Best viewed with COURIER NEW size 10
maximized screen
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The Quote Of The Day:
You can come see me,
If you got the Money!
-From More Money Tonight
-Submitted by sammyd
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TOUR DATES (NEW TOUR DATES MARKED WITH **):
May 9- 8 p.m., Warfield, San Francisco, CA CANCELLED
May 10- 8 p.m., Wilshire Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, CANCELLED
May 14- Student Festival, Braga, POR (O)
May 16- Zeleste, Barcelona, SP (O)
May 17- University Festival, Faro, POR (O)
May 18- Student Festival, Beja, POR (O)
**June 3- Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, Englewood, CO (P)**
**June 15- Knitting Factory, Hollywood, CA (P)**
**June 16- Knitting Factory, Hollywood, CA (P)**
Oct 25-7 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC, NY (T)
NOTA BENE: ‘O’ stands for the Official homepage
‘P’ stands for Pollstar
‘T’ stands for Ticketmaster
‘I’ stands for Insider Info
All other references are subscribers
To book a show:
in the US, contact Frank Riley at Monterey Peninsula Artists
in EU, contact Paul Boswell at Free Trade Agency
Serious inquiries only.
************************************************************************
WHO/WHERE
Going to a VF concert? Want to know if anyone
else on the list also going? Check here first!
New York, NY
————
RatFink746 (Frank)
************************************************************************
WEB PAGES:
Official: http://www.vfemmes.com
Unofficial: http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/bluenote/936/
http://www.bigfoot.com/~planetblue
http://www.geocities.com/kittricken/
http://geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Show/6806/
http://www.violentfemmes.net
http://www.homestead.com/lucylittleland/vf.html
http://www.fortunecity.com/campus/bates/377/
http://www.geocities.com/thefemmeking/
Yahoo Chat: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/newtimesviolentfemmesclub
Message Board:
http://www.insidetheweb.com/messageboard/mbs.cgi?acct=mb870757&TL=
Past Tour Dates:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/1725/femmes/femmes.html
Guitar: http://therapy.lost.net.au/femmes
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/VFemmes
Glenn Gano’s Page: http://www.alaska.net/~ggano
Charm Records: http://www.charmrec.com
Victor DeLorenzo’s Page: http://victordelorenzo.com
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ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO
AMUSIC
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In Today’s Issue:
Cancellations
Wilshire Cancellation
The Commodore Ballroom Still Rocks !!!
RE: Ticket Prices
RE: Ticket Prices
Freak Magnet Review
RE: Freak Magnet
RE: Teenage Fan Base
RE: Teenage Fan Base
RE: Teenage Fan Base
VF Music in Animation
120 Minutes
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Cancellations
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The San Francisco and the LA shows are cancelled.
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Wilshire Cancellation
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I thought this might be of some interest…
The Femmes show at the Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles on May 10 (next
Wednesday) has been cancelled. You can obtain refunds at the place
where you purchased tickets.
However, they ARE playing this new club called the Knitting Factory,
which opens in June, on June 15 and 16. The Knitting Factory is a
popular club in New York which is opening a Hollywood location. It’s
located at 7021 Hollywood Blvd or something like that. Their website
is http://www.knittingfactory.com. I don’t know any ticket information for
those shows yet…
sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Nick
mypen15
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The Commodore Ballroom Still Rocks !!!
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Wow ! Last nights concert at the remodeled Commodore Ballroom in
Vancouver was something special. It was my first time back to the
Commodore since it was shut down for two years and reopened under new
ownership. Anyone who has ever been to the Commodore Ballroom realizes
that it has always been a special place to listen to music. This is
where the song “Vancouver” was recorded many years ago. I must admit
that I was worried that the magic would be lost after it was totally
gutted and the original horsehair cushioned dance floor was replaced
with a new one but I was thrilled to see that the original layout was
retained and if anything the acoustics have improved. The sound system
was better than anything I have ever heard. I could tell that Gordon
was impressed also as he wore a big smile the whole night, especially
when the Horns of Dilemma jammed and during the endless 3 person drum
solo. That was magical and had the crowd mesmerized. Sigmund Snopek was
also at his best and played with the band on most songs. What an addition
he is ! Also helping out was Gordon’s sister. She has sung with them the
last few years in our area. 5 or 6 others rounded out the Horns of
Dilemma as well as someone on the bongos. I didn’t catch his name but
he carried many songs.
Gordon was visibly impressed at how many people knew the words to all
the songs. He often stopped singing to listen. I was right up front and
sometimes the crowd was louder than the band. It was a madhouse. This
was one of those nights when all who were there realized that something
special was happening. This was the most energetic and happy that I have
seen Gordon for many years. And he has lost weight. There is no doubt
that the femmes are one of the best live bands around. I have seen them
many times in various cities and this was the best time that I have had.
