Duxbury's Juliana Hatfield jams with The Lemonheads at Boston shows
MUSIC REVIEW: The Lemonheads, with Juliana Hatfield, Gang Green, Dec. 18 at The Paradise Rock Club, 967 Commonwealth Ave., Boston
We may debate how exactly to categorize their music, or how consistent their live sets are, but the past weekend proved there is no doubt about the enduring popularity of The Lemonheads. The Boston band fronted by singer/songwriter Evan Dando concluded a national tour to mark the 30th anniversary of their most popular album, 1992’s “It’s A Shame About Ray,” with two sold-out shows last weekend at The Paradise Rock Club in Boston. Earlier this year there was a special commemorative edition of that album released.
Duxbury’s Juliana Hatfield, who was part of the Lemonheads lineup, singing and playing bass, for that signature album, has been playing a middle set on the tour, with various other acts opening the show in the first slot. Saturday On Being An Angel opened the show, while Beantown punk legends Gang Green opened Sunday’s soiree with a short but blistering, and well received set.
The Lemonheads’ own headline set was kind of a microcosm of their career, which is to say brilliant in some spots, ragged and confounding in others. This lineup included Farley Glavin on bass and Lee Falco on drums, with Chris Brokaw on second guitar for much of the set. Dando and his mates roared through at least 33 songs (by our count) in their 1 hour, 40-minute set. Saturday’s show included 36 tunes, but the word was that Sunday’s show started a bit late, so might’ve been trimmed a bit. Regardless, the Lemonheads played as if they were double-parked, with the leader offering virtually zero between-songs patter, and often driving the band to quickly begin the next song, seemingly before the one they were doing was wholly over.
The Lemonheads began as a punk band in 1986, but by the time of their best album, their sound and Dando’s uniquely appealing songwriting had morphed into a quirky sort of alternative rock. There was still plenty of heaviness in the music, but Dando emerged as a singularly poignant singer, with lyrics of often candid personal reflection. Tall and good looking, Dando also became a kind of alt-rock matinee idol in that heyday of videos. It was a bit disconcerting to see Dando, now 55, with shoulder length hair hanging over his face, with a salt-and-pepper goatee and a multi-colored tee shirt, leading the band from the shadows. The spotlights never found the reluctant star, which had to be by design.
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Lemonheads did 19 tunes before they got to the album, which was then performed in its entirety, in order. After a couple loud rockers, where the soundmix was being adjusted, Dando and the trio delivered an unexpectedly stunning cover of John Prine’s “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,” where the anguished nuances of his clear baritone showed his voice is in prime form. Later on, the pulse of “Break Me” was so ferocious it seemed like an avalanche of beats. Right after that, the more moderate pulse of “If I Could Talk, I’d Tell You” merged rock muscle with the singer’s vulnerability.
A solo segment, with Dando on acoustic and electric guitar, was mostly a highlight, although he does have a Dylan-esque tendency to mumble his lines. “The Outdoor Type,” a cover from the band Smudge, was a particular treat, as Dando singing about how he’s not an outdoorsman seemed especially confessional, over the most frenetic rhythm he could conjure up solo.
The tunes from “It’s a Shame About Ray” got the predictably biggest crowd response, with Hatfield appearing on bass for most of the tunes. The jangly folk-rock style guitar textures of “Confetti” was compelling, and then of course “It’s A Shame About Ray” had the crowd of almost 1,000 happily singing along. Lemonheads gave the title cut a visceral foundation, almost a Foo Fighters-level of thunder, for a deft contrast to Dando’s sweetly crooned vocal. The band subtly pushed the tempo faster and faster on “My Drug Buddy,” and their punky roots were in glorious form on “Allison’s Start to Happen.”
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One of the keys to Hatfield’s rock is the way her innocent waif’s vocals work in contrast to her harder-rocking melodies, and the often world-weary candor and poetry of her lyrics. Having her open solo with just her guitar loses much of that contrast. “Everybody Loves Me But You” was a tenderly affecting song to open her set, but she didn’t seem confident in her voice. Hatfield’s hit “My Sister” found most of the audience joining her, which seemed to bolster her and focus the set. Her 2020 tune “Christmas Cactus” hit the bullseye of balancing vulnerability with hard-won wisdom, and “I Got No Idols” ended her 35-minute set with the kind of deeply throbbing rock that provides her best framework.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Evan Dando Lemonheads celebrate 'It's a Shame About Ray' in Boston
