I used to play The Lemonhead’s first three albums endlessly when I was a DJ at my college radio station in the late ’80s, so you could say I’ve been a fan of the band for ages.
My wife would leave me in a heartbeat for Evan Dando if she had the opportunity. She’s seen him perform solo a handful of times but I shudder at the thought of watching him sing Mrs. Robinson so I never had the urge to see him live until I heard he was teaming up with Karl Alvarez and Bill Stevenson of the almighty Decendents.
The Troc was pretty empty so we had no trouble walking right up to the stage. After the show we waited in the alley backstage with one other super-fan (also named Matt) and got to meet the hunk himself. My wife is still grinning.
How was the show? fine I guess. I expected more from their earlier punkier albums because of the new members, but no such luck. Evan’s voice has really held up well over the years even though his years of drug abuse have wreaked a bit havoc on his good looks.
If you haven’t heard the newest album (self titled from 2006) then take the time to give it a listen- it’s actually quite good with a sound that fits perfectly between the early punk stuff and the later pop stuff.
UPDATE: The other Matt in the picture made it onto spin.com, along with other pics from the Philly show.
