Of bad boys, and wasted talent

Evan Dando is coming to Athens this week, and it should be applauded he’s still able to tour after 20 years in the music business. Not many people can lay claim to such a feat, and it’s rather amazing since Dando has battled his share of demons and from everything I’ve read and gathered about him, is pretty much a flake. I think many people thought he’d be dead of an accidental something or other by now.

One of my favorite albums of the early ’90s is It’s a Shame About Ray, a pop masterpiece which came out in the year of grunge and probably would have been bigger if not for Mr. Cobain and company. Many remember Ray for the cover of Mrs. Robinson (which was quite good but is a bit of an anomaly on the album), but the rest of the tracks are catchy and interesting, with songs of drug use (My Drug Buddy), wanting (Alison’s Starting to Happen), and lyrics I love to sing along to (He kinda shoulda sorta woulda loved her if he could’ve).

Dando and his revolving band of mates (another example of Dando’s issues, he’s had more than 20 people play his backup over the years) wrote some other catchy tunes, including the one on those AT&T commercials (probably a main reason why Dando is still kicking around the music world, all it takes is one song). His comeback album in 2006, entitled The Lemonheads, was brilliant and one of my favorite of the year. He came to the 40 Watt to tour on that album, and while I was excited go and see him, I was aware of his propensity for making a mockery of his live performances.

There were early reports during that tour of him falling all over the stage, getting into shouting matches with the audience and being to incoherent to play. Sometimes you go to shows to see what will happen and not to see if the performance will be any good (I did this with Oasis, which saw Liam leave after four songs with a sore throat forcing Noel to save the day, which he did to the best of his abilities. I was up front and center, I was pretty sure Noel was going to kill him), and Dando did not disappoint. After stumbling over a sloppy series of songs, none of which were played with much verve at all – he punched the mic to the floor, walked down the steps of the 40 Watt stage and out the front door. My wife, who was pregnant at the time, was standing in the back and was wondering what was going on when Dando sped right by her. “He just took off down the street,” she said.

The two other guys in the band just shook their head and walked off stage. The show wasn’t great but memorable, which I guess is something.

So I might go and see Dando again this week just to see what he does. Maybe he’ll make up for his last show and give the crowd a strong night of music. But probably not – he’s been dicking around for 20 years now and he’s still going. If you can act like a dick for 20 years and still get paid, why stop?