| * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AMERICAN MUSIC - October 28, 2002 * * * THE VIOLENT FEMMES Email List * * * * * * * * * * List archive online at http://www.oocities.org/violentfemmeslist **************************************************************************** TOUR DATES (*=New Dates) 11/9/02 Vienna, Austria Spark 7 Hall 11/10/02 Munich, Germany Elserhalle 11/11/02 Berlin, Germany Colombiahalle 11/14/02 Trodheim, Norway Stud Samf 11/15/02 Bergen, Norway Per Gynt Salen 11/16/02 Oslo, Norway Rockafeller 11/17/02 Copenhagen, Denmark Amager Bio 11/18/02 Aarhus, Denmark Train 11/19/02 Hamburg, Germany Fabrik 11/21/02 Karlsruhe, Germany Festhalle Durlach 11/22/02 Wiesbaden, Germany Schlachthof 11/24/02 Brugge, Belgium Magdalenzaal 11/25/02 London, UK AstoriaLondon, UK 11/26/02 Dublin, Ireland Vicar Street Gordon Solo *12/11/02 PORTUGAL Paradise Garage Lisbon **************************************************************************** IN THIS ISSUE: Gordon Solo in Portugal Traveling Europe East Coast - NYC, Boston, Providence, New Haven Oriental Theater Show St Louis South by Midwest St Louis Boston VF CDR Tree ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Gordon Solo Date ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gordon Gano solo in PORTUGAL 11 December Paradise Garage Lisbon hjca@lusitania-cs.pt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Traveling Europe ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi Any one ever contemplate traveling Europe following the Femmes Schedule? It seems like it would be a fun thing to do and a cheap excuse to see Europe jj Hexdata@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ East Coast - NYC, Boston, Providence, New Haven ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ okay...i can't stand to see this few posts, either. the femmes rocked, as always. vic is just...awesome. having him up back really gives the stage show a lot of life. he is always being ridiculously silly and theatrical (big surprise given his theatre background). i'm also thrilled with seeing sigmund at the shows. he adds so much to the tunes that you audibly miss his presence when the femmes appear without him. i can't review everything because the shows (nyc, boston, prov, new haven) kind've blended together...but highlights that i remember: - dan played this insanely rockin' tuba solo in nyc. for those of you that have seen dan...this topped everything. - the boston show ended with gordon making weird ufo noises with his guitar while victor lifted the washtub off of his floor tom and proceeded to 'fly' it around in front of the audience. - in providence, they came back out for an encore with groucho glasses on. - in new haven, brian and gordon both played the best solo ever for never tell. i know that's an awfully light post that's missing a lot of detail, but in my opinion, there's really no way to put that level of talent into words. Ron thatwhore@cox.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oriental Theater Show ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I went to the Oriental Theater on Oct. 20th to see the Femmes in Milwaukee. I think I was probably the first person to even buy tickets since the advertising was poorly executed(my humble opinion). I was front and center, I wouldn't pass it up no matter what the cost. Speaking of which, the tickets were kind of expensive but I would pay anything to see a band I love as much as the Femmes. I didn't care too much for the opening performance of wearable sculpture. A few pieces I liked but I found the whole thing boring. I believe a better choice of background music to go with the pieces would have improved it a little, as well as having the models lighten up and look like they are having fun. The Violent Femmes put on an awesome show, but when do they not? I heard a lot of songs that I've never or rarely heard at their past Summerfest performances. The show was so full of energy, which is more than I can say for the audience. See, it was kind of awkward. Usually at concerts I'm up and dancing or jumping around. Here I couldn't, or at least I felt that I couldn't. I was in the front row and everyone behind me was seated. I wanted to get up and dance a little but didn't think I should because I would be blocking those behind me. In retrospect I believe that if I had stood up, others would've followed suit. I was more worried about upsetting the audience members when I should have been worrying about upsetting the band. I'm sure it's not a good feeling to be playing upbeat music to a bunch of people just sitting and smiling. If, by some great miracle, the band plays at the Oriental again I will stand up, dance a little and not worry about others. They should be standing too! All in all I had a great time. The atmosphere was amazing and the performance is one that can't be matched. I only hope that others had as much fun as I did. Thank you, Violent Femmes, you put on a great show as always. Hurry back soon. Melanie mlarson@idcnet.