LONDON--The easiest thing to dwell upon when writing about Evan Dando [ tickets ] is his much-chronicled drug problems of the mid-'90s, when reports of his use of hard drugs abounded. The stories reached a near-comical level in 1995, when Dando managed to play the wrong tent at the Glastonbury Festival.

Despite how many substances go up an artist�s nose, though, talent boils down to whether he or she has it or hasn�t. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead are proof that high toxicity levels don�t always erode genius.

Dando�s intimate, one-man-and-his-electric-guitar show at London�s Dingwalls on Tuesday (2/20) was the work of a dressed-down yet confident professional. With lank hair falling over his face, wearing a black Del Bombers T-shirt, the ex-Lemonheads frontman was casual and relaxed. Now thirty-something, Dando is still good-looking, but his handsomest feature isn�t his face anymore. It�s his steady voice.

When he wrote lyrics and played guitar in the Lemonheads, Dando pulled all the elements of the band together. The majority of his 24-song set at Dingwalls was made-up of old material from the band�s albums "Come On Feel," "It�s a Shame About Ray" and "Car Button Cloth." Beginning the show with "It�s a Shame About Ray" and "Down About It," Dando was the Lemonheads boiled down to its essence.

Rolling out the old anthology of hits also testified to how memorable Dando�s Lemonheads-era lyrics were. Mixed with a distorted guitar and a country tempo, lines like "If I was your body would you still wear clothes/If I was a booger would you blow your nose" from "Being Around" are stupidly funny, but they�re unforgettable. Meanwhile, descriptions like "The cigarette girl took off her tray and dropped her dress in a shiny pile/Pulled her pants up on the way/When she gets home she'll laugh a while," from "Paid to Smile," which was written by Dando, are the mark of good storyteller.

Despite the doubters who thought he wouldn�t show up or would be too messed up to perform, Dando�s show was a mellow but well-delivered affair. The drugs didn�t figure into the big man�s smooth shindig one way or another.