Evan Dando – The Ambassador – Live Review – No More Workhorse

Sat. Oct. 12, 2024

What a night. You never know which Evan Dando you’re going to get: just the put-together Evan or the car-crash Evan. There was little information online about whether he would be performing with a band or just as a solo artist. The gig was at the recently reopened Ambassador and we arrived in time to see support act Stefan Murphy, who described himself as just another idiot with an acoustic guitar. His set consisted of serviceable guitar songs, mostly taken from last year’s Hospital Verses album, and included an Alex Chilton cover dedicated to Evan Dando.

Dando arrived disheveled, with the Only Ones’ John Perry in tow, and after the duo opened with “Hard Drive,” they played a series of strange-sounding covers, many of which were from the Varshons album. After Dando sang “Mexico” in an oddly low register and a dodgy version of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful,” Perry left the stage. At this point, things were rapidly going downhill on an already difficult night.

Dando sloppily sings and performs cover after cover, often starting one song and then moving on to the next after about 90 seconds. Between these snippets of song, he talked about his life in Brazil and his supposed sobriety while brandishing what looked like a glass of milk. He mixes originals “The Outdoor Type” and “My Idea” with covers like “The Replacements” and the Stones’ “Back Street Girl,” ignoring his most popular material from the album “It’s A Shame About Ray.”

He tore through Being Around, mixing Paid To Smile with a cover of Pretenders’ Kid. You can’t say he did his own songs justice by rattling through them while yelping, laughing and staggering around the stage. The evening took a nasty turn towards the end of the performance when Dando threw the microphone stand around before lashing out at an audience member for his perceived lack of respect, saying “fuck you bitch” and giving the finger to the amused crowd. He hit “Luka” and “Into Your Arms” by Suzanne Vega before closing the night with “Why Do You Do This To Yourself,” which could have been directed at the audience or at himself.

Afterwards, however, Dando’s mood darkened again and he objected to the demand for “No Backbone”. I’m not sure what he thought he heard, but he got really angry and yelled, “Fuck you, man!” and stormed off the stage. It’s a shame about the evening, many were stunned by such a terrible performance and general behavior from Evan Dando. It’s safe to say there were no queues for goods after that, and it’s hard to see where we go from here. He hasn’t released any original material in nearly 20 years, and even his most ardent fans may have lost patience with it.