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.

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