The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray - Academy Apr 17th 2012

Miguel_Sanchez

This will be great. Brilliant band, great album.

The Lemonheads will treat Irish fans to a live airing of their hit 1992 album It’s A Shame About Ray when they perform it in it’s entirety at The Academy on April 17th. The band will also play Galway’s Roisin Dubh the night before on the 16th.
Tickets for The Academy are priced €23.00 including booking fee are on sale tomorrow, Friday 16 December at 9am from Ticketmaster outlets and online at www.ticketmaster.ie

http://www.mcd.ie/listings/fg.php?c=2133742&ar=thelemonheads&cat=all

honru

Could be a maybe. Though I wasn't mad about their gig in the Ambassador what ever year they played there.

lordgoat

can't wait.

indiewindy

Only a few days to go now, this tour is getting great reviews
Meredith Sheldon is listed as supporting them

ned rierson

i hear Galway was excellent last night. then again the roisin is a better venue than the dreadful academy

s8n

Academy is a great venue - not sure what your on about

NIBBS

any sign of stage times for this yet ????? as usual lately they are hard to track down....

lempsipmax

I would love to have the time, recall and ability to write a full review of last night but I don't. It was pretty much perfect. In brief:

They played for just shy of 2 hours. I would guess about 40 songs. He warmed himself and the crowd out with a short acoustic set, then was joined by the band for Ray - which was just amazing. 12 timeless, hook-laden, riff-tastic, juicy earworms, delivered quick-fire with casual abandon. He ditched his guitar for Frank Mills and sang it acapella.

After that they pretty much played a full gig. Another beautiful eclectic acoustic set (which no one talked through - they all listened!!!) with a good few covers thrown in and then with the band again rocked out.

Faultless.

dinneenp

A few photos. The lighting in Roisin Dubh is awful for photography- dark red lights so even with my very fast lens (f1.4) I struggled to get any good shots, these are all unprocessed:






Kurt Cobain?


Waiting in the wings


I'll have more up on my photography site, blog section tonight

eviltimeban

Was at the Academy last night. A very phoned-in show, some really dodgy singing in places too. I've seen Dando / The Lemonheads about six times and each time the quality has progressively gone down. No enthusiasm from Evan, barely a word to the audience, just knocked out the songs without any real emotion or care. He barely moved from the spot, even during the rocking parts.

Did the same thing as above, played a few acoustic songs, then played "Ray", couple more songs, then a few things from "Come On Feel" etc, and it was all over in an hour and ten minutes.

The songs are great and the band were tight, but you could tell Evan didn't want to be there.

delbertgrady

eviltimeban wrote: »

The songs are great and the band were tight, but you could tell Evan didn't want to be there.

It's a shame.

Squelchy

eviltimeban wrote: »

Was at the Academy last night. A very phoned-in show, some really dodgy singing in places too. I've seen Dando / The Lemonheads about six times and each time the quality has progressively gone down. No enthusiasm from Evan, barely a word to the audience, just knocked out the songs without any real emotion or care. He barely moved from the spot, even during the rocking parts.

Did the same thing as above, played a few acoustic songs, then played "Ray", couple more songs, then a few things from "Come On Feel" etc, and it was all over in an hour and ten minutes.

The songs are great and the band were tight, but you could tell Evan didn't want to be there.

Couldn't agree more. Very underwhelming.

dinneenp

I was at the Galway gig. Maria, a girl I was talking to said that he's not big for talking to the audience in general. He did speak to the crowd in Galway a bit, maybe the smaller venue suits.
They played Keep On Rockin The Free World and some other tunes which seemed to be just for fun/off the top of his head.

A few more photos from Galway:








Fred Mascherino:

ned rierson

its a shame about ray ? its a shame i drove into dublin last night. the venue was packed yet there was no atmosphere at all. almost surreal. i was surprised the band came out for an encore as most people chattered away and only a few called for more. plus he needs a proper full time band, not a couple of pick up musicians. the only highlight of last night was having a beer with ryan adams afterwards. and i dont even like his music.

