| * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AMERICAN MUSIC - July 6, 2003 * * * THE VIOLENT FEMMES Email List * * * * * * * * * * List archive online at http://www.oocities.org/violentfemmeslist ************************************************************************* TOUR DATES (*=New Dates) *Thursday 7/10/03 Baltimore MD Power Plant Live Friday 7/11/03 Norfolk VA The Boathouse *Saturday 7/12/03 Washington DC Live on Penn *Thursday 8/21/03 Anaheim CA House of Blues Anaheim *Friday 8/22/03 Las Vegas NV Skin Pool Lounge Saturday 8/23/03 Del Mar CA Thoroughbred Club *************************************************************************** IN THIS ISSUE: New July/August Tour Dates Mud in Memphis Chicago Review RE: Video Compilation VF in Nashvile article **************************************************************************** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Memphis Flyer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A few days before the femmes show in memphis this quote appeared in an article in the newspaper. " Gordon announced to me and Victor he doesn't want to record new material with the Femmes ever again. However, he is more unstable than the Middle East, so who knows how long he will hold onto this attitude?" - Brian Ritchie Does anyone know anything about this never recording again? Is there bad blood between the group? Why is Gordon so unstable? Any info about the guys personalities would be welcome gladly! Sunny Franklin LinoleumGRRRL@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chicago Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well yes... I am one of the lucky ones that got to see the Femmes play in Chicago this last Saturday. In fact this show was almost exactly six months after the last time I saw them play in Chicago... on New Year's Eve. And while this show's set was about the same we were treated to a great I Held Her In My Arms. I must say that this show was different mostly because my spot in the audience was directly in front of the speakers. So for the first time I really felt the music... literally. As many times as I have seen them play this was the first show where I could feel the bass in the very ends of my hair. And on Confessions it felt like my whole body was filled with their music. Pretty cool... although I don't recommend this location in the crowd without earplugs. Well since it seems that they are not playing Summerfest this year I am glad that I got my summer dose of live Femmes! And here is my fuel to the rumor mill fire... Gordon says he's using a cane to walk because of a recent tennis injury; although he is anxious to get back on the court. Hmmmm... makes me want to learn to play tennis! Carrie wildflower10@ameritech.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: VF Comp ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As for "No Let's Start Over" i really appreciate your offer but I as well have an Original copy. I don't think I want to Include the Full Concerts this Time being that they are long an would require a disc themselves. It's Certainly a Side project of it's own and In fact do have a couple shows already in MPEG so far. But i would REALLY REALLY like it if people would contribute shorter peices, mainly Music Videos. As for the Sabrena Episode and the beavis and butthead stuff, how many people have an interest in watching that over and over? I'm really looking twoards They Might Be Giants "Direct From Brooklyn" as an example. Other short stuff like the warner Promo, and VHS BAckstory (Both obtained) are perfect examples of other Material. Please check http://home.attbi.com/~exodus36/ For more info on the subject and please people come forward with material without controbution this will never get off the ground, and for those who do contribute will recive absolutely free copies meaning no material or shipping charges as a thank you. Until then the you can contact me at: VFVideoProject@yahoo.com late Exodus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VF in Nashville ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lemme Go On : '80s rock faves Violent Femmes add it up at Dancin' in the District Something started back there in 1983. Something important. It was the dawn of Reaganomics, and working-class kids were already feeling the disenfranchisement trickling down the backs of their necks. For the kids in army jackets sitting in the back of the classroom, the kids smoking behind the gym, the kids who were just a little too smart and a little too small, the kids who couldn't identify with Journey's Faithfully, Toto's Africa and Taco's rendition of Puttin' on the Ritz especially for these kids, there came from a boombox a singsong guitar part coupled with a stutterstep rhythm section and Gordon Gano's nasal, atonal voice uttering that phrase: ''When I'm walking I strut my stuff and I'm so strung out (insert drum beats here). I'm high as a kite and I just might stop to check you out.'' Blister in the Sun. OK, it's not exactly Baudelaire. And rhyming ''out'' with ''out'' rings less of Homer than Homer Simpson. But that really wasn't the point. The point was the Violent Femmes. The point was thousands of teenagers and kids and grownups who needed a dose of snarling, vicious rock 'n' roll written and played by real outsiders. Played on a humongous, mariachi-sized acoustic bass and a metal basket upended over a floor tom. Something like the Velvet Underground played by crazed hillbillies, or Jonathan Richman joining a punk band. Something important. Twenty years later, what is this important band up to? Violent Femmes' bass player Brian Ritchie sums it up with one word and a laugh: ''Nothing.'' Although it's been two years since their latest (and ninth) release, the Femmes have been more busy than you might think. Most recently, Ritchie and Femmes drummer Victor DeLorenzo teamed up to produce the Rhino reissue of the aforementioned 1983 debut. They've added 26 tracks to the record's original modest sum of 10. ''Victor and I got together and listened to all the old stuff we had. Gordon doesn't care ó he doesn't care about anything,'' Ritchie says, laughing. ''Victor keeps the archives for the band, basically. We went through a lot of live tapes and demos and things that were contemporaneous with the first album, from the year before to the year after.'' Included are live tracks, demos, and just about anything from the time surrounding the original record. ''And so we had to listen to all this crap ... that was fun,'' Ritchie deadpans. ''It was kind of heart-breaking, too. Because here we are, basically a couple of middle-aged men, sitting around listening to stuff we did when we were very young with a mixture of pride and, 'Oh, wow, that was a really good idea we never followed up on. ' Or, 'Gee, I guess in some ways we were better then than we are now.' Just mixed emotions involved. This isn't really a commentary on the Femmes. I'm sure any band that would go back and listen to their own stuff would have the same sort of feeling.'' While the huge number of bonuses may appeal more to collectors than fans, it does provide insight into a band that was so important and never really achieved commercial success. The Femmes' live energy is ferocious and funny and running at full throttle at all times on these recordings, and their outsider quality, which has drawn so many fellow outsiders to them for 20 years, is at the forefront. ''That's the story of early punk and whatever kind of weird music we played,'' Ritchie says. ''Prior to the Femmes generation, I thought maybe I was the only person in America who knew about the Sex Pistols and The Clash and The Jam. Later on you realize there were a lot of people like that, but they weren't congregating. If we had ever been conventional, our time would have come and gone. I think staking out that eccentric musical turf is a way of saying, 'Hey, we don't belong anywhere, but we belong everywhere.'' Clay Steakley ******************************************************************* To POST, SUBSCRIBE, or UNSUBSCRIBE send any kind of an email to: violentfemmeslist@yahoo.com or violentfemmeslist@ameritech.net ******************************************************************* |