The last time I saw Evan Dando was back in 2001; the Lemonheads were basically inactive and he was touring solo, bashing his way through a pleasingly ramshackle set of Lemonheads classics and the occasional cover. Now it's 2024; the Lemonheads are basically inactive and he's touring solo, bashing his way through... you can see where I'm going with this. Dando hasn't exactly been prolific in the intervening 23 years. If they were people, the one Lemonheads studio album in that time and his one solo album would now be old enough to legally drink in the UK and US respectively. There have been a couple of Lemonheads covers albums of course, making it pretty clear where his interests lie. Baby I'm Bored was the title of his debut solo album 21 years ago, and maybe he was and still is - bored of playing his own songs, and increasingly focused on playing other people's. All that's changed since I saw him in 2001 is the ratio of covers to Lemonheads songs, which gets ever higher.
"Are you liquored up, are you ready for Evan?", Juanita Stein (of Howling Bells) asked in the middle of her strong support set. It probably helped to be liquored up. Have a few drinks and go with the seemingly random flow of Dando covers rather than stressing over the Lemonheads songs you'd rather he was playing. The 600 capacity venue wasn't quite sold out, but turnout was decent for a soggy midweek night and I'm sure the bar did a roaring trade.
Alone on stage with just a choice of two guitars for company, Dando started as he meant to go on, with a cover. Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" was swiftly followed by "The Outdoor Type" - technically also a cover, albeit one he made his own almost three decades ago, and sadly the only song from the underrated Car Button Cloth to get an airing. For a while he seemed to alternate covers and Lemonheads originals - he raced from one song to the next so quickly it was hard to keep track, and didn't always seem bothered about actually finishing one song before starting another, but he played "Confetti", "Rudderless" and "My Drug Buddy" from It's A Shame About Ray, plus "Being Around", "Big Gay Heart" with an exaggerated croon and an annoyingly truncated version of "Into Your Arms" from Come On Feel The Lemonheads. "Ride With Me" was in their somewhere, unsurprisingly the one pre-Ray track on offer.
His choice of covers was rarely less than interesting - a few from the two Varshons albums, a lot from out of leftfield. Cristina Aguilera's "Beautiful" going straight into the Misfits' "Skulls" was nice but "Different Drum" made me yearn for the Gimme Gimmes version. There was some Gram Parsons ("Return of the Grievous Angel"), some Joni Mitchell ("A Case of You"), a couple of early 80s Elvis Costello numbers played back to back ("Beyond Belief" and "Man Out of Time"). Dando's got great taste. But he doesn't have Joni Mitchell's or Gram Parsons's voice. And at some point the Lemonheads songs dried up entirely, and it was cover after cover after cover, and it was like watching a mostly competent busker on a street corner, albeit one whose repertoire went beyond the obvious. It's cool that he wants to celebrate other songwriters, but he should remember what a great songwriter he is, or has been, himself. I doubt there was anyone present who would have chosen to hear his Charles Manson cover rather than, say, "Bit Part" or "Hannah & Gabi" or "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You", or even anything from his one solo album - "My Idea" got an early airing but that was it. "Fear of Living", the one new original Lemonheads song of the last 18 years, was in there somewhere and sounded good - but who knows if there's more where that came from.
His voice and his playing weren't always perfect, but you don't go to an Evan Dando show looking for polished performance. He's a bit of a goofy presence onstage, far removed from the cool slacker persona of his 90s heyday. He has a habit of verbalising the guitar solos and other bits of instrumentation in his covers like a man singing in the shower. As to whether this is endearing or annoying - your mileage may vary. At one point he recited a lengthy chunk of a Peter Cook monologue. Funny but highly self indulgent - if he's going to focus on other people's material he could at least stick to music and leave comedy alone.
The show came to a slightly abrupt end a good 15-20 minutes before the scheduled close. A couple of minutes of applause and shouts for more, then the lights came up with no encore.
On the way out I heard a guy describe it as "somewhere between genius and utter trainwreck" and that's a pretty apt summary of both this show and his whole career. Was it, objectively, a particularly good performance? Maybe not. Did I mostly have a pretty good time? Definitely yes. Was it by turns inspired, frustrating and bemusing, and did I ultimately leave feeling slightly short-changed? Yes I did. Such is the Evan Dando live experience. Same as it ever was.