Concerts

Savor the sweet sounds of The Lemonheads in Boston

Evan Dando and his current bandmates will perform the whole of 1992's delectable "It's A Shame About Ray" at the Paradise on Dec. 17 and 18.

Photo by Barry Brecheisen

By Blake Maddux

2 minutes to read

If Evan Dando has written any new songs in the past 15 years, then he must be keeping them to himself.

Since releasing his first solo album – “Baby I’m Bored” – in 2003, the extent of the original material that he has put his name on has been limited to the self-titled 2006 “reunion” album by The Lemonheads, which appeared a decade after that band’s last release, “Car Button Cloth.”

In the intervening 16 years, Dando – under The Lemonheads name – has issued two collections of covers, “Varshons” and “Varshons 2,” the latter coming 10 years after the former.

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Fortunately, Dando has an ample back catalog of original material that guarantees him audiences around the world whenever he decides to hit the road.

Thanks to the release last December of the 30th anniversary edition of “It’s A Shame About Ray,” he has the best possible reason to do so now.

The initial success of “Ray” was largely due to a later-added version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson,” which The Lemonheads originally recorded in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the movie that made it famous, “The Graduate.”

Three full decades later, the album still sounds magnificent because every single one of its songs is so damn good. Dando did an exemplary job of exhibiting all of his influences, including jangle pop, country rock, folk, power pop, punk, and even show tunes.

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Luckily, Dando and company are performing the whole thing, beginning to end, on their current tour.

After venturing through the UK and Ireland in September and October, Dando and company will kick off their North American trek in Lititz, Pennsylvania on Nov. 17. One month thereafter, they will arrive in Boston for the first of two nights at the Paradise Rock Club. A second show was added after one proved insufficient to meet the demands of the band’s hometown fans, but tickets are going fast for that one as well.

Former Lemonhead and longtime Boston-area resident Juliana Hatfield will open and presumably join the band on stage for a song or several during the Dec. 9-Dec. 18 portion, including the hometown shows.

Here is Boston.com’s story about the time when Dando lost his wallet at Walgreens in Falmouth. Below is the video of him serenading the store in appreciation after a customer turned it in and he recovered it intact.

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