As some readers may have noted Tone Deaf did try to interview Evan Dando prior to his visit to Australia and that article can be seen here. Dando invited me once again to chat with him backstage last night and we will get to that intriguing visit in due course.

It was a long distance communication last weekend. What we are trying to say is that Evan Dando, the only permanent Lemonhead, phoned in his performance from a long way away. He has told me personally that he does not suffer from jet lag, so we know that was not the issue. Although his voice was in the right place, the only glow on the stage was from the spotlight.

The venue filled up towards the end of the mostly ignored warm up set by Spookyland. The gathering was there for one event and that was to hear songs that brought people back in time. The Lemonheads have been touring with the Psychedelic Furs in America and this gig had the smell of a retro/nostalgia event. With no new material in many moons, Dando and his crew were bound to roll out what the punters had come along to hear.

Dando came out in a pink shirt, dark trousers with his lanky hair covering most of his face throughout the set. Playing a bit of acoustic at the start was sweet but even he had trouble getting through ‘Into Your Arms’ without a bit of vocal trouble. When he was at this same venue two years ago, with Juliana Hatfield, he was professional and switched on, this time around the snap, crackle and pop of his ability was jaded and faded.

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‘Confetti’, ‘Rudderless’ and ‘Down About It’ were all rolled out and performed with some energy from Chris Brokaw on guitar, Todd Phillips on drums and Farley Glavin on bass. They were alive and present, but that could hardly be said about the lacklustre and apathetic style demonstrated by Dando. When he did get up and sing and give it a go, looking into that fairly vacant glow emanating from his being, counteracted the energy coming from his vocal chords. It was disconcerting.

After talking to him via text and the like for two weeks he called me 90 minutes before the show and said, “Hey, it’s Evan, we are at the club early, come on down and see us.” I took him up on his invite and made my way backstage an hour before he came on.

In the small dressing room I wandered up to him with a warm smile and he said, haltingly, “So, where do I know you from, Sydney, or from…?” I chuckled and said, “Dude, we have been communicating for the last two weeks in various formats.” His response, “Get the hell out of here now”. Taken aback I thought he was joking, “Pardon?” was my reply. “Get out of here now”, Dando repeated.

Within the small confines of the dressing room I turned and met the gaze of a couple of his band mates and maybe his tour manager who sort of shrugged and turned away. The unease of seeing someone with such talent be either so damaged or possibly drug fucked that he did not recall two weeks of conversation and sharing information filled me with sadness. The looks from his cohorts seemed to make it clear this was status quo for him. It’s a shame about Evan.

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