04-29-98

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TOUR DATES: (NEW DATES MARKED WITH A **)

May 2- Salisbury State College, Salisbury, MD (O,P)
ONLY STUDENTS MAY BUY TIX TO THE SALISBURY SHOW
May 3- 99X Stage@Music Midtown, Atlanta, GA (O,P)

**May 23- WCPR 97.9 Fest, Biloxi, MS (O)**
**May 24- Starplex Amphitheatre, Dallas, TX (O)**
**June 26- Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI (O)**

TENTATIVE DATES (Pat’s note: I’ve never heard of the Newport Folk Fest
travelling to places other than Newport, RI)

**June 28- 89X, Pontiac, MI (O)**
**July 9- Festival d’ete International de Quebec, Canada (O)**
**July 30- Newport Folk Fest, Atlanta, GA (O)**
**August 1- Newport Folk Fest, Philadelphia, PA (O)**
**August 2, Newport Folk Fest, Jones Beach, NY (O)** Anyone know where
this is?
**August 16- Newport Folk Fest, Washington, DC (O)**
**August 20- Newport Folk Fest, Indianapolis, IN (O)**
**August 21- Newport Folk Fest, Chicago, IL (O)**
**August 22- Newport Folk Fest, Detroit, MI (O)**
**August 23- Newport Folk Fest, Pittsburgh, PA (O)**

************************************************************************
The Quote Of The Day:

I see no way out
I feel a closing in
Living this way, I won’t live this way
It’s no way to live
-From Thanksgiving (No Way Out)

PLEASE send your VF quotes to
************************************************************************

WHO/WHERE
Going to a VF concert? Want to know if anyone
else on the list also going? Check here first!

Salisbury, MD
————-

Atlanta, GA
———–

************************************************************************
ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO

************************************************************************

WEB PAGES:

Official: http://www.vfemmes.com
Unofficial: http://vf.scopemag.com
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/6918
Past Tour
Dates: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/1725/femmes.html
Guitar: http://www.bucknell.edu/~wtorres/violent_femmes
http://www.olga.net
Une banane:Send in your top five faves each week to:

HERE I AM: Tell me where you live for the Here I Am list.

************************************************************************

In Today’s Issue:

Radio Station Error
Drexel Info Needed
The Charlotte Show
RE: The Moshing Thread
RE: Reggie White
RE: Reggie White
RE: Reggie White
RE: Reggie White
RE: Reggie White

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Radio Station Error
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Hi, I just wanted to let you know that the call letters for the radio
station sponsoring New Rock Fest is WLUM, not WLVM. It’s not a big deal,
but I felt like telling you anyway.

-Jason

-Pat. Says: That’s been fixed; you’ll see the correction on Monday.

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Drexel Info Needed
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does anyone have information on the drexel show on May 30th? i hope it
isn’t another one of those shows where you have to be a student, but
then again, where there’s a will there’s a way. anybody going.. also,
with that one FREAK MAGNET CD out there, is there any chance of making
copies of it for some of our special listserv members. that being me.
just thought I’d take the chance and ask

Bobby V.

