The Lemonheads

The Electric Ballroom, Camden, London - Wednesday 27 August 2025

Doing the same thing over and over yet hoping for a different outcome (or something like that) is a well-worn phrase that I was wary of tonight. History never repeats? That’s another phrase which I was certainly hoping was going to be more apt on this occasion.

You see, the last time I saw Evan Dando and his Lemonheads, three years ago, the phrase ‘car crash’ doesn’t do the gig justice – it was the beyond awkward witnessing of a once great songwriter reduced to a drugged up, shambling wreck stumbling through a set – incoherently oblivious to the fact that two-thirds of the crowd had left in disgust, and in the end, the band also did before it was over. So, if you want a baseline for this show, you can read about it here.

We are here for the thirtieth anniversary of Come On Feel The Lemonheads, the middle of a fantastic triple indie album run in the mid-90’s. The Electric Ballroom is a perfectly sized venue in Camden, that is already filling up nicely when the support act arrives.

The Bevis Frond:

The Bevis Frond is a name that rang some vague bells but it still surprised me that they had been around for forty years already. In fact, main man Nick Saloman has been plying his trade even longer than that.

So, what to expect? We get forty minutes of engaging rock music, more than tinged with big 70’s influences – they meander between echoes of Pink Floyd and Crazy Horse, but also veering into more straight up Sabbath-like psych-rock. We get their first of two minor hits, Lights Are Changing, covered by The Alice Band – then there is Mr Fred’s Disco, a song inspired by his time in the early 70’s as an art student, where he photographed posters for Mr Fred’s actual Disco in Weymouth.

He'd Be A Diamond was covered by Teenage Fanclub, and you can hear why as it sounds just like a song they would have written (that's a compliment). The penultimate song has a solid plodding rock beat, in a good way, and allows plenty of space for Saloman and fellow guitarist Paul Simmons to trade some pretty epic guitar solos. The final tune straight up rocks and brings to a close a very enjoyable support slot.

The Lemonheads:

So, what are we going to get from Mr. Dando tonight? Gig buddy Steve and I are slightly apprehensive as to which Evan will be showing up shortly.

He strides on, turns removing his jacket into a moment of theatre, then spends time unloading the contents of his backpack onto the stage before putting on a different tweed jacket back on. Okay. I’m nervous…

Then he straps on his guitar and launches into The Great Big No and my nerves settle a bit. Into Your Arms is (almost) always a great moment, and despite going off track with some squally guitar in the middle, allows us a few moments to heartily sing along. We get through some pretty decent versions of It’s About Time and Down About It and it is sounding pretty good so far.

Evan Dando looks way more relaxed and happy than that ill-fated night a few years back. He is drifting into rambling anecdotes and jokes between songs (a great one about being a miner), but they are intelligible and amusing, and I am more relaxed now. He does start to go off script now though. There is a bit of Shock Me by Kiss as we go into Paid To Smile, and this penchant for veering off course becomes a theme for the evening, as does him finishing songs quite abruptly and early on occasion (boredom?) - his bandmates are tight though, and seem to be able to cope with these random changes of direction pretty well.

Dawn Can't Decide (fan video - his voice is not always quite there, but like the night as a whole, it was a decent effort)

When he starts Big Gay Heart, his voice actually sounds really good, a glimpse of Evan from thirty years ago – the deeper country tinge required for this seems to suit his voice much better. Style is slowed down a bit, perhaps a bit of an amalgamation of the two versions on the original record (no Rick James anymore, for part two), but generally sounds good and rocking. He runs through the rest of the album, although I’ll Do It Anyway seems to be missing (or I missed it) from the line-up. There is some struggling in Favorite T, I’m not sure if it’s his voice or if he’s playing the wrong chords, but the two things don’t quite align properly. When the band leaves the stage after You Can’t Take It With You, he starts attacking the keyboard at the side of stage with his arms – he seems to be enjoying the discordant noise he is creating, but then settles into a slightly off-kilter run through The Jello Fund to close part one.

Big Gay Heart (brief audio snippet)

While the rest of the band stays off, Dando straps on an acoustic and veers through a number of cover versions. There’s Townes Van Zandt’s Snow Don’t Fall, an attempt at Frank Mills from It’s A Shame About Ray (but originally from the musical Hair), Frying Pan by Victoria Williams (Dando had covered this for a benefit album recorded to help her treatment for MS). We then get a hearty singalong of Outdoor Type, a cover of a tune by Smudge that was included on Car Button Cloth. This mini-acoustic set is rounded out with some Big Star and their song Holocaust from Big Star’s Third.

With the band back in place (and Dando having slipped out briefly to have a cigarette of some type), we start part three with a double of new songs from the forthcoming Love Chant album – the more than decent In The Margin and Togetherness Is All I’m After. He is in the groove now and the songs are racked up back to back, allowing less opportunity for him to veer off course too much and also maintain some momentum. There is some real crowd pleasers in here, starting with a good solid It’s A Shame About Ray and Bit Part, spliced with Sabbath’s Snowblind. The crowd is now looking really happy as he dips back into the Ray LP for Alison’s Starting To Happen and Confetti.

It's A Shame About Ray (brief audio snippet)

There is Hospital followed by another new tune, a rocking Deep End, and the band are off. The lights stay down, the crowd is chanting – and then the house lights come back up and we are done. Not sure what happened – did they hit the curfew time (it was about 10.45 by now) or was Dando just done for the night? It’s a bit of a shame as it looks like they had been closing with If I Could Talk I’d Tell You, which would have been a lovely way to finish, but there you go….

What did we get then? Well, if I award the previous show three years ago a generous 0.5 out of 10 – this one wandered between about a 5 and 7.5! There were mis-steps of course (erraticness is his calling card these days), meanderings and ramblings for sure, but we did also see glimpses of Evan Dando the 90’s indie god, who had the voice, the musical chops and the songwriting (and lets not forget the looks) to match just about anyone at that time. The songs were all recognisable - and let's not forget, he wrote some of the best rock tunes of the mid-90's - his between song banter was generally random but understandable (and occasionally quite funny) and most of all, he looked like he was mostly enjoying himself – and that is probably good enough for me.

Setlist:

The Great Big No

Into Your Arms

It’s About Time

Down About It

Paid To Smile (bit of Shock Me by Kiss)

Big Gay Heart

Style

Rest Assured

Dawn Can’t Decide

Being Around

Favorite T

You Can’t Take It With You

The Jello Fund (w/ bit of You Set The Scene by Love)

***

Snow Don’t Fall (Townes Van Zandt)

Frank Mills

Frying Pan (Victoria Williams)

The Outdoor Type (Smudge)

Holocaust (Big Star)

***

In The Margin

Togetherness Is All I’m After

It’s A Shame About Ray

Snowblind (Sabbath)

Bit Part

Alison’s Starting To Happen

Confetti

Hospital

Deep End