There was a good mix of older and new songs and the crowd responded
well to the various cuts off Freak Magnet. Hearing “A Story” for the
first time live, I have come to appreciate it more. That was definitely
a hilite for me. Brian does a good job of being the monster. I also was
thrilled to hear “Good Feeling”. Other favorites for me were “In the
Dark” , “Rejoice and be Happy” , “Confessions”, “American Music”, “I
Can Change” “Add it Up” and many , many more. All in all it was over
2 hours of bliss. The Femmes are as alive as ever.
Glenn
pwnordic
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RE: Ticket Prices
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I don’t think that this animosity towards the band for charging too
much is justified. I get the distinct impression that they have always
been, and still are, more concerned about playing music than making
money. This is especially true when compared to the other bands that
are touring nowadays. I think it’s safe to say that the reasons for the
$25 ticket are minimally materialistic.
Speaking of current tours, I just saw Beck in concert on Monday.
(Incidentally, his tickets were $25 also. If you think about it, this
makes sense, even though Beck is much more famous than the Femmes,
their popularity is comparable.) I advise everyone to see Beck if you
have the chance. I guarantee that his show is unlike anything else
you’ve ever seen/heard (with the possible exception of his videos), but
in a different way than the Femmes’ shows are. Along the same line,
his newest album is extremely similiar to Freak Magnet, while at the
same time it’s extremely different.
sammyd
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RE: Ticket Prices
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Nick wrote:
>I completely agree. oh, and you should feel lucky. i just had to pay
>$35.75. No, that’s not true. I did not HAVE to pay. I chose to.
>But still, that’s a lot of money. i might have to sell my ticket to
>fix my brakes…anyway…
>the Palace. in L.A. last time they were here, tickets were $5.
>parking cost more than the ticket. The Palace is the same place that
>the Femmes played here in ’97.
Okay now I agree ticket prices have gotten pretty outrageous, but not
all that can rest on the Femmes, or artist in general. Ticket master
has a major hand in that, tacking on an extra 5+ dollars to each
ticket, even when you buy from their home hollywood office “that’s
supposed to be free of service charge”, but they haven’t gone up that
much. I’m mostly writing because Nick is a good friend of mine, that I
went to that show with, and he’s lost his mind. $5 for the Femmes at
the Palace in ’97? I don’t think so. It was actually $22 or $22.50 and
after service charges it wound up being $27.50. Expensive, but well
worth it.
Of course, if I remember correctly Nick might have been the one to
purchase the ticket for the both of us, and if he paid $5 dollars for
them, then I want my $22 dollars back.
And another thing, last time they were here, well we bought tickets for
both the Univeral Devo show and the LA County Fair, in case you forgot.
Both were more than $5.
>From what I know, the Femmes are a great classic (and contemporary, I
like Freak Magnet) band. They could go out on a tour like some bands
that have been around a long time, and play on the reclaim your youth
ticket and jack up prices. Or even worse, stop playing for a long time,
then do a come back tour. I’m happy to pay for the ticket, and this up
coming show (May 10 at the Greek, if you would add me to the list Pat,
I would appreciate it) is the only show I’m going to see this month,
even though a lot of bands I like are playing LA at this time. About
the only complaint I have about the Femmes is that they don’t play the
Los Angeles area enough.
That’s it, there’s my too sense.
George
troustoun
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Freak Magnet Review
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I found this interview with Gordon in RRR magazine today! You can also
view it on the rocknrollreporter.com website under “Features” –
April 2000 issue.
ddearry
Violent Femmes
Sleepwalkin’ with a Freak Magnet
by Andy Rubacky
Whether you love it, hate it or are just completely indifferent
towards it, you have heard “Blister in the Sun”. Written some eighteen
years ago and still getting radio play today, it seems to be one of the
most played songs in radio history, and yet to the average radio
listening world that was the last of the Violent Femmes. Well, here
they come again with their 7th studio release, Freak Magnet. We had a
chance to talk to the voice behind the Femmes, Gordon Gano and talk
about their newest release as well as his relation to Howard Hughes and
his thoughts on free music.
Why has it been so long since your last release?
“Well, we were signed to a record company that wouldn’t release anything
that we were recording. That went on for about 5 years, since our last
studio record came out. We were able to take the music and go make a deal
with another label, who wanted to put the music out.”
How have you been keeping busy in that time?