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The Charlotte Show
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Well, as a more than pleasant diversion between finishing my last
organic chemistry lab write-up (Let me hear ya say “AMEN!!!) and
studying for tomorrow’s Physics final (groan!) I’d love to add some
stuff about the Charlotte show. First of all, I REALLY shouldn’t have
gone. No, seriously, this has been my hardest semester ever class-wise
and I haven’t had time to eat a real meal since Sunday afternoon because
I’ve been soooo busy (my env sci prof found this out and thrust a box of
fruit bars at me saying “Dear God Amber! You must eat something!
You’re brain needs carbohydrates to make ATP to function!” HA! What
does she know?!). Not going to the concert would have given me time to
catch up on a lot of work thereby relieving a lot of stress. But how
could I resist?!!! I tried to be responsible by having my friend
Rebecca ask me questions for one of my pre-vet courses on the ride down;
I wonder if rectal palpations have ever been a topic of discussion by
anyone enroute to a VF show before! I’m sure Deana learned a lot more
than she really wanted to! 🙂 Oh what a show!!! So many things I
haven’t seen before: Brian’s goggle-like glasses, Gordon playing the
fiddle (I couldn’t help it–my eyes got all watery!), their rendition of
“Seasons of the Heart” (I *think* that’s the right title), the HUGE
horns section! And how could we ever forget Ray’s little “Snoopy-dance”
while playing trombone?! (I hope he doesn’t get in TOO much trouble for
that!) And the psychedelic slinky he had attatched to his slide! The
guys were a little trepidatious about going on (due to the Jerry Lee
Lewis no-show) so maybe they felt (as Deana theorized) that they had to
put on an extra great performance so nobody felt cheated by not getting
to see Jerry Lee “I killed my two wives” Lewis. Whatever the reason,
this was the most I’ve felt like all of them were really “into” a show
from beginning to end for a while. They had a really good time on stage
and I’m glad! Share the joy! After the show, Guy said he’d felt really
on for the first 6 or 7 songs until he looked out and saw the mosh pit
begin to swirl and that ruined it for him. It’s your story Mr. Hoffman,
you tell it like you want because I thought you were awesome the entire
time! I’d forgotten how nice outdoor venues can be–this was the
coolest I’ve been for a VF show since Knoxville last year! The crowd
wasn’t *too* bad, although I’m not sure I appreciated the girl behind me
totally copping a feel reaching around me to grab onto the barrier! My
friend Rebecca was completely slammed in the head a few times by crowd
surfers getting grabbed by guards. I think she even lost some hair in
the deal! (That’s ok. She’s tough. She’s a hockey player! alright,
not really, but I felt like saying that-I dunno why.)
OK, it was fun but now it’s done. I must go learn(x7) everything I can
learn about Physics! wish me luck! ***amber

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RE: The Moshing Thread
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i can understand where you are coming from but you have to understand
that people who go closer to a stage at a show are liable to get caught
in the crunch and moshers have just as much right as people who want to
enjoy the music do.

later days
candice

What Reggie Said

disclaimer: This is what Reggie White said in his speech to the
Legislature, he said it as his own opinion, not as an opinion for a
group, you have to respect Reggie White because he had the guts to say
what he believed, and if you think any less of Reggie White for saying
this then you can just go fuck a tree or something.

another thing: these are just the little setions that are basically
what pissed everyone off and whatever.

“Today in our nation we’re not protecting one another. We don’t have
compassion for one another. It seems as though we as Americans are doing
more to get on top and stay on top than trying to help the man down at
the bottom to at least live some type of decent life. And until we as
Americans learn to have extreme compassion for our people, this country
will never move into the direction that we need it to.”

“We always should look at the situation and ask ourselves a question.
Why did God create us differently? Why did God make me black and you
white? Why did God make the next guy Korean and the next guy Asian and
the other guy Hispanic? Why did God create the Indians?

Well, it’s interesting to me to know why now. When you look at the black
race, black people are very gifted in what we call worship and
celebration. A lot of us like to dance, and if you go to black churches,
you see people jumping up and down, because they really get into it.

White people were blessed with the gift of structure and organization.
You guys do a good job of building businesses and things of that nature
and you know how to tap into money pretty much better than a lot of
people do around the world.

Hispanics are gifted in family structure. You can see a Hispanic person
and they can put 20 or 30 people in one home. They were gifted in the
family structure.

When you look at the Asians, the Asian is very gifted in creation,
creativity and inventions. If you go to Japan or any Asian country, they
can turn a television into a watch. They’re very creative. And you look
at the Indians, they have been very gifted in the spirituality.

When you put all of that together, guess what it makes. It forms a
complete image of God. God made us different because he was trying to
create himself. He was trying to form himself, and then we got kind of
knuckleheaded and kind of pushed everything aside.”

end of stuff I feel like copying and pasting.