NIBBS

I agree with all the above comments, something was way off last night, to be honest it was hard to know it was an encore at all - he started off ok, and to be honest I thought he didn't want to be there from about 15 mins in........the whole thing was a bit disjointed - I was on the barrier, so there were a few people around me shouting and we were all applauding, but there was definitely a lot of chatter from behind.....maybe people that went were expecting something different.....

in fairness to the guys with him the had a lot more energy than Dando himself, he picked up pace as he went along, was nice to hear the album live, but to be honest I wouldn't be bothered paying for something like that again........

on a side note - I enjoyed Rams Pocket Radio

took a vid of Rudderless last night - see below

bobbygirl

Beer with Ryan Adams !! Would have more than made up for it if that was me;) Surprised he is in town already....

ned rierson wrote: »

its a shame about ray ? its a shame i drove into dublin last night. the venue was packed yet there was no atmosphere at all. almost surreal. i was surprised the band came out for an encore as most people chattered away and only a few called for more. plus he needs a proper full time band, not a couple of pick up musicians. the only highlight of last night was having a beer with ryan adams afterwards. and i dont even like his music.

eviltimeban

dinneenp wrote: »

Fred Mascherino:

That's not Fred Mascherino, not sure who the bass guy was but it wasn't him. He was a lefty to start with.

Miguel_Sanchez

What was up with that tall guy shouting Charles Manson at Dando? He was odd.

I wasn't expecting perky Evan Dando (had seen him in the Village a few years back) so wasn't as disappointed as everyone else here.

Quite liked hearing songs like Divan live again. Although Dando did sound (as I read on twitter) "like he woke up in a barrel of cigarettes" alright.

eviltimeban

That tall guy was right on front of me, he kept moving around, was funny there was a group of really tiny girls and he stood on front of them but they kept getting him to move!

He was shouting Charles Manson, presumably because he wanted to hear Dando's cover of "Your home Is Where You're Happy". The guy later clarified his remarks by calling out this title, to which Dando responded "that's more specific".

I've seen Dando get very annoyed by people shouting at him, especially drunk guys like this guy was. At the Olympia a few years ago (jaysis, probably 10 years ago now!) he actually called out to a guy and told him to come backstage as he wanted to sort him out!!

I was at the Village too, the full band one was it? That was a great gig, I thought Dando was very upbeat at that one; in fact I met him backstage afterwards and he was very friendly and chatty.

But for me the solo acoustic thing is done. He put no effort into playing the guitar (he didn't even use a strap), and his singing was pretty off. The band show was OK, enjoyable actually, nice to hear stuff like Hospital, Style and Mallo Cup (a song I'd totally forgotten about).

Oh yeah, there was a girl on front of me texting, and I could see what she wrote - "he looks like he fell out of a skip!" and "he's off his head!".

Welcome to the world of the Dando, young one.

NIBBS

eviltimeban wrote: »

That tall guy was right on front of me, he kept moving around, was funny there was a group of really tiny girls and he stood on front of them but they kept getting him to move!

He was shouting Charles Manson, presumably because he wanted to hear Dando's cover of "Your home Is Where You're Happy". The guy later clarified his remarks by calling out this title, to which Dando responded "that's more specific".

I've seen Dando get very annoyed by people shouting at him, especially drunk guys like this guy was. At the Olympia a few years ago (jaysis, probably 10 years ago now!) he actually called out to a guy and told him to come backstage as he wanted to sort him out!!

I was at the Village too, the full band one was it? That was a great gig, I thought Dando was very upbeat at that one; in fact I met him backstage afterwards and he was very friendly and chatty.

But for me the solo acoustic thing is done. He put no effort into playing the guitar (he didn't even use a strap), and his singing was pretty off. The band show was OK, enjoyable actually, nice to hear stuff like Hospital, Style and Mallo Cup (a song I'd totally forgotten about).

Oh yeah, there was a girl on front of me texting, and I could see what she wrote - "he looks like he fell out of a skip!" and "he's off his head!".

Welcome to the world of the Dando, young one.

saw that really tall guy outside before hand......but there was another drunken muppet very between him and the center of the stage that was shouting at hm too and he was having none of it.......

Jeff - I've no problem with someone being quiet, or grumpy on stage - but he really didn't seem like he wanted to be bothered after a few songs......certainly stormed off when he was done too, couldn't get off quick enough.....but maybe that's just his way......

I was only disappointed because I think it could have been much better very easily.......everyone has an off night here or there.....maybe Galway took it's toll :-)

Miguel_Sanchez

He was shouting Charles Manson, presumably because he wanted to hear Dando's cover of "Your home Is Where You're Happy". The guy later clarified his remarks by calling out this title, to which Dando responded "that's more specific".