“Oh yeah, during that time we were going into the studio a lot, so Freak
Magnet is actually a collection of songs that we have recorded over the
past few years, that were never able to be released. Other than that, we
do different things. Along with Warren Bruleigh (Freak Magnet’s co-producer),
I co-produced a french band called, Louise Attack. They are really
big in France and I love their music. Brian Ritchie (bass) is seriously
studying the Japanese flute, the Shakahatchi, very intensely.”
What is the story behind “A Story”?
“It is a collaboration with Pierre Henry who is a French composer, and a
real pioneer and innovator in music. He has been making his recordings
since perhaps the late 40’s, but at least the early 50’s and one of the first
people to make use of new technologies as the were being invented. He just
really has his own music, which some people might not think is music, but
myself and Brian have been fans of his work for a long time. We were in Paris
and had somebody give him a call, we were invited to his home which is also
his studio. After listening to some of his current work, we proposed the idea
of us working together. He liked the idea so we recorded the bass, drums, and
vocals. We then sent that to him to do anything that he wanted with it. We
are thrilled with what he did with the song.”
Where does most of your inspiration come from when writing a song?
“It depends on the song. Some songs like ‘A Story’ are just a made-up story,
I don’t know how, why, or where it started. It has nothing to do with me or
my life. Then there are other songs that very much have to do with me. The
track, ‘When You Died’, is about a friend of mine that died, I wrote that song
for myself, I really liked it so we ended up recording it and put it on the
record. Then another one, ‘All I Want’, is basically about desiring something
that you can’t have. It’s something I have felt personally and yet it is
something that everyone has felt in one way or another.”
Who are your personal influences?
“Oooh, there are so many. A lot of them are influences early on and some have
continued through my career. Bob Dylan, I mean I’m not the only one to say that
he is a great songwriter, I also think that he is a great guitar player. I have
been happy in the last few years to hear more of his guitar playing, whether
he’s just playing solo or with a band, he now takes more guitar solos than in
the past. In writing, someone I feel is astounding in being a poet is Leonard
Cohen, I think he’s an incredible writer. My father loved country music, so as
a boy I heard old Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and The Carter Family. My father
also had a guitar and he would play and sing country music from the 30’s, 40’s
and maybe into the 50’s.”
When you originally recorded ‘Blister in the Sun’ did you think it would be
played daily into the year 2000?
“No, I never thought about that. It’s funny, I had hoped it would have been
more popular in the charts. We have never had a hit, not with the charts or
anything like that. It’s more of a people’s choice. It is now considered a
classic, or to many people, their favorite song. As a band we feel like we are
in between where we thought we would be. We thought we would either not be
popular at all, like a small punk band known primarily in one city, or much
more popular and considered like the new Beatles, Rolling Stones or something
like that, and we’re neither.”
Is it true that you are related to Howard Hughes?
“Yeah, it’s so nice of you to ask, nobody asks. We’ve had three different
managers at different times of our career, and I always say,’You know I am
related to Howard Hughes, maybe we can put together a little promotion or
campaign and try to get a little publicity.’ Nobody ever thinks it’s a good
idea, no one ever wants to do anything with it. I think the time has come and
gone. A little while back they were still in court trying to figure out the
will. I had thought that we should go to the courthouse and play on the steps,
and get this campaign going that says that I should get the money cause,’I am
the most like Howard Hughes, (laughs)I’m a pioneer and an innovator in the
field of music!’ Just to try to get someone to know we exist, but anyway, his
mother was a Gano.”
Who are your favorite music acts of today?
“Macy Gray, but I guess that I should just get in line with all these other
big rock stars that say she’s great. I thought she was great all along, I
really like the record. I almost saw her live, but it was between seeing her
and the third game of the World Series. I decided I had to watch the game. I
was really happy because it was won in extra innings with a home run by the
New York Yankees. I was so happy that the beat the Braves, cause the Braves
were always beating my New York Mets.”
What are your thoughts on MP3s?
“I like the idea of music being available for free. The basic idea of music
being available to people and even being free is something that has a real
appeal to me. Like back in the days of vinyl, I was making cassette tapes of
other people’s stuff, that was a way that I was exposed to a lot of music
that otherwise I wouldn’t have been, because I would never have been able to
afford the records. That sounds like a similar thing to me and I think it’s
good. I’m sure there are people out there that are trying to figure out how
to still make money from it. Brian was telling me that he feels that now all
recorded music should be free and artists can only make money by playing a
live show. I know he says that because that is how we have basically made
our living, for years we didn’t make money off our records, we made it
from touring.”
What is the most embarrassing that has happened to you on tour?
“Oh boy, I don’t know. I mean I’ll get mildly embarrassed ’cause I’ll be
singing a song I wrote years ago and I think it’s not as well written as it
should be, but that does not count that’s not quite what you’re looking for.
