Evan Dando live
at Village Veranda Perth on 21st February 2004
Part of the Perth International Festival
Review from xpressmag
Those who shed a tear at the passing of the Watershed as a venue will be pleased to know that the location for this year's UWA Perth International Arts Festival is a beaut. Although a capacity crowd spilled into the city's latest alfresco venue, there was plenty of space in The Village Veranda for comfortable music consumption.
The night was billed as a songwriters showcase and was headed off by Bob Evans,
a man who appears to want to disassociate his solo career from that of his
significantly more famous band. Maybe this stance was borne out of a previous
contractual obligation or maybe it is the realisation that 'Bob Evans' as
an artist should be given his own chance to shine. Working through tunes mostly
from his debut Suburban Kid, the most notable part of Evans' performance was
the development of his voice. It is in the stripped back format that these
tunes get a more complementary delivery. A few hits and a cover of Raindrops
Keep Fallin' On My Head and the affable Evans handed the torch to Tim Rogers.
Maybe it was the few gins beforehand or the opportunity to play in such pleasant
surrounds, but either way the Tim Rogers who walked on stage with his western
shirt and sloppy black hat decorated with feathers was in fine form and keen
to entertain. If the often comical delivery of his tunes didn't get them in,
his sparkling between song banter had everyone eating out of his hand. Rogers,
for the most part treated the punters to tunes from his forthcoming album
from his 'new' band The Temperance Union. There was as usual, a collection
of songs dedicated to his wife and daughter and an epic version of The Smokin'
Popes. The highlight of the set was the tender rewrite of Paragon Café,
delivered as a tribute to the sadly missed fallen angel, Michael Lock. After
a few You Am I hits, a cover of Victoria by the Kinks and a couple more mentions
that they were selling the appropriately titled Rogers beer at the bar, Bob
Evans returned to the stage. The two then launched into an endearing but flawed
version of If We Can't Get It Together. The two mates then made way for the
"greatest country soul singer in the world" as Rogers so succinctly
put it.
A decidedly healthy looking Evan Dando treated the West to a switched on performance. As a stark contrast to Rogers' set, Dando entered into minimal between song banter as he let the songs do the talking, launching into a set of Lemonheads greats. A large portion of the material was pulled from the hugely successful desert island disc It's A Shame About Ray and its follow up Come On Feel. Dando raised the irony stakes with a version of Ben Lee's debut single I Wish I Was Him, a song funnily enough, written about one E.Dando when in his prime. The set highlight was a heavily strummed rendition of Style as Dando took the opportunity to step back from the microphone and shake his ample hair.
Two songs from the criminally overlooked solo record Baby I'm Bored got an airing the bittersweet My Idea and the maudlin All My Life. Both tunes held up favourably to the hits of yesteryear.
As a finale the white jacketed, mandolin wielding Rogers joined Dando for
versions of $1000 Wedding, Hot Burrito #1 and an aborted attempt at Honky
Tonk Women. A wink, a crooked smile and a brief hug and they were gone with
little fuss, leaving a happy crowd knowing they had witnessed an unforgettable
evening with three fine artists revelling in their craft.