The Lemonheads Beautiful Chaos in Manchester

Matt Oliver
Aug 18
2 min read

O2 Ritz - Manchester - August 16th 2025

WORDS / IMAGES MATT OLIVER

The Lemonheads Beautiful Chaos in Manchester — THE LEMONHEADS

The Lemonheads - 16/08/25 - Beautiful Chaos in Manchester

Nestled on Whitworth Street West and famous for its sprung dance floor, the ritz is a cornerstone of Manchester’s music scene. Its theatre-style balcony, overlooking the stage, offers the perfect vantage point for soaking up the atmosphere below. Tonight, that is exactly what I and 1,500 others did as The Lemonheads made a triumphant return to Manchester. The Ritz was packed to the rafters by the time they stepped—or rather, exploded —onto the stage.

Kicking off the night was Bevis Frond, a four-piece who set the stage alight with a commanding indie-rock performance. Their tight, jangly riffs and pulsing rhythms filled the Ritz, they owned it and with a special appearance from Evan Dando himself for one song leaving the audience buzzing and primed for the headliners.

But the night belonged to The Lemonheads, led by the ever-unpredictable Evan Dando, who took to the stage delivering a performance that felt like a time machine to the raw, unfiltered energy of ‘90s alt-rock. Dando, a seasoned frontman who’s navigated decades of music and personal highs and lows, commanded the room from the moment he stepped up. It was a chaotic start, but chaos is Dando’s calling card, and the crowd was here for it.

The set leaned heavily on the band’s back catalogue, with a special focus on their 1993 classic Come on Feel The Lemonheads, played in its entirety. Songs like “Into Your Arms” and “Big Gay Heart” carried the weight of nostalgia but landed with crisp precision, as if the band hadn’t aged a day. Dando’s voice, weathered yet sharp, cut through the venue, pulling the audience into a simpler era when music was about grit and melody, not metrics.

Dando’s charisma remains his greatest asset. This wasn’t a polished pop show, nor did it try to be. The Lemonheads’ performance was a raw, lived-in testament to Dando’s singular presence—a frontman who can still hold a room in the palm of his hand, flaws and all. For one night in Manchester, The Lemonheads proved they’ve still got it.