Some events just get burned into your memory, as if they were imprinted with a cattle prod. I attended college at the University of Georgia and there was one night (I Googled and couldn’t quite place it, but thinking it was most likely in winter/spring of 1997) that should have been unspectacular but I still vividly remember.
The night in question was a night when Drivin N Cryin were playing a show at the 40 Watt Club and The Lemonheads were playing a show at the student union center.
I ended up choosing to go see Drivin N Cryin that night instead of The Lemonheads. I think there are two major reasons for my choice. First (actual successful Googling!) I saw The Lemonheads on November 25, 1996 at The Masquerade in Atlanta. Second, it would have been much harder for me to get drunk at the student union than at The 40 Watt.
During the aforementioned November Lemonheads show, I most remember being impressed by the lead singer Evan Dando, when he chastised a couple dudes who were trying to mosh. He stopped the show, made fun of them, then The Lemonheads played about a 1-minute punk instrumental and he noted that is the type of music that was more conducive to moshing.
So, about 8-10 songs into the Drivin N Cryin set they brought out our hero of the story Evan Dando. Obviously, The Lemonheads show had ended and in the ensuing time before they handed Evan a guitar it was evident he had somehow done the majority of the drugs floating around Athens that night and stopped at every bar on the way to The 40 Watt Club.
So the first song he was on stage he hung to the back and it was clear he wasn’t able to play along. It was as if I was trying to play the guitar, which I don’t have the ability to do. Evan was a trooper though and during the second song he wasn’t really even attempting to play anymore, he was just trying to not fall over. No one in Drivin N Cryin seemed to notice Evan’s plight though, so he pushed on. A third song started with Evan and luckily within the first 30 seconds or so the roadies pulled him off the stage and hopefully hid the alcohol and put him in a seat. I’m positive he would have seriously injured himself had he been allowed to stay on stage during that third song.
No idea how many live music shows I’ve been to over my lifetime, but no one has remotely approached the level of intoxication I witnessed onstage that night. So much respect to Evan Dando for his effort, kid left everything on the field.
Editor’s Note: Here are some of the bands that played the 1994 Reading Music Festival. Found this during my successful Lemonheads Masquerade find. Stunning list. Red Hot Chili Peppers/Radiohead/Ice Cube/The Verve/The Flaming Lips/Cypress Hill/Soundgarden/Pulp/Primal Scream/Manic Street Preachers/Pavement/Hole/Gang Starr/They Might Be Giants/The Lemonheads/Helmet/Morphine/Frank Black/The Afghan Whigs/Sebadoh/Stabbing Westward/Superchunk