ship without a rudder
I'm just back from seeing Evan Dando. Some of the old songs were rusty. Some of the new songs were great. A country influence. I miss Juliana Hatfield in the background. I'm reminded that along with the quirkiness and the "moment passed very quickly" tracks like Mrs. Robinson, Lemonheads had some pure moments and melancholy songs that I loved. I found myself thinking how he doesn't offer much persona for the fan to latch on to. The songs are short and simple and he seems to be the dopey guy playing guitar at a campfire on a beach, friendly and a little out of it. Maybe that's the charm. These were my thoughts, until he suddenly got frustrated and yelled at a guy up front and while attempting to teabag him fell from the stage on to his back and screwed up his ankle. He played a few more songs, with a really bad limp and then went off to check his leg, coming back without his band to play acoustic like at the start of the show. A drunk, who had been calling out the same request for an hour, finally yelled "motherfucker", prompting Evan to stop playing and freak out again, trying to get the guy to come up front so he could beat the hell out of him. They were some bizarre twists. Anyway, "Hard Drive" is nice on the new cd but live there was this beautiful haunting guitar interplay leading into it that really caught me off guard. "Shots is Fired" isn't that spectacular but tonight it rocked like a song reborn. And I got in for free. "I'm in the grass all wine-coloured..."