Lemonheads,
The Abyss, Houston, TX, June 16, 1997
Opening Act - Ugly Beauty and 57 Farm Dogs
The Lemonheads are a band from the Boston area that has been playing in some form for
the past several years, since the mid to late 80s. Although the personnel of the group has
changed, the one common element throughout has been the lead singer, Evan Dando. Evan is
an unusual person, with a rare talent for writing pleasant pop songs that are insightful
and varied in their influences. He has an unusual stage presence, appearing to be really
messed up most of the time and acting generally baked, which usually leads to a few funny
lines and a lot of confusion. For example, at this show, he repeatedly bumped into the
microphone and said "Ow". Throughout the show they annoyed the crowd by making
screaching noises by touching each other with the amp cables.
Okay, maybe this doesn't seem pleasant to you, but I really do dig a lot of their
songs. They played most of my favorites including "Into Your Arms", "It's a
Shame about Ray", "Outdoor Type", "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You".
During the Evan portion of the evening in which he came out by himself, he treated us to a
couple of favorites including "Allison's Starting to Happen" and
"Rudderless". Additionally, he treated us to Metallica's "Nothing Else
Matters" and several Beavis lookalikes in the building held up their lighters in
tribute. It was actually a great rendition. With a weird twist (as if things weren't weird
enough), the band left the stage and asked one of the opening bands, 57 Farm Dogs, to
appear for another number, except that Evan introduced them as "a band from
Indonesia". They sang a song called "A Real Live Alternative Girl" and from
what I could make it there was one line that said something to the effect of "The
Lemonheads invited her", so I guess Evan wanted to return the homage.
It was extremely hot and stuffing in The Abyss, the lack of air conditioning in Houston
in June has that effect. I doubt I'll go back for any shows there this summer. I missed
the 57 Farm Dogs regular set, but I did catch the entire Ugly Beauty set. They are a five
piece with a female lead singer, who did have an excellent guitar style, but I would say
they lacked anything particularly exciting or original in their material.
On That Note, I'm outta here......
C
|