Ah right. I could only hear him at the start.

I was at the Village too, the full band one was it? That was a great gig, I thought Dando was very upbeat at that one; in fact I met him backstage afterwards and he was very friendly and chatty.

It was a different gig - he just had one guy with him as far as I remember. Wasn't very chatty - a few wry remarks and that was it.

Squelchy

Decent rant on Broadsheet.ie about how crap this gig was. Though it's actually merciful in that it doesn't mention how awful his singing was.

indiewindy

I enjoyed the gig, venue was almost full even during encore, if it was as bad as some people are saying you would have expected lots to leave early.
I thought security dealt effectively with the drunk who was waving his pint and shouting at Evan.
Solo acoustic at start was great as was the album, the band seemed tight and really enjoying themselves especially the drummer

funkyfemme

eviltimeban wrote: »

That's not Fred Mascherino, not sure who the bass guy was but it wasn't him. He was a lefty to start with.

The guy on bass is Jesse Cronan.... he used to be in a band called InnerPartySystem, check them out....AMAZING, super cool tracks: Don't Stop/Redemption/This Town Is Your Grave... and an excellent version of Joy Division's "Transmission"!!!

Squelchy

indiewindy wrote: »

Solo acoustic at start was great

:eek:
He couldn't sing worth a crap! I'm stunned anyone could miss how off he was - the very first line he sang was rotten.

eviltimeban

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

Ah right. I could only hear him at the start.




It was a different gig - he just had one guy with him as far as I remember. Wasn't very chatty - a few wry remarks and that was it.

Must have been alright. First time I say them was in 97, I think it was the Olympia, Evan was in his "crazy" phase but it was a very upbeat and fun gig. At one point he came out with a boombox and put it up the mic and drummed along! Plus he did an AMAZING cover of Gram Parson's "A Song For You" - was just beautiful.

Best gig was solo acoustic in Whelan's in 2002 I think, played with Bens Kweller and Lee, and they all came out at the end and did a few songs as a trio. Was a really really fun gig, everyone in great form, I have the whole thing on bootleg and its a joy to listen to.

Ah well. Was just an "off" night I guess.

oliviamae

The crowd last night were more entertaining than the band. Evan gave a very lack lustre performance, and from Galway photos above, it looks like he didn't even bother to change his clothes! However despite this, his songs are so good that even bad nights are great.

Travors

I had the same dissapointing gig experience as the rest of you guys. I wrote a short post on it and it was picked up by broadsheet.ie:
http://www.broadsheet.ie/2012/04/18/so-did-you-like-the-lemonheads-at-the-acadamy-dublin-last-night/

As ever, I'd skip the idiotic comments "Don't read the bottom half of the internet"

Miguel_Sanchez

Squelchy wrote: »

:eek:
He couldn't sing worth a crap! I'm stunned anyone could miss how off he was - the very first line he sang was rotten.

I really like Dando but I've never seen him deliver a great vocal performance live. His voice being off wasn't a surprise - although it was the weakest I've heard from him.

I still enjoyed the gig though.

alastair

eviltimeban wrote: »

Best gig was solo acoustic in Whelan's in 2002 I think, played with Bens Kweller and Lee, and they all came out at the end and did a few songs as a trio. Was a really really fun gig, everyone in great form, I have the whole thing on bootleg and its a joy to listen to.

What he said - great gig.

AaronPunk

I thought it was a great gig (It's a Shame About Ray is one of my favorite albums, so I loved hearing it live) and I also enjoyed Hospital, the acoustic version of Hard Drive and the last song Style. I agree what people were saying about Dando. He seemed a bit disconnected with the audience.
And it's funny that everyone remembers that drunk guy. I remember at the begging he randomly shouted "Jesus" to which Dando replied "Hitler. Where are you going with this list?".
I bought the "It's a Shame About Ray" t-shirt after the gig and in college yesterday, my old photography lecturer started talking to me about how The Lemonheads are his guilty pleasure and that he saw Dando live a few years ago.

eviltimeban

Ah I wondered why he said Hitler!

Was thinking about a t shirt but €22 was a bit steep. As was the 15 euro for "Hotel Sessions", which is pretty unlistenable (from a decent quality point of view).

AaronPunk

Yeah, I agree, I thought €22 was bit steep too (especially when you consider that the price of a ticket was only a euro more!), but I finally decided to buy it anyway.