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ St Louis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ hey, you don't have to ask me twice to ramble on about what a fabulous time i had! i went to the st. louis, mo show with my roomie and we brought a friend of ours along. we had fanangled seats in the front row center of the balcony (let me take this time to plug the Pageant--where the show took place--a spectacular venue, and if you ever get a chance to see any show there, do it, you won't be sorry) so i spent forever making this banner to hang over the edge, to try to coax the band into playing the songs that we wanted to hear. they opened with country death song. on the second song we hung out the banner for all to see. after that second song, gordon my secret boyfriend) had them spotlight us and read breakin' hearts. the band sort of talked for a second if they remembered how to play the second one, they tried going into it a few times, and then all of the sudden got it and went into it and didn't miss a word. it was awesome. then they played the other song we requested, then spotlighted us again and asked everyone to "give it up for the people in the balcony" i was extatic, it was fantastic, and we had the time of my life. the crowd was great, too (--jeff, are you reading this?) wonderful wonderful wonderful. i can't wait till they make it back our way again. stacy srequar@hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ South by Midwest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of my great regrets in life is not ever having Deadheaded. When I could have tripped the light fantastic of what - arguably - could have been the grandest existence possible for a live music junkie such as myself - I blew it. I worried about work or what the neighbors would say. Before that I worried about work, or school or what my friends would think. Before that I worried about work or whether my parents would ground me... blah blah... If any of this hits home with you... Kick yourself in the ass! If you can't get your foot to your ass, go find the Cowboy Mouth album EASY and listen to the song "Get Out of My Way." Life is precious. Do something you love today. Something just for yourself ... My indulgence is the music of the Violent Femmes. I don't know why it is that I love standing in the smokey darkness, swaying back and forth with sweaty strangers, pouring out my love, my hate, my fear, and my hope along with that quirky voice I know as well as my own but I do. Damn! I really do. And may I say - with all due respect - the Violent Femmes are bad ass! I'm sorry... I just can't think of any better way to describe what I've seen. I don't think I have ever used those exact words to describe them before - and it really doesn't convey that much I guess - but it just fits. At the st of May who knew when - or if - we would ever see another show. 5/16 brought the return of Victor and the momentum has been building ever since. From the awkward (and quite amusing) first run of "Black Girls" in a decade to "Good Feeling" echoing in the Oriental Theater on 10/20, it has been a helluva good time. I have been so fortunate to have been able to be there for so many of the shows this year. The circumstances were finally right for me to erase that road-tripping regret. "Patience, patience said the man..." I have also been so fortunate to have shared many of those shows with some incredible souls. Some names I know, some became good friends, and others I just can't remember. But I always look forward to the people I meet at Femmes shows. In fact, over the last couple of years, I have looked more forward to the people than the music. Yes, I said it. The majority of those shows were less than stellar. And I can admit that I feel there are still a few stale elements. It all depends on your perspective though. I stood next to a kid in Urbana who had never seen the Femmes before. He thought "Kiss Off" was "the best thing ever." I - on the other hand- am not usually that enthused about that bit of the show. But his excitement spilled over on me, and before I knew it we were jumping up and down together counting off. It's all in your perspective. For all of you still dubious, "old-schoolers" you can shed that too -cool-for-school image now and re-claim your fandom. The all self-titled "greatest hits" shows are over (I hope). I can report near-nightly I Hear the Rain and Jesus Walking on the Water efforts as well as I Held Her in My Arms & Color Me Once in Minneapolis, Breaking Hearts in St Louis (a request from some fans who made a great looking banner), Sweet Misery Blues at the Oriental, Nightmares & Breaking Up in Urbana and a funky version of Waiting for the Bus with Jared on bass and Brian on xylophone at Longwood Univ. In fact, now that I think