Lemonheads
By Tim Bugbee
Wednesday. Jan 23, 11:54 AM
live at The Middle East Downstairs (Cambridge, MA) Dec. 22nd, 2007.

Back in the halcyon days after college, when I first moved into Boston, I'd regularly see Evan Dando at various shows, usually with the lissome Juliana Hatfield in tow (and I'm pretty sure I saw Blake Babies play at least one show with Evan in the lineup). At this point, Lemonheads (they were always one of those bands that I never knew if "The" should be in front or not) were still pretty firmly in the punk camp, but Lovey started to tilt the balance toward a poppier, more classic songwriting approach and arrangement style, especially presaged by their cover of "Brass Buttons." And this direction would be cemented for sure by "Luka," the breakthrough (cover) song on 1992's Lick. Widespread popularity was secured by yet another cover, this time the ‘60s chestnut "Mrs. Robinson." Ever since, Evan's still not totally abandoned the edgier aspects of his punk roots, but clearly a well-crafted song carried more weight as he walked the tightrope between the two regions of his songwriting muse.

I'd literally not seen the band play live in almost two decades and had really forgotten about them until a friend pressed a copy of their 2006 self-titled record in my hands, mostly due to the presence of crack punk/pop rhythm squad Bill Stevenson (drums) and Karl Alvarez (bass), from whom most sane people know as the backline destroyer unit from Descendents and/or All. Their involvement carried a lot more oomph to Evan's pop sensibilities in the songs, and as I'd never seen them play live before, I was looking forward to a homecoming with Evan leading the charge.

The crowd was a mix of young and old who waited patiently for the über-boring Dutch band Raccoon (not the tilda-obsessed freaks from Iowa, unfortunately: these guys made Hootie & The Blowfish seem like Pissed Jeans) to finish up before local boy done good took over. And when Evan did come out (looking unchanged despite the near two decades gone by), he played around with his guitar, tuned up, sang a song, then left again. 15 minutes or so later, he was back, cardigan removed to display a t-shirt featuring another ageless wonder, Thurston Moore, and the tag team of Bill and Karl got in position, set to bring the rock.

And it was brought. A little heat, a little sweet, a lot of sweat. "Hospital" got the proceedings off on the right foot, played straight without the wonky keyboards on the studio version but the whistling was intact. The newcomers obviously fit right in from the self-titled material, and songs like "Black Gown" and "Pittsburgh" crackled with energy. The massive fill on "Black Gown" that Bill played was like a pack of firecrackers going off, and throughout the entire night he and Karl had grinned stretched across their mugs. Karl had suffered a minor heart attack just a few months ago, but showed no signs at all of that particular setback. Evan decided to concentrate on the mid to late-era work, forsaking any early material save "Come Back DA" from Lick; no "Hate Your Friends," but that would have been inappropriate as plenty of old-time Boston friends had come to see him, including longtime scenester and man-about-town Billy Ruane, Mary Lou Lord, and Springa, who was pressed into vocal duty for a song. As the songs kept coming, it was apparent that the hits kept coming too. I was never a huge fan, but it was pretty surprising to recognize a lot of songs I'd not heard in quite some time, stuff like "Confetti," "Bit Part," "If I Could Talk, I'd Tell You," etc. "Let's Just Laugh" from the new record is about as a good a song as Evan's written. In addition to the recent material, Evan also made the All axis feel at west coast punk rock home by including a searing cover of Angry Samoan's "Right Side of My Mind."

After the adrenaline glands were primed and the crowd was buzzing and bopping, Evan made the somewhat curious decision to send Karl and Bill off for a beer and he did an eight or so song solo set, on acoustic or electric guitar. Granted, some of the songs were choice (especially the humorous "The Outdoor Type" and his excellent reading of The Misfits' "Skulls"), but the crowd lost a bit of interest, momentum dashed, and even chestnuts like "Big Gay Heart" and "Into Your Arms" could not stem the tide. The guys came back for another couple, and the set ended with Evan on drums and Bill banging away on the guitar. Overall a good show, and I hope that Evan keeps Bill and Karl's numbers on his mobile phone, as they definitely injected a lot of life into his songwriting muse.
www.thelemonheads.net

Tim Bugbee

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