EVAN DANDO & LEE VING
WISH I WAS THEM
Pairing Evan Dando, the Lemonheads' teen pinup-boy vocalist, with Fear's hardcore-punk front man Lee Ving, might be the most bizarre acoustic tour duo ever. It's as crazy as Ike "Aw, Tina, baby . . ." Turner hitting the road with Devendra Banhart or Henry Rollins sharing the stage with Sufjan Stevens. And it's really happening. Is anyone else worried Ving is gonna beat up Dando for the headliner slot? After all, Ving is known for lyrics such as "Let's have a war! Give guns to the queers!" And Dando's best songs toe the line between sweet and self-effacing: "Never learned to swim, can't grow a beard or even fight—I lied about being the outdoor type." But then, maybe Ving and Dando will bond over the fact they each partied the hardest in their glory days (during early '80s LA punk and the mid-'90s Boston indie rock, respectively) and then took some time off to reflect on their non-mainstream rock stardom. Between Fear records, Ving picked up bit parts in Clue, Flashdance and even Who's the Boss? And Dando disappeared for a few years (as well as, coincidentally, when he was supposed to be doing this interview) to ditch his drug habit and marry a model, Elizabeth Moses. It's a setup for some mind-blowing duets, though: the highlight of Dando's recent solo shows has been his cover of Ben Lee's Noise Addict song "I Wish I Was Him," written as an ode to Dando himself at his height of fame, drug use and crush-worthiness, and it's sung with soft nostalgia. The only thing that could make it better? Lee Ving on the harmony part. (Kara Zuaro)
EVAN DANDO AND LEE VING WITH MICHAEL MILLER AT THE COACH HOUSE, 33157 CAMINO CAPISTRANO, SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, (949) 496-8930. WED., 8 P.M. $15. ALL AGES.
LE TIGRE
THE TIME IS NOW!
There's a lot Le Tigre thought people wouldn't get about them: their sample-based electronic music, their socially aware lyrics about (among other things) feminism, and hmm, maybe a butch lesbian as one of their members? So their newest record, This Island, could be the band's most important release: it's out on major label Universal, which means a lot more visibility and a lot more responsibility. "We felt like things are so bad politically that there are no really radical or feminist representations in pop culture," says member Johanna Fateman, part of the all-girl trio with long-time-ago Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna and J.D. Samson. "And that maybe this would be a cool experiment." This Island, co-produced by the band and Nicolas Sassone, is their poppiest album to date, featuring cleaner beats and a track punched up by former Cars member (and producer extraordinaire) Ric Ocasek. Still, does such a big move mean that Le Tigre—whose debut several years ago presaged electro and lo-fi indie rock beat making—is going for an all-or-nothing break-it-big-or-disappear-forever scenario? "We never thought this is our last chance, but we're more like, 'The time is now for Le Tigre!'" says Fateman. "And maybe there is a part of us that thinks it's time to get our due. Not because we're bitter or jaded, but because we've been working so fucking hard." (Alex Roman)
LE TIGRE WITH LESBIANS ON ECSTASY AND WILLPOWER AT THE GLASS HOUSE, 200 W. SECOND ST., POMONA, (909) 629-0377. SAT., 7 P.M. $14. ALL AGES.
