Sat. Dec. 16

Welcome Evan Dando and whoever else the Lemonheads are these days. Personal history: Yours truly wrote the first review of a Lemonheads 45 back in the day, and Dando, God love him, was eternally grateful. I also wrangled him and pal Juliana Hatfield into a Feelies gig at Berklee. And then the three of us spent an afternoon on Martha's Vineyard, discussing, among other things, that the Manson's family's intended target, Terry Melcher, had a summer home right across the street. It was grimly fiendish speculation. Manson fascinated us both. Anyway, those were tales from the early days. There was the evolution from punks to pop heart-throbs, improbable cover hits "Mrs. Robinson" and "Luka," and a lot of good original rock. A move from clubs to arenas. Dando hit the celebrity pages, pumped up by Sassy, the NY Post and People; he also hit the rocks on Drug and Drink Island. In 1996, they released a strong disc, "Car, Button, Cloth," but the band quietly folded after that. (Dando did sporadic solo work, some of it quite good.) Ten years later, they're back (with new personnel) and an album "The Lemonheads." And people are gushing about a renewed sense of purpose. These guys can be masters of the three-minute pop song and that's the turf they're covering once again here. Check them out at Avalon Sat. Dec. 16. Now, it takes some chutzpuh to name your rock band VietNam - what does that mean exactly? - but that's what the Philly-to-Brooklyn quartet did and the results are impressive on their self-titled debut. A little bluesy, pretty intense - for fans of strangled vocals and epic-like song construction. The Hymn open at 7 p.m. Tickets: $20.

15 Lansdowne St., 67-262-2437 livenation.com