Okay, well that’s just a little bit of what he said, he said a lot more,
personally I don’t think what he said was at all offensive, The message
he was trying to send out was that people need to unify and get rid of
racism and such. If you want to read the whole speech (it’s REALLY long)
here’s a link with the whole thing reprinted.
http://www.jsonline.com/forums/reg/0403regtxt.stm

there y’go.
-Beky

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: Reggie White
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In response to Pat’s request for info about Reggie White and what it had
to do with Gordon’s new song I’ve copied the AP wire below. Let me add
my 2 cents worth first though. Reggie attended college at The
University of Tennesee here in Knoxville and up until a few months ago
maintained a home less than 30 minutes from town. He is highly regarded
here – both as an athlete and a human being.
Reggie has been a vital part of community leadership in this area and
not just the black community. He IS the real thing folks. Now all that
said – yes, some of his comments to the legislature shocked me. They do
seem a bit out of character but he has always been a very powerful
speaker AND a very devout christian. I think you need to know also that
Reggie was an associate pastor for a small multi-racial church here in
town that was destroyed by fire about two years ago. Although never
proven, most of us believe it to be related to the string of church
burnings across the south. Racial slurs and other offensive things were
spray painted inside the building before it was burned. A disgusting
display of bigotry!
Although I may disagree with some of his explicit statements I do admire
him for his faith and commitment even in the face of such adversity and
I do believe his intentions were to unite not divide.
Seem logical Gordon would have been interested in this issue. It seems
from what has been posted he came to the same conclusion.

Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. — Most people invited to speak to the Wisconsin
Legislature give five minutes of pleasantries, get a few moments of
applause and go home. Lawmakers weren’t expecting the earful Reggie
White had in store for them Wednesday. They thought the Green Bay Packers
star and ordained minister came to talk about his community work and a
recent trip to Israel. White did, but his nearly hour-long speech also
included remarks on homosexuality, race and slavery that turned the
Assembly’s applause to stunned silence.

White said the United States has gotten away from God, in part by
allowing homosexuality to “run rampant.” White told lawmakers that
homosexuality is a sin, and the plight of gays and lesbians should not
be compared to that of blacks. “Homosexuality is a decision, it’s not a
race,” White said. “People from all different ethnic backgrounds live in
this lifestyle. But people from all different ethnic backgrounds also are
liars and cheaters and malicious and back-stabbing.”
White said he has thought about why God created different races. Each
race has certain gifts, he said. Blacks are gifted at worship and
celebration, White said. “If you go to a black church, you see people
jumping up and down because they really get into it,” he said. Whites are
good at organization, White said. “You guys do a good job of building
businesses and things of that nature, and you know how to tap into
money,” he said. “Hispanics were gifted in family structure, and you can
see a Hispanic person, and they can put 20, 30 people in one home.”
The Japanese and other Asians are inventive, and “can turn a television
into a watch,” White said. Native Americans are gifted in spirituality,
he said. “When you put all of that together, guess what it makes: It
forms a complete image of God,” White said.

White said later that his comments were about coming together as a
society and were not meant to stereotype the races.
“This is the first time I’ve been at a loss for words,” Assembly
Minority Leader Walter Kunicki, D-Milwaukee, said after White’s speech.
“You can still tell from the tension in the room that much of this was
offensive.”

White was invited to speak by Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, R-Waukesha.
Jensen called White’s comments about homosexuality “disappointing.”
Homosexuality is a genetic predisposition, not a decision, Jensen said.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a Madison Democrat and the Legislature’s only openly
gay member, said she disagreed with White’s remarks, but as a lawmaker
believed in putting aside personal feelings to promote a “healthy
debate.” CBS Sports spokeswoman Leslie Ann Wade declined to comment on
White’s speech or whether his remarks would affect his chances for a
studio analyst’s job. White has auditioned for a commentating job at the
network. CBS fired football analyst Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder in 1988 for
saying that blacks had been “bred from slavery” to make better athletes.
“CBS doesn’t accept bias from any of its announcers of any kind,” Wade
said.

