Evan Dando & Julian Hatfield - Royal Festival Hall

Despite the prestigious venue, this one turned out to be a surprisingly low-key show with Evan and Juliana playing together trading songs (or “song pong” as Juliana called it). A very casual approach made it feel more like you were listening to two friends trading songs and swapping guitars in your lounge room.

It did lead to a few sloppy moments harmony-wise (particularly early as Juliana seemed to warm up as the night progressed and was in much better voice for the last part of the show) and neither seemed sure who was going to take which verse on their cover of The Velvets “Pale Blue Eyes”.

But there was some brilliant moments as well: a saw player (!) joining to add eerie effects to “Big Gay Heart”, Juliana’s backing vocals on “Bit Part” and “Down About It” – and some much needed love for the later Blake Babies album ‘God Bless The Blake Babies’ with “Brain Damage” and the Madder Rose cover “Baby Get’s High” from that record both highlights. It was great to hear the Teenage Fanclub cover “Cells” live too.

Best thing was the reminder of how fantastic a songwriter (or collaborator as most of the best songs are co-writes) Evan Dando is. It's easy to recall how great Lemonheads stuff like “Confetti”, “Ride with Me”, and "Hospital" are; but the real suprise was solo material like “Hard Drive” and show opener “All My Life” which were both brilliant.  

All My Life
Butterflies
Bit Part
Choose Drugs
Candy Wrappers
Down About It
Hard Drive
I Picked You Up
Confetti
Brain Damage
Into Your Arms
Pale Blue Eyes
Ride With Me
Waiting For Heaven
Hospital
It's About Time
Cells
Big Gay Heart
My Sister
Being Around
Ugly
Frying Pan
Somebody Is Waiting For Me
It's A Shame About Ray
My Drug Buddy
Baby Gets High
Different Drum