Concert review - Lemonheads, Wolverhampton Slade Rooms

The Lemonheads

Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton

Concert review by Chris Leggett

Grunge rocker Evan Dando and his band The Lemonheads rolled back the years when they treated fans to a 75 minute set.

Opening with the American playing old favourites such as Outdoor Type and Being Around on his own before he was joined by two bandmates.

The gig was billed as a performance of 1992 breakthrough album It's A Shame About Ray.

A regular visitor to England since then, he almost got off on a bad foot when he innocently asked if Wolves had won earlier.

The groans from the relegation-haunted fans told him otherwise.

Album opener Rockin Stroll was followed by a string of fan favourites, in the original album sequence, including Confetti and Rudderless.

A peer of both Nirvana and the Pixies, Dando was always seen as lightweight by comparison.

But a superb rendition of My Drug Buddy reminded the audience of his bittersweet songwriting talents.

Others like Hannah and Gabi and Bit Part produced mass singalongs by dedicated fans.

They barely paused between songs, going straight from one into the next.

Once the album run through was completed with Frank Mills, the band treated the audience to a mix of songs from the band's 25 year career.

Dando gave another short solo set which took in a fantastic rendition of Into Your Arms.

He was rejoined by his band mates for a further electric set including Great Big No, If I Could Talk and Down About It.

They finished with a storming version of Style, leaving to cheers.

There was no chance of an encore as Dando put on his coat and exited through the crowd as the lights came up.