11-07-97 pt 2

AMERICAN MUSIC: THE VIOLENT FEMMES MAILING LIST
currently run by Pat. Wary

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In Today’s Issue:

RE: Opening Bands
RE: Opening Bands
RE: Milwaukee Show
RE: Opening Bands..Victor VS. Guy Again
RE: Fake Fans
RE: Fake Fans
RE: Fake Fans
RE: Fake Fans
RE: Fake Fans
Who Influenced the VF?
Mercy Seat Thanks..Machine..Hallowed Ground
Film Noir
VF and Goldfinger

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RE: Opening Bands
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On the subject of opening bands. . . way back in the day, Femmes played a
September show at the Tower theater in Philly. Their opening band (if
I’m not mixing up shows) was Possum Dixon. They were a ‘heard of’ band
with, like 2 cool songs (as far as I can remember — no offense to Possum
Dixon fans, or members for that matter). I remember thinking that they
sucked so bad. One thing about the Femmes, their opening bands couldn’t
get much worse. Who’s in charge of picking, huh? One could possibly
chalk such a harsh statement up to incessant anxious frustration, having
to listen to a cheesy band for an hour after waiting in line for three,
and anticipating at least one more for Femmes tuning before finally seeing
your most favorite band in the whole wide world get on stage.

Jen Brown, are you still around????????????

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RE: Opening Bands
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At 03:08 PM 11/3/97 -0500, you wrote:
In Oneonta I saw Phil Cody
Scranton Angry Salad (HORRIBLE!!!)
Colgate U Dainelle’s Mouth (BAD, but not as bad as Angry Salad)

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RE: Milwaukee Show
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twice i have seen mentions of the fourth of july show in milwaukee and i
must comment that it was an awesome show…well the femmes part of it. i
think having the goo goo dolls open for them was a big mistake. the goo
goo dolls kept playing all of this really obscure music and by then end of
their really really long set, half of the audience was either sitting down
or out getting refreshments. my friend and i were so bored we ended up
walking around and paying some kid a quarter to juggle for us…that’s
pretty bored.

jaci

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RE: Opening Bands..Victor VS. Guy Again
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>
> for some reason i can’t remember many ….probably because they are all
> el’ stinko…i saw buffalo tom open for them in maine….they blow big
> time..
>
what the hell are you saying? you just giving your biased opinion without
any backup what so ever. thats bullshit. buffalo tom is one of the
greatest trio bands out there, if you actually listened to them without
biasedness maybe you would see what the hell you are saying. their
lyrics are unsurpassed by many many bands in what they express and bill
janovich’s voice has got as much style as gordy’s. like the femmes, they
play relatively simple music with simple arrangements, chord progressions,
etc. and they do it like no other. as for tom maginis’s drumming, maybe
your are misunderstanding his style. it is strait forward and basic for a
reason. his style integrates into to buff’s style harmoniously and does a
damn good job even if he isn’t the most technical. victor delorenzo had
the most simple set up and simple style yet no one could do it like him
buffalo tom and the femmes are like no other and one of the reasons is
where their talent is: making simple music that kicks arss and speaks to
you. i got no problem what so ever if you say your tastes don’t agree
with buffalo tom’s style or the femmes for that matter. but next time you
bust on an incredible band, have at least half an idea of what the hell
you’re talking about and why you’re saying what you’re saying. i ain’t
intending to offend but look at what you’s is trying to say, yo.

as for the vic/guy deal: guy ain’t a bad drum but victor can pretty
much wipe his ass with guy as a femmes for drummer. victor is can and
never will be replaced within the femmes and the femmes aren’t the same
without him. i ain’t busting on guy, he is good and in an other
situation he would great. if i am not mistaken he was formally the
drummer for the bodeans. i’m not familiar with their music but i’m sure
he kicked some arss. as the current femmes drummer, he is just a regular
old drummer and that is all he will ever be. not that there is anything
wrong with that he just can’t do for the femmes what vic did. vic’s
style with the femmes is legendary and unsurpassed. he did more with a
snare and brushes than anyone could, at the very least with the femmes.
his energy and eclectic style combined with gordy’s and brian’s to make
them one of the best band’s ever. that that guy sucks, don’t get me
wrong, but i miss victor.

late,
jeff

-Pat. Says: Future discussions concerning Buffalo Tom should be conducted
privately, outside of this letter.

I agree that part of what makes the Violent Femmes great is that they are
not Pearl Jam. (although the Femmes outsold Pearl Jam at the Marcus
Ampitheatre). However, if you think back to where you first heard that
bass, beat, and voice of the Violent Femmes it just may surprise you.

I remember my first Violent Femmes song. Unlike most people, it was not
Blister in the Sun but Add It Up. I had a friend that owned the album.
This guy, Mark, never played anything but Blister, Add It Up, and Kiss
Off.

We were all outside our hut, we were on Boys Scout Camp Staff, when he
put in add it up. All my friends thought it was “so cool” what “the
singer” was refering to. I am not going to say that in my immaturity I
did not like that. So as all my friends did, I rushed out and bought
the album.

However, instead of playing one song (add it up) over and over I listened
to the entire album. And then came a game called Magic: the Gathering.
My friend and I played this all night, with the VF playing on “repeat
all”…..

