glad I brought them.

Dando looked kind of uncomfortable in a button down shirt.  Although when I saw him last he was barefoot and in ripped jeans.  He’s also grown something of a beard, although it was never really bright enough to see what it looked liked. 

They ended this part of the set with the wonderful “If I Could Talk I’d Tell You.”  And then, just for fun, I guess, Dando switched to bass and Glavin took over guitar for the Come On song “Style.”  The guitar was way too loud when Glavin played the solo (which rocked) and drowned everyone else out. But the song kicks ass live so that was okay.

I had heard that Evan did a solo set.  The band left and indeed, he played a few songs by himself.  I was hoping he’d return to the acoustic, but alas he did not.  So over the sharp electric guitar he played the delightful “Being Around.”  He played a Townes van Zandt cover (which he played last time I saw him, too) and ended with the utterly wonderful “Outdoor Type.”  He played a quieter guitar on this one.  His voice sounded good as did his guitar playing.

For most of the other recent shows on this tour he has played six or seven songs solo.  We only got three.  But since I’d already seen him solo and I didn’t particularly like the sound of his guitar.  Three was fine.

Because it was time for Ray.

The band came back out, Evan played the ripping riff of “Rockin’ Stroll” and things sounded great.  Evan had switched guitars and this one sounded much less sharp–still a little too loud in the mix, but not overbearing.

It’s weird how much he likes to do covers because the songs he has written are so damn good.  Like “Confetti” (and the guitar sounded great on this one).

And then, in a moment that I really really hoped would happen but which I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high for, Juliana Hatfield came out, plugged in and jammed with them.   She played bass guitar on the original album and sang most of the backing vocals.  She was on guitar for this, which was cool and she added the backing vocals that I always hear in my head when I sing “It’s a Shame About Ray,” to myself.

She has a bigger backing section on “Rudderless” and it was great to hear her add in her parts 

All the way down to the lake
(Found the lake was wet)
How much more could I take
(Better yet)
Walked back home to my place
(Tired of getting high)
Guess I don’t wanna die

I’ve also always loved the stupid yet perfect final lines of the song

Ship without a rudder’s like a ship without a rudder’s like a
Ship without a rudder’s like a ship without a rudder’s like a ship without a
Rudder’s like a ship without a rudder’s like a ship without a rudder

Then came the third song and the one that features Juliana the most: “My Drug Buddy.”  Evan kept switching between loud and quiet guitar and the quiet sounded so much better it was a shame he couldn’t keep it that way.  Because when his guitar was quiet and the two of them sang together it sounded terrific.

I wondered if Juliana would come back for more, but she didn’t.  On the album she screams an intro to “Bit Part.”  It would have been really fun if she just ran on stage and shouted that before they played it, but they were kind of possessed at this point, playing at pretty fast clip.  And Glavin did Juliana’s backing vocals just fine.

“Alison’s Starting to Happen” has always been one of my favorite Lemonheads songs, so it was awesome to hear it in full band set up (he didn’t play it when I saw him solo).

I’d never realized that the original album was so short (under half an hour).  And these songs at the end are crazy short.  From “Bit Part” to the end, most of the songs are two minutes or less.  

The big exception is “Kitchen” which is a bouncy, super fun song written by Nic Dalton (yes, from the band who did “Into My Arms”).  The album ends with the puzzling “Ceiling Fan in My Spoon,” a punky noisy blast that is the perfect send off for the band before the final a capella number.

Glavin and Falco got no real send off.  They just left.  And then Evan walked up to the mic and began singing “Frank Mills” (which everyone else sang along with him).  This is another song I had no idea was a cover (well, I learned this about fifteen years ago, but still).  The song is from the musical Hair.   

He sang it, said thanks and walked off.

So yea, it seemed kind of hurried and slapdash.  But, as I told my friend MJ when I saw her there, it was nowhere near as bad as I feared by not as good as I had hoped either.  I didn’t really need much more from the show, to be honest.  Dando did mumble some words to us between songs but I genuinely have no idea what he was saying.  I do wish the guitar sounded better.  But again, maybe it was my fault for being so close?  

Either way, it was a perfect companion to that solo show in 2018.  And the album is still wonderful.

Markit Aneight has a video of the show on Union Transfer

1. Into Your Arms © (Love Positions cover)
2. Hard Drive ß (Ben Lee cover)
3. Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (John Prine cover)
4. It’s About Time ©
5. Down About It ©
6. Dawn Can’t Decide ©
7. The Great Big No ©
8. Tenderfoot (Smudge cover) ∞
9. Hospital ∞
10. Break Me ∞
11. If I Could Talk I’d Tell You ∞
12. Style © (Evan on bass)
    Evan solo
13. Being Around (Evan solo)  ©
14. Snow Don’t Fall (Townes van Zandt cover) 
15. The Outdoor Type (Smudge cover) ∞
    It’s a Shame About Ray
16. Rockin’ Stroll
17. Confetti
18. It’s a Shame About Ray (with Juliana Hatfield)
19. Rudderless (with Juliana Hatfield)
20. My Drug Buddy (with Juliana Hatfield)
21. The Turnpike Down
22. Bit Part
23. Alison’s Starting to Happen
24. Hannah & Gabi
25. Kitchen
26. Ceiling Fan in My Spoon
27. Frank Mills (Galt MacDermot cover) (Evan solo)

© Come on Feel the Lemonheads
∞ car button cloth
ß EVAN DANDO-Baby I’m Bored

1. Being Around (The Lemonheads song)
2. Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (John Prine cover)
3. I’ll Be Here in the Morning (Townes Van Zandt cover)
4. My Idea (Chris Brokaw cover)
5. Side of the Road (Lucinda Williams cover)
6. All My Life
7. Down About It (The Lemonheads song)
8. Man Out of Time (Elvis Costello cover)
9. Frank Mills (Galt MacDermot cover)
10. My Drug Buddy (The Lemonheads song)
11. Tenderfoot (Smudge cover)
12. Hard Drive
13. Hospital (The Lemonheads song)
14. Rudderless (The Lemonheads song)
15. Skulls (Misfits cover)
16. The Great Big No (The Lemonheads song)
17. Backstreet Girl (Rolling Stones cover)
18. Now and Then (Natural Child cover)
    switched to electric guitar
19. Snow Don’t Fall (Townes Van Zandt cover)
20. Into Tomorrow (Willy Mason cover)
21. The Turnpike Down (The Lemonheads song)
22. Kitchen (The Lemonheads song)
23. Young mum pushing a stroller along?
24. Don’t Tell Yourself (The Lemonheads song)
25. Stove (The Lemonheads song)
26. (Unknown)
27. Abandoned (Lucinda Williams cover)
28. Big Gay Heart (The Lemonheads song)
29. Fickle friends?
30. Settled Down Like Rain (The Jayhawks cover)
31. Hannah & Gabi (The Lemonheads song)
32. Lights Are Changing (The Bevis Frond cover)
33. Magnet (NRBQ cover)
34. Confetti (The Lemonheads song)
35. The Outdoor Type (Smudge cover)
36. Here Comes a Regular (The Replacements cover)
37. Rockin’ Stroll (The Lemonheads song)
38. Bit Part (The Lemonheads song)
39. It’s a Shame About Ray (The Lemonheads song)
40. Frying Pan (Victoria Williams cover)
41. If I Could Talk I’d Tell You (The Lemonheads song)
    Encore:
42. Straight to You (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover)