I'm going to be honest with you: seeing Evan Dando is completely a crapshoot. The last time he graced our fair city with the Lemonheads last June, it was, well, sort of a heartbreaking disaster. But when he's on, he's 110% on, crooning delicious indie rock like there's no tomorrow. Those of us that still stand behind him after all these years wait and hope and pray for those moments of clarity, and all we can do is show up  tonight at the Tractor and hope for the best. This fairly recent video makes me lean towards the side of hopeful for tonight (and seriously, doesn't this song still give you chills?)

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at The Tractor

As I mentioned before, I've been a Lemonheads fan for about 17 years, and had never seen them live. I was bursting with joy entering the Tractor on Friday night, not realizing that I'd end up nearly in tears by the end of the night.

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I have been an unapologetic Lemonheads fan since I was a little kid. I remember around 1993 my mom had a tape for the car, with It's A Shame About Ray on one side, and a live show from WXRT Chicago on the other. The words didn't make sense, as of course, a lot of them are about drugs, but I still sang along with my own made up words, and because of my early exposure to such genius pop riffs, I grew up appreciating pop music, especially when it rocked a little harder.

And now, after 15+ years of dedicated fandom, tonight I get to see them for the first time (save an awkward solo Evan Dando in studio at KEXP a few years back). And to be honest, I haven't even heard the new record yet. Even if they play just one old song, it'll be worth it. And if you ever spent time rocking out to It's A Shame About Ray or Come On Feel or Lovey or Lick, you probably won't be disappointed tonight. 

And because I can't resist, here's a video I've watched dozens of times from a 1995 Hard Rock Cafe VH1 session of "The Outdoor Type".

at Paradise Rock Club

The surprisingly taciturn Dando managed to successfully bring me right back to the days when I wore out my Lemonheads cassettes and my Ray t-shirt grew threadbare.

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