-ddearry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: Reggie White
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That new Femmes song sounds interesting to say the least…Everyone here
in Wisconsin loves our Green Bay Packers (including the Femmes), but
many of us, including myself, are not too crazy about what Reggie White
recently said, and I’m a little torn on how I would expect the Femmes to
react to it… White is a devout speaker for the primarily black
religion of the Promise-keepers, a strong conservative Christian
religion which although it believes in racial equality, believes in male
supremecy, and like all strong Christian religions, it condemns abortion
& homosexuality.
White is a great character, a really nice guy, a great football player
& leader, and often leads the team in prayer before games.
But in a public speech, he went on to publicly condemn homosexuality. He
talked about how long ago blacks were kept as slaves and their families
& houses were burned & they were hung just for being black, and yet no
one’s ever done that to homosexuals in American history…and the way he
said it sounded to some people like he was implying that homosexuals
should’ve been burned & murdured throughout history…he talked about
how blacks were born black, and that he couldn’t believe anyone that
tries to tell him that homosexuals were born homosexual, and he made it
out to be a very immoral & wrong thing.
Later, Reggie had the courtesy to apologize publicly for his remarks &
he said he’s sorry if he insulted anybody. He had originally decided
to retire this year, but I think one of the factors that influenced his
decision to change his mind about retiring was that he wanted to be
remembered for his great plays on the field & not any controversial
remarks.
Now I know that Gordon’s pretty big on Jesus, and it’s evident in a lot
of his songs, but it also seems like he has no problem with
homosexuality. In fact, I often wonder if he “swings both ways” when I
hear him sing stuff like “I’d like him better if he wanted to dance” in
“Look Like That” and that whole verse about white boys in the song
“Black Girls” (and BTW that song is an obvious rip-off of the song
“Black Boys” from the “Hair” musical, but I won’t complain).
I haven’t heard this new “Diversity of Man” song yet myself & I don’t
know what Gordon says in it exactly or what he means with it. I trust
Gordon to be pretty respectful in his lyrics. From the lyrics that were
given in that post, it seems Gordon was saying only good things about
different races & not really being prejudist at all in any derogatory
way.
I personally love Reggie, but even though I am 100% straight, I’m a
liberal non-conformist and I wasn’t too crazy about that statement that
Reggie had originally said about homosexuals, and I don’t personally
support a religion that believes in male supremecy. On the other hand,
I, like much of us here in Wisconsin, was rather pissed when some racist
white supremist bastards burned down poor Reggie’s church. Just as I
will never judge a person by their color, and I will never judge a
person by their sexuality or their gender, I also will never judge a
person by their religion, because I know that it is sacred to each &
everyone, and it’s all good & moral as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone
else. Reggie’s a great character & he’s a well-meaning & dedicated
human being.

Oh, and just one minor thing, Pat– the New Rock station in Milwaukee
putting on the New Rock fest is WLUM, not WLVM. I recently made a post
insulting their basic musical format on that station, but I have a
newfound respect for them now that they’re doing the Grateful Dead hour
on Sunday nights. Milwaukee has been without a Grateful Dead hour for
too long.

-Tom
-boxofrain3

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RE: Reggie White
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since I know someone else will write in on what exactly Reggie White
said, I will not repeat it. But I will say at the Peoria show when they
sang this “ode to reggie”, Gordon introduced by saying they totally
agree with him and the song stated it, but you got that feeling of
Sarcasm because Gordon got that great smile of his as he looked at Brian,
Guy and the crowd. I have a feeling they do not agree, but want to make
fun of the incident instead. I think they were playing the fact that
people blew his comments out of proportion.

MBlack

http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~mg-black

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: Reggie White
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I guess Reggie White recently decided to inform the world of his
views on TV n front of the Wisconsin Senate a while back. He kind of
went of about different ethnic groups and their gifts or skills, as
he put it. A few things he said:

* Black people are gifted in worship and rhythm
*Mexicans are gifted in family structure (“they can fit 20-30 people
into one house”)
*Asians can turn a television into a watch.
*White people are gifted in acquiring money and power.
*Homosexuality is a sin, just like murder, theft, etc.

I see his point, and being hispanic myself I really don’t feel the
least bit offended by him. I felt that he had good things to say
about ethnic backgrounds, but there are always people out there who
are looking for shit to get offended about. To them I say get a
life. If you think that it isn’t a sin to be gay, then good for you.
But a man has a right to have his opinion, and his life shouldn’t be
torn apart because of them. I guess Reggie lost several sponsors
because of the fact that he offended people, and he also lost his
broadcasting job that had been offerred to him at CBS. That is a
little absurd.
I guess maybe he could have been more specific in his speech about
what his point was, but everyone makes mistakes.
Good for the Femmes in supporting their hero.

Aaron

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