The Lemonheads
Crocodylus
Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
The cars were not flying up King Street but it didn’t really startle me.
For a decade or so ago, following an apparent increase in alcohol related violence, the New South Wales Government introduced changes to liquor licensing laws in selective suburbs, mainly around Kings Cross, affecting entry into late night venues. Perhaps it did two things: shift the problem to Newtown, and decimate the local Kings Cross businesses, many of which were run by John Ibrahim, which was perhaps the intention all along.
But Newtown is now certainly busy to the point of traffic standstill on a Tuesday night, so much so I get out of my Uber early and walk the last kilometre, happily outpacing the cars to meet my buddy Pete.
The first time Pete and I saw The Lemonheads was in Adelaide in 1991.
Up until this point, The Lemonheads had released four albums and three EPs, all broadly in the punk genre. But each of these releases in their own way had a strong sense of melody and received significant airplay on Triple J, mainly on the strength of two grungy covers of pop songs: "Different Drum" by Mike Nesmith (a song made famous by the Linda Ronstadt-led Stone Ponys) and "Luka" by Suzanne Vega.
The Adelaide gig itself was raucous, frenetic, slightly chaotic but interspersed with melody and ballads. It was a small venue which encouraged energy transfer between an audience loving the music and the band feeding off it. They played an 8-10 song encore and the night finished with Evan Dando stagediving into the crowd and being carried on the punter’s hands circumferentially around the room for a good few minutes. What was not to like? One of the best gigs I saw in Adelaide throughout my university years.
With us that night was our great friend, Patrick Emery, who sadly passed away about 18 months ago. Patrick was a prominent and prolific music journalist based in Melbourne and a frequent contributor to this website. RIP my good mate.
Roughly a year later, in mid-1992, I was in Sydney for a university convention and on a free day, so I ventured over to Waterfront Records on York Street, a legendary record store and label that gave a voice to the then genuinely alternative. There, I found the new Lemonheads album, "It’s a Shame About Ray", bought a cassette copy (yes, cassette) and played it on my Walkman on my way back to the University of NSW.
Evan Dando had taken the pop sensibility and melody of the first seven releases and ran with it to the maximum. It was a radical departure, no doubt, but still in some ways identifiable with the band of recent past: it had some dark themes, numerous drug references and often didn’t follow the standard verse/chorus/verse formula.
It was, and still is, eminently easy on the ear.
A couple of months later they released a cover of "Mrs Robinson", a Simon and Garfunkel song. This became a massive worldwide hit and the band included it as an addendum to the subseuqent editions of "It’s a Shame About Ray".
Suddenly, The Lemonheads were everywhere. All over commercial radio, on "Letterman", playing massive festivals and very much in the mainstream. In essence, by 1992 they were completely unrecognisable in sound and image from less than a year before, never to return.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I’m knocking, it’s just that I’m not in the market for syrupy pop songs more suited to commercial radio.
But I do love a great melody, just with a little edge. For example, one of my favourite bands is Guided By Voices, a group that straddles genres but has produced some of the finest pop rock songs ever written. The Lemonheads, however, never regained anything resembling the punk edge they once had.
Guided by Voices, like The Lemonheads, are fronted by a charismatic and talented singer/songwriter (Robert Pollard) with ostensibly an ensemble of musicians rotating in and out of the band. And quite a few albums into their career, GBV had a paradigm shift in sound with a very slick and highly produced radio friendly album, "Do the Collapse". This album was poorly received by early established fans, accustomed to the lo-fi, DIY aesthetic present throughout their previous 11 releases.
But in contrast to The Lemonheads, "Do The Collapse" was not a massive commercial success and of course Robert Pollard was nowhere near as aesthetically pleasing to the eye nor as marketable as Evan Dando. But in further contrast, even the most hardened pre-"Do the Collapse" fan would still have to acknowledge that GBV have produced some great songs since the year 2000, and some of their best work has come in the last decade, which has spawned an incredible 19 albums.
Could the same be said about a pre-"It’s a Shame About Ray" Lemonheads fan?
In fact, aside from a new single being released in the last week (co-written with Tom Morgan) and a new album on the horizon, The Lemonheads haven’t released an original song in nearly 20 years.
But could GBV sell out The Metro in Sydney, necessitating a shift to the larger Enmore like The Lemonheads? Maybe if they toured the 30 year anniversary of "Bee Thousand" but even then I doubt it. Such are the vagaries of musical talent, marketability and the benefit of one or two very successful albums.
So with all of the above in mind, my expectations for the night were:
- This is a catch up with a mate, remembering old times and a good friend, everything else is a bonus
- The gig itself may be of very low quality. After all, Dando is a 58-year-old man who has taken a helluva lot of drugs, and drugs or not, the quality of a singing voice diminishes in volume and range over time. Furthermore, some gigs at the end of last year had some distinctly average reviews
- There would be very few people there under the age of 40
- There would be nobody there under the age of 30, unless they were with their parents
- Almost nobody would know or care they had released four albums before "It’s a Shame About Ray"
Somewhat strangely, this tour is in honour of the 30-year anniversary of "It’s a Shame About Ray", although the album was actually released 33 years ago, which does make me a bit suspicious that the tour is actually to promote their new single and forthcoming album, and that they haven’t got enough of the new songs together yet to play live.
