A
week ago The Lemonheads opened up for the Psychedelic Furs at the Aladdin
Theater in Portland.
My
previous knowledge of The Lemonheads was pretty limited. I was familiar with
their cover of "Mrs. Robinson", and that was about it. I came away
from the show really liking them.
The
band did not have a lot of advantages on its side. The Aladdin is a very old
venue, and while it's not as noticeable for other types of acts, the sound
system is not great for music. I could not understand a word that they said,
ever.
Beyond
that there were other technical difficulties. They were late getting started. I
thought a roadie who was checking the equipment ended up going into a song to buy
the band some time, but that was no roadie, that was singer Evan Dando. I am
still not sure whether that was planned or a delay tactic due to technical
difficulties.
Even
once the whole band was on stage, issues continued with Dando breaking a
string, and having connection issues with replacement guitars, until eventually
he was using the original guitar with the string replaced.
I
am sure all of this must have been very frustrating, but they just dealt with
it. They improvised and kept going, and put on a pretty good show. Given that
their general appearance was kind of scruffy and endearing, it all just seemed
to work together. This isn't the glamorous big band, but they will give you a
good time, and it may even be more meaningful.
(And
I need to give a shout out to the sheer joie de vivre transmitted by the
drummer, with his smile and his hair being waved about by the fan. Fun to watch
because he was having so much fun.)
Then
listening to them over the week, I ended up being very impressed by their
musical depth. There is a tendency toward the humorous with the lyrics, and
that might make it easier to discount them, but they do some very interesting
things musically, and show a lot of range. At times I hear callbacks to folk
traditions, and then I am reminded of Johnny Cash, and then at one point it was
kind of like the Gin Blossoms did a very fuzzy version of the theme song from
"All In The Family", which I think means basically that there were
elements of both grunge and jangle in the song, but seriously, how many people
could even think of that?
"Seckular
Rockulidge" is a pretty good example of some of the things they can do for
rock. The guitar is also quite strong on "Cazzo Di Ferro", which also
displays an impressive Italian vocabulary. I wouldn't say it is typical for
them, but they throw in so many surprises over the course of the discography
that I'm not sure what would be typical. Maybe "Into Your Arms" and
"Confetti", because those were releases and had videos, and they are
good song, but you would be missing a lot if you only knew those. People should
listen to "Mallo Cup".
One
thing that really surprised us at the concert was that they never did play
"Mrs. Robinson", and in retrospect I think it makes sense. They did a
great job with it, and it is good guitar playing, but it's such a small part of
their heritage, and so disproportionately known, that maybe it's best to
neglect it a little.
Anyway,
I'm glad I got to see them. The Lemonheads are worth checking out.
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