Lemonheads at the Double Door

Earlier this week I went to go see my beloved Lemonheads two nights in a row at Chicago's famed Double Door and I'm pleased to report it was an absolute blast! This version of the group features Mr. Evan Dando being backed by Karl Alvarez (bass) and Bill Stevenson (drums) of the legendary punk group The Descendents (Stevenson wrote a couple of the tracks on the most recent Heads album and co-produced the album with Dando).

Tuesday night's show kicked off with Chicago poet laureate Thax Douglas reading the Lemonheads poem he wrote after last year's Double Door shows. After that Evan and company hit the stage and launched into a rousing version of "Hospital". What followed was an absolutely top notch show. Bill really kicked things into high gear during "No Backbone" and by the time they got to such Heads classics as "Confetti" and "Down About It" he and Karl were flexing like a well oiled machine. Powerful stuff indeed! I was right up in the front row, directly underneath Evan and got to be one of the people who strummed his guitar for "Down About It" which was pretty cool. After a good forty five minutes or so featuring a superb mixture of classic Heads tracks ("Bit Part", "Buddy", "Great Big No", "Ray" etc.) an excellent full band rendition of "My Idea" (from Evan's 2003 solo album "Baby I'm Bored") and a few tunes from last year's self-titled album ("Let's Just Laugh", "Black Gown" and "Steve's Boy"), Karl and Bill left the stage for Evan's solo interlude. The highlight of the entire set for me personally was probably his solo take on "Mallo Cup". That was really right on and to top it off he followed it up with "Don't Tell Yourself" (another personal fav of mine). When the band rejoined him they rocked out on "Pittsburgh" and "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You" before tearing the roof off the place with "Come Back D.A." and that was that.

As with most Dando/Lemonheads shows I've seen at Double Door there was really good vibes in the air amongst those of us gathered upfront. One drunk fella was so excited he kept hugging me. He eventually got kicked out but I didn't really mind him. I do recall at one point prior to him getting booted he grabbed my beer out of my hand and started chugging from it! I couldn't help but laugh.

Here's some pics from that first night....













Prior to Wednesday's show Thax introduced me to Evan (who was very cool) and we took a pic together. I had on one of my old Lemonheads T's (the green "happy cow T") and Evan said something about it being the "happiest/cheesiest" Heads T ever. LOL! I also had just bought a limited edition yellow vinyl version of the self-titled album. I joked "should I be a complete dork and hold this up" at which point he took it from me and held it up himself. Taking that pic was probably one of the happiest moments of my entire life and it turned out really well.

As far as the show itself goes, it started off in much the same way with Thax reading a new Lemonheads poem he had just written entitled "Lemonheads No. 2", except this time Evan indulged in a bit of free form jammin' before launching into "Hospital". The vibe in the air wasn't as intense as the previous night (probably due to the fact that there wasn't as many people there) but I for one quite dug the more casual vibe and I fully expected the second night to be the "looser" of the two shows anyway. The first half of the set featured many of the same songs as the previous night but Evan's solo set was completely different (aside from the long time concert staple "Outdoor Type"). He had hinted at the classic Black Flag song "Nervous Breakdown" a few times before finally playing a segment. After that he sang a Dando-fied segment of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" that was well, beautiful, before playing through some outstanding renditons of "Kitchen" (which I got on video), "Frying Pan", "Favorite T" and "Ride With Me". I was standing in the front row, directly underneath him for the second night in a row and when it came time for the solo set I was pretty much on cloud nine. There's one moment in particular that sticks out in my head where I was leaning against his vocal monitor watchin' him finger the intricate chord voicings for "Favorite T". It's hard for me to fully explain but it was just very, very cool. Once the band rejoined him they took things up a notch with "Pittsburgh" and "Into Your Arms" before ending the set with another primal, ear splitting take on "Come Back D.A.". In addition to meeting Evan with Thax before the show I may have also been sitting next to Karl. I wasn't sure if it was him or not though so I didn't say anything. I did however briefly chat with Bill after the show who seems like a really genuine and gracious guy.

All in all, I had the time of my life at these shows. Tuesday's show was probably the stronger musically, but Wednesday had some great moments to. In fact, I enjoyed it every bit as much, if not more so. It was just a really fulfilling experience for me in every way....

Evan Dando and Thax Douglas


a very happy me with Evan


Thax reading "Lemonheads No. 2"


Evan and his "favorite T"














"Kitchen"


Next up for Evan is another new Lemonheads album to be recorded once again with Bill at his Blasting Room Studios in Colorado. The sessions are set to begin in January after this three week mini-tour wraps up. In addition to Bill and Karl's involvement, Evan's other most recent touring band of Devon Ashley and Vess Ruhtenberg (whom I saw backing Evan last year at Double Door) may be involved as well.

Also on tap for the new year is Rhino Records deluxe reissue of "It's A Shame About Ray" which will feature b-sides, never before released demos for the landmark album and a bonus DVD. That set is scheduled for release in March.