But as a good friend once intoned: "If you don’t look for the good in anyone or anything, then you’ll never find it". So with an open mind and a positive attitude, into the Enmore Theatre we went.
We caught the last couple of songs of support Crocodylus. Pretty good, wish we had arrived a bit earlier and saw more of them. An energetic six-piece with the saxophonist Nick Meadows taking centre stage and singer/guitarist Stephen Sacco doing the high slung John Dwyer-esq guitar. A lot to like.
A tad after the scheduled 9pm, The Lemonheads took the stage.
I’ll start with the conclusion: overall they were much better than I expected, often really good, some moments bordering on great. But I’ll also qualify: it was really the Evan Dando show.
His voice was again better than I expected, although he faltered a bit at the higher end of the range.
The mix was at the rock end of the spectrum; heavier than what I anticipated and perhaps even a bit top heavy on John Kent’s drums at times.
By and large, the bulk of the songs off the two albums were generally faithful reproductions of the originals, which gave way to many sing-along moments. "Frank Mills" was performed a cappella with the audience singing the bulk of the song like a church choir, worshipping at the altar of Evan.
But for mine, the best parts of the night were when they went off script.
And the personal highlight for me was the solo acoustic interlude of covers, just Evan backlit by monochromatic orange light. It reinforced something that has perhaps been lost in the ups and downs of his career and life: at the heart of it all he is a talented musician with a deep appreciation of music.
A surprise appearance of Ben Lee was great. Didn’t recognise him at first, and was wondering who this middle-aged suburban dad looking guy was until Pete identified him. In his prime, Evan may have got the women at his feet, hung out with his cool friends and got his records for free but would Ben now still wish he were him? Ben’s got a pretty good,stable life and has his own 20th anniversary tour of “Awake is the New Sleep” coming up later this year. Maybe not.
“Style’ was played low-fi and slower with Evan on bass and Farley Glavin taking the guitar, “Being Around” was played fast bordering on punk “Into Your Arms”, their highest selling single, was played heavy, with the guitar solo detuned to almost a metal sound…can’t help but think it was on purpose. All unexpected but welcome variations.
At times things were note perfect, at others a bit sloppy both in sound and various equipment issues. Were those little bits and pieces contrived or, as Evan mentioned, a by-product of doing a lot of drugs in the past? Don’t know.
As the tracks progressed through "Come on Feel the Lemonheads", with the mix heavy and a range of guitars being swapped in and out, I had a mild glimmer of hope they may have finished with "Sad Girl", "Hate Your Friends" or something similar.
But in typical quirky style, Evan came back for a one song encore, "Lying Eyes" by The Eagles, with just him solo playing the drums and singing which was OK...but frankly, the novelty wore off after 30 seconds or so. It wasn’t particularly easy on the ears but maybe just a gentle reminder to those who first came to the band from "It’s a Shame About Ray" onwards: they’re a pop band but they’re not. Either that or he thought it was genuinely good music.
All in all, it was a good show. Pete and I enjoyed both the music and the general feel-good factor prevalent throughout the audience. Plus it was nice to see Evan not just alive, but in good form as a musician, when there was a reasonable chance that by now he would be neither.
It was 33 years ago when The Lemonheads produced an album that thrust them into popularity - which is somethign that almost all musicians want. Popularity can be alluring and addictive, but often involves a compromise in artistic integrity and comes with the many pitfalls of fame.
To reference a lyric written about his father, in the past I feel in terms of popularity Evan would rather pretend than be alone, let’s hope it’s the opposite now.
1. Rockin Stroll
2. Confetti
3. It's a Shame About Ray
4. My Drug Buddy
5. Rudderless
6. The Turnpike Down
7. Bit Part
8. Alison's Starting to Happen
9. Hannah & Gabi
10. Kitchen
11. Ceiling Fan in My Spoon
12. Frank Mills
13. Reason to Believe (Tim Hardin cover)
14. Holocaust (Big Star cover)
15. The Outdoor Type (Smudge cover)
16. Astro Zombies (Misfits cover)
17. Skulls (Misfits cover)
18. Half the Time
19. Hard Drive (with Ben Lee)
20. The Great Big No
21. Into Your Arms (Love Positions cover)
22. It's About Time
23. Down About It
24. Paid to Smile
25. Big Gay Heart
26. Rick James Style
27. Rest Assured
28. Dawn Can't Decide
29. Being Around
30. Favorite T
31. You Can Take It With You
32. Lyin' Eyes (Eagles cover)
