Since starting this blog a year ago I’ve come to the realisation that it’s far easier to write reviews when I’ve been to a show that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Thankfully I don’t go to many disappointing concerts – which may reflect that I’m very easy to please or that I know what will keep me happy. But very, very occasionally a night comes along which is so utterly shambolic, where what happened on stage completely overshadows the music, that I know will stick in my memory for a long time even if it is for all the wrong reasons.
The Lemonheads were never an absolute favourite band but they still seemed to be a part of my life; my high school band had covered their cover of Mrs Robinson whilst It’s a Shame About Ray had been one of the albums on regular rotation in one of my student flats. Somehow though I’d never managed to catch them live, but with friends visiting Manchester the same day as they were performing at the Ritz it seemed like a good chance to right that wrong. I had of course heard the tales of frontman Evan Dando’s often eccentric behaviour on stage, although as he approached his sixties he’d surely have calmed down, wouldn’t he?
The evening started pleasantly; support act The Bevis Frond, survivors of the eighties despite never growing beyond cult status, had impressed with their Teenage Fanclub inspired indie fused with seventies psychedelia, giving the impression of a band who were a few lucky breaks away from making a name for themselves. Evan made his first appearance of the night to take to take guest vocals for one song; his insistence on lofting his microphone stand around whilst singing appeared to be a bit of showmanship at the time, in retrospect by the end of the evening it looked like a clear omen of how the night would progress.
Then after the half hour change over The Lemonheads emerged… but they weren’t quite ready to perform. Evan grabbed a microphone, set off on an incoherent rant before staggering back offstage. Thirty seconds later he re-emerged, clutching what appeared to be a painting he’d obtained from somewhere backstage before skateboarding across the stage. After a short interlude to showcase some of his breakdancing skills it was finally time to pick up his guitar and launched into The Great Big No.
The band played through Come on Feel the Lemonheads, but a sense of chaos was never far away. Vocals were often muffled and flat, guitar pedals were incorrectly switched, microphone stands almost went flying, a bottle of wine and a Jaws cap appeared from somewhere. The bassist and drummer looked simultaneously embarrassed but desperate to hold the show together, trying their best to pick up on cues as to when their band leader was about to kick in to the next song. When the album playthrough was complete they seemed only to eager to leave the stage, the crowd already thinning out as audience members decided they’d seen enough.
Left alone on stage Evan then took to the keyboard to perform a couple of songs, attacking the instrument with such gusto that for a moment it looked like it would spill into the front row of the crowd. At this point it was unclear how much of the show was improvised and how much was planned, but it felt like a scene that you couldn’t stop watching, albeit for all the wrong reasons. Next up Evan took to the drumkit, singing jauntily as he bashed away, before the rest of the band returned to run through The Deep, the band’s first release of new material in two decades.
Grabbing an acoustic guitar Evan was left to perform solo again. One final unintelligible rant led to him cackling with laughter into his microphone for what must have been half a minute before running through a final few covers until deciding midway through a song that he’d had enough. After a quick farewell he left the stage just seventy minutes after the set had begun, his departure clearly catching the stage crew by surprise judging by how long it took the house lights to come on to signal that that was genuinely the end of the evening.
Slowly the crowd filtered out, some audience members had clearly loved the chaos of the evening, others disappointed with the shambles they’d witnessed, yet all I spoke to showed concern for Evan’s health and well being. Whilst in recent times I’ve felt that even mid-size concerts have become too safe and predictable with bands having to perform tightly to regimented cues for audio and visuals, but to see a show played out in such fashion brought little joy. One can only hope that what transpired was a one off and that whatever caused Evan’s erratic behaviour won’t be a long term issue.
Were you there at the Ritz? Have you caught the Lemonheads at other recent performances? Leave any thoughts or memories in the comments section below.
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