World of Hurt

Things in life can be a 50/50 bet.  A toss of a coin. Good or bad.  And so it was the case when we recently saw Evan Dando.  He has notoriously had disasterous gigs, but for all the times I've seen him perform it has been a joy.  Only a couple of years ago I wrote about the wonder of seeing your aging idol, noting that we were all growing older together and some people's voices can still be a touchstone for you. But this recent gig was the other side of that coin. The bad gig that many others have experienced.

We could see from the side of the stage that Evan turned up late to the venue.  Arriving as he should have been coming on the stage.  He ran out hurriedly and spoke into the mic.  He spoke so quickly it made no sense whatsoever. Jibberish.  After the first few songs some people walked out of the venue.  The gig itself was a mix of good and bad moments.  Songs we all loved (and sang along with) and others where he forgot chords, changed tempo, got half way through and ab…