about it, Gordon's performance in Farmville is actually what prompted my first "bad ass" thought. The next night in DC the HOD got the moniker (Tuba Dan and the guy on the arabic hand drum were excellent). Brian and Victor were tied for the title in Minneapolis - until the encore when (sorry Vic) Brian scored a knockout on the solo for Color Me Once. Everything after that was a blur of miles and music so we'll just call it even. The show at the Oriental was weird. It wasn't even close to a sellout at all - due to piss poor promotions by the organizer. The rest of the shows had great support - most were near-sellouts I would guess. So... to sum up... DC & Minneapolis rocked... hard! The Pageant in St Louis is my new favorite club. Guinness in a can is actually pretty good. The Violent Femmes are Bad Ass. and ... Oh! Do not let people from Altoona talk you into going to the hotel bar before a show! Deana ddearry@easterncomputer.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ St Louis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i saw them in st louis!!!! does anyone know why they dont do meet n greets after the show? anna anna@deadpornography.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boston ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I saw the Femmes this past friday at the Avalon in Boston and they were AMAZING!!!!!! I had never seen Victor perform, all previous shows I've seen were with Guy. I talked a little with one of the sound board persons and was told that Guy left after his contract was up, but on with the description of the show . . . I don't remember the exact set list- the second song they did was "Country Death Song", then "Promise", and into a great version of "I hear the Rain" followed by Blister. Then after that Gordon was talking about the Boston Red Sox (as the venue is across from Fenway Park) and the fact that Nomar [Garciaparra] is merely Ramon spelled backwards. Using this logic Gordon said that for the rest of the night we would be referred to as "Nodrog" or Gordon spelled backwards. This really was amusing to both Victor and Brian and the crowd seemed to get a kick out of it. Then Gordon started to to play "Smoke on the Water" and it took Brian and Victor a second to get into it (it also send the sound guy scrambling), before he switched to "Ironman" but everybody was laughing to hard to finish it, so they went into "Dahmer's dead" During "Waiting for the Bus," Gordon, Brian, and Victor all rocked out solos, as well as in "Black Girls". Victor was full of so much energy the entire show, he was set up all the way in front in the middle with Gordon to his right, and Brian to his left. He kept doing this thing where he would lift his left leg in some sort of a kick and then pound on the tranceaphone. It was really cool to see him perform and his energy was incredible!!! I remember someone a while back saying that they saw a big tatoo on Brian's right arm. Well I saw it too; it was huge and looked blue. I managed to meet a girl there who said she was Brian's sister in law- and she told me it was a portrait of a Japanese artist that he got a few months back . . . Some other songs that they played were Please do not Go, Add it up, Kiss off, Prove my love, promise, Gone Daddy Gone, Good Feeling, Gimme the Car, 36-24-36 (Gordon paused the song halfway through and announced that he really didn't like this song anymore, but then went right back into it), Jesus Walking on Water, I know its true but I'm sorry to Say, Hallowed Ground, No Killing, I held her in my arms, World were living in. Their might be some more that I left out- this is all off the top of my head. All in all a great show, a great vibe, and a great time. Let me know if anyone else was there. matt mattbromley49@hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Re: VF CDR Tree ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi, The email address I posted previously seems to be dead so for anyone else interested in sharing the music: For those in Europe, I can be contacted at michael.johnston@achb.scot.nhs.uk and I'm not in Canada, but Scotland. If you are located in the USA you should get in touch with Kirt at Kirt.Knutsen@med.ge.com Does anyone know if there is a promoter involved in organising the european dates? I'd like to get in touch with them to persuade them to put on a show in Glasgow, perhaps the night after Dublin. The last one was packed out and was a great night. If not I might have to get a flight to Dublin - lets see...Guiness, Femmes, can't get much better than that. Michael Michael.Johnston@achb.scot.nhs.uk ******************************************************************* To POST, SUBSCRIBE, or UNSUBSCRIBE send any kind of an email to: violentfemmeslist@yahoo.com or violentfemmeslist@ameritech.net ******************************************************************* |
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