The Lemonheads’ return to touring has been sweet

As the leader of the Lemonheads, a gaggle of power pop ruffians who soared to popularity in the mid-90s, Dando built a kingdom dedicated to a specific sort of youth. They were apathetic and loose, pretty funny, always sincere. Their music was the same. A little bit Brit pop, a little bit surf rock, sunlight dappled by pedal steel guitar and the looming threat of the nighttime.

And Dando was the star. He had supermodel good looks and sang like it wasn’t a big deal, man, like it was all as easy as breathing.

The great monument of the Lemonheads empire was always their 1992 record “It’s a Shame About Ray,” the group’s big breakthrough. It went gold, turning them from regional rockers into indie tastemakers. “Ray” is about being invincible in your early 20s, living so high you don’t fear the hangover.

30 years on, not only is it a great record, it’s a testament to a time. “It’s a Shame About Ray” finds connections among the alienated. The operative word in “My Drug Buddy” isn’t drugs, it’s buddy. 

The Lemonheads have lived on since then, in stages after stops and starts. They’re together right now, touring to mark the 30th anniversary of “It’s a Shame About Ray’s” release. They’ll be in Billings at the Pub Station on Wednesday, Nov. 23.

Dando’s coming here to rock, but he wishes he were fishing. Dando, a Boston-area native who still calls the east coast home, is used to fishing on big saltwater, but he’s got a soft spot for Montana’s cold, fast moving streams.

“I learned to fly fish on the Gallatin River,” he remembered. “There’s a ranch there. My mom and sister and I went out one summer. It was so much fun.”

He can still name the types of fish he pulled out of the Gallatin that day, namechecking rainbow and brown trout. And that fly fishing background has come in handy.

“Fly fishing is all the rage now in saltwater,” he said. “I took that skill from there and took it to saltwater.”

He’ll pull in bonitos and bluefish off the coast with methods he picked up in the Montana mountains.

This version of the Lemonheads, with Dando on vocals and guitar, is filled out by Farley Glavin on bass and Lee Falco playing drums. On this tour, they’re playing “It’s a Shame About Ray” in its entirety.

“The fun thing is that people know what song’s coming next,” Dando said. “They like that. And we get to play some songs that we don’t usually.”

Dando likes to come out by himself at the beginning and play a few songs solo to warm up his voice and the crowd, sort of like he’s his own opening act.

He’s been at this for almost 40 years, but the 55-year-old Dando hasn’t tired of the road.

“I really like it still,” he said. And he’s learned to treasure the road even more after touring became impossible during COVID.

“It got taken away so unceremoniously,” he said.

To see how fast the world he’s built could crumble was scary, Dando said. But he thinks that threat is pushing him to be a better performer.

And it make us all really angelic about doing good shows from now on,” he said with a chuckle. “We realized what it was like to not be able to play at all. It was pretty horrifying. It was a good attitude adjustment for me.”