St. Louis is a city that welcomes its beloved bands and performers with much warmth and enthusiasm, and while Evan Dando has always been a bit of an oddball with sphinx-like expressions and perplexing character, last night’s performance at The Old Rock House lacked the receptive warmth and intimacy that should’ve been from a solo acoustic performance. Not removing his winter coat, he sped through 24 songs in just under an hour, he barely paused between songs and if so, only to mumble a quick “Thank you” to the small audience at the gig. While he did sing some great Lemonheads classics like My Drug Buddy and It’s About Time, his voice seemed a bit strained from time to time and really didn’t have much feeling when singing.
After closing the rushed set with In The Grass All Wine Colored, he half-mumbled something into the microphone and abruptly left the stage and never coming back out to speak to the small crowd of fans that remained afterwards. Lacking the emotional depth and intimacy of a solo gig, one would’ve found the opening band, The Candles, far more impressive and Evan’s performance ultimately dissapointing. It’s a shame since I personally am a longtime fan of The Lemonheads and have fond memories of listening to their albums in high school.
Photographing the gig was even more challenging because as a photographer and music enthusiast, if the gig is lackluster, so is my drive to photograph the person if I’m even allowed past the first 3 songs. Since this was in a small club, there were no song limits, although I stopped shooting after a few songs because of the less than impressive performance. Using all 3 of my lenses, I strained to find good lighting and composition, as Evan hardly ever opened his eyes during the show. As I’ve said before, you can be a great photographer and know your environment technically and aesthetically, but when it comes down to it, it’s the performance that counts.