That friend is now my best friend. We go on road trips to see the
Violent Femmes.

The point I am making is that first time you heard a VF song, you
probably did not get the deep down understanding of each track. Today,
I am not sure I understand the entire album. But I do relate it to my
life struggles and accomplishments.

I have very few friends, but those friends are very close friends. I
have hooked each of them on the Violent Femmes. Each of them
understand in their own unique way.

This is what the Violent Femmes mean to me. Sorry to spill all this
out on our e-mail accounts.

MBlack

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RE: Fake Fans
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The other day in English class i had a similar thought and i
realized that one of the reasons i love the Femmes so very very much is
the aforementioned reason; that they have seen the system, what it stands
for, and chosen to disregard it. When i have mentioned the Femmes at my
school in the past, most people admit that they haven’t heard much of them
or have never even heard of them. This, as trivial as it may seem, makes
me quite happy.
The fact that the Violent Femmes do not indulge in superfluous
drug use, or condone many other destructive tendencies, as well as
continuing to be themselves, invariably heightens my respect for them to
unknown levels.
And in the immortal words of Gordon Gano:
*The Violent Femmes…they bring all their equipment on the bus…AND YOU
CAN’T FUCK WITH THE VIOLENT FEMMES—-YOU CANNOT FUCK WITH THIS BAND!*

i couldn’t have said it better myself.

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RE: Fake Fans
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To the person who says that fake fans say that B.I.T.S., add it up,
and kiss off are there favorite songs, i can give you a few reasons
why. they are the only femmes songs played on the radio. the more you
hear a song the more you like it (or get sick of it if its a bad
song). i dont know about you but the first song on almost every cd i
own is one of my favs on the cd cuz i hear it the most. sometimes you
are gone before you hear the last song on the cd, but you always hear
the first so you like it more. just thought i would put in my word.

-ReBEccA*

I am a conservative, but love the femmes. I disagree with some of the
music and believe that Gordon would not want everyone to follow all of
it too. Gordan Gano is the talant behind the femmes, the rest may be
set aside.

Theirs is a larger segment of fans than you see out there. Remember they
are from Milwaukee an old town, a neighbor of mine, known for reality,
the girl on the moon, miller, Happy Days.

They are not the anti Christ!!!

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RE: Fake Fans
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<< Just because something has become popular doesn’t mean you
have to stop liking it. I understand where you’re coming
from, but IMHO to be a true nonconformist you have to stop
caring so much about whether other people think you’re
conforming just because you do one thing which has suddenly
become ‘the thing to do’. There’ll be enough of the other
things you do to assure people you’re weird ;=)
Just keep doing what you do, and liking what you like, and
if others do and like the same, what of it? >>

At the ripe old age of 13, a bunch of my friends and I had to deal with
these so-called “nonconformists” who annoyed the hell out of us. We asked
one if he would still be “freaky” if he went to a school full of freaks.
He said, “No, I’d be a prep, just so I’d stand out.” This led to the
coining of a term for people who do the different things just because
they’re different, and if those things become popular, they find another.
That term is Conforming to Nonconformity [(c) Oma Turanchick].

Haven’t we already been through all this real fan vs. poser fan shit
already? If someone likes the femmes, why does it matter what songs
they like?

Okay, onto a niftier topic: Allo, Pat, je ne savais pas que vous savez
parler francais! Qui parle francais qui recoit ce lettre? 🙂

Love, Claire

-Pat. Says: Melancon parle francais, et je suppose qu’il y a beaucoup
d’autres. Plusieurs ici parlent une langue autrement que
l’anglais. Je parle francais comme une Americaine, et j’ai
oublie’ trop…. 🙁

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Who Influenced the VF?
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Hi!
I have a question for all of you knowledeable Femmes fans out there:
What bands and musicians do members of the Violent Femmes list as major
influences on their music? What musicians/bands inspired them to create
music?

catherine

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Mercy Seat Thanks..Machine..Hallowed Ground
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Hi, first of all I really want to say thank you to Travis for the copy of
Mercy Seat! I really appreciate it! Secondly, I finally broke down and
bought the Machine single, and wonder what some of you think of it. It is
very “different”, in my opinion, but it’s Femmes, so you gotta love it.I
was also wonder what your thoughts are on Hallowed Ground. I have been
completely addicted to it lately… Listening to “I hear the Rain”
through headphones, is an amazing experience…

Your “Good Friend”,
Alyshea

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Film Noir
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What is this “Film Noir” you guys keep mentioning?

-Pat. Says: Film Noir is a German boot, released sometime around 1984?
I’m still trying to find it.

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VF and Goldfinger
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<< goldfinger was playing. When i was leaving , i saw them. I asked them
if they were opening for the Violent Femmes and they said “yeah”. >>

If anyone goes to this show, you are one of the luckiest people alive. I
envy you with my entire life!! If you can, make a boot. While you’re at
it, please go tell John Feldman (lead of Goldfinger) that I want to marry
him. They’re an excellent band in concert (and on cd) and coupled with
Violent Femmes, I think I’d be in ultimate ecstacy…I’m soooo jealous!

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