You want to hear about, like the time my pants dropped down. Oh, wait…
this was really embarrassing. It was at a folk festival and coming up after
us was Joan Armatrading and there was a woman at the side of the stage and
I asked someone,’Is that Joan Armatrading?’ And she said,’Yes, it’s Joan
Armatrading.’ So I walked up to her and said,’Hi, Joan this is really great,
we are going on right before you and I really like you.’ And she said, ‘I’m
not Joan, I’m Odetta.’ Odetta is like the revered patriarch of all folk
music. So here I am walking up to somebody in their world, their circle,
who is really famous and saying that they are someone else. The person just
said that it was Joan and they didn’t know what they were talking about and
the kicker is, it was Brian Ritchie’s wife that set me up.”
When performing live, what is your biggest fear?
“My biggest fear used to be and I had forgotten about it until recently
when it happened at our last show, is being shocked. When something
isn’t flowing right and you have your hand on your guitar and you touch
the mic and you get that shock, I hate it, hate it, hate it.
Well, besides that it’s not good to forget the lyrics that you’re
singing. Sometimes, just all of a sudden it hits,’at any given moment
what if I don’t remember what the next line is?’ It hasn’t really
happened, but it’s just the flash or moment of what if.”
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RE: Freak Magnet
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Just a little note about FM
My stereo, which must be about 5 years old at this point, apparently
likes Freak Magnet alot. He (the stereo) is beginning to get very
picky about which CDs he wants to play. FM is the only VF CD he has
felt like playing recently. Its good in the fact that i have come to
love FM, but bad because i cannot listen to much else. I hope he is
just sick and will get over this soon, but i fear he might be terminal.
Bobby
Helmsley2
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RE: Teenage Fan Base
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in regards to the 17 year old who just wrote about the femmes and the
concert he attended.. i have to agree with him. I’m also one of the
femmes teenage fans and i personally know that they have a really
strong base around where i live. I’ve basically gotten every single
friend i know to like the femmes…even those that are hung up on korn
and limp bizkit… it seems the femmes just seem to hit it with
teenagers and not just blister in the sun. Its true that most of my
friends at first will say the violent who ?, and then i’ll have to sing
a few lines of blister in the sun and they’ll be like oh them!!… but
after i play a few more songs from them, no matter what album i put in,
they seem to love it just like i do. I was fortunate enough to first
hear the femmes around 93, and i have 6 of thier albums and i love every
one.
I also was lucky enough to see them live and thought that it was a truly
amazing performance and i don’t think i will ever forget that night. I
could also go on about my opinions on concert prices but i’ll save that
for next week.
DOORS88JIM2
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RE: Teenage Fan Base
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Okay, I finally decided to speak my mind after holding my tongue for
the past few newsletters… First off I am 20 years old and have been
listening to the Femmes since I saw them at the HFStival in 1994. I
can only describe that day as completely magical. It was at the RFK
Stadium and I was in the stands smoking pot or something and heard the
entire crowd singing along to some band(the song was Kiss Off).
Although I couldn’t tell if I was stoned and imagining it or if they
were really so awesome that everyone there new their songs I was
completely awestruck and put under their spell. Since then I’ve
developed this scary obsession over them that I hope they consider
flattering. The only album of theirs I dont own is Rock and the reason
for that is simply because I can only get it if I order with a credit
card but I’m not allowing myself to get a credit card because I know
Ill put myself in debt. I really get offended when the Femmes younger
fans are summed up as kids who only know BITS and could care less about
any of their other songs, especially when I go to a show and I’m one
of the youngest but one of the few that is singing along to every song
they play, new or old. I don’t really think the age of the fans should
be what determines if you’re a “true fan” or a “BITS fan,” all that
really matters is that we all listen to really good music from an
awesome band.
As for the ticket price thing, I’d moon anyone for a Femmes ticket
…or should I say I’d let anyone moon me … you get the idea.
Danica
Gluegirl
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RE: Teenage Fan Base
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<< “Hallowed Ground.” He said, “Cool! That’s the year I was born!”
I bet I answered 20 questions about what albums different songs were
on during the show – especially when they played songs from FREAK
MAGNET. Marylee and Bec (who were up in the balcony) had many of
the same questions asked of them too! I have never been as proud or
excited to be a Femmes fan as I am right now! >>
Amen, Amen, Amen. I thought the enthusiasm of the younger (as well as
the older) VF Femmes at the DC show was incredible. One guy told me
after the show that he noticed I knew all the words to all of the songs
the Femmes played. (I really don’t.) He was full of questions about
which song was on what album, Which were their newest songs etc.
Everybody seemed to know all the words. It amazes me even though I’ve
seem so many Femmes concerts, that they never quite loose that level of
enthusiasm for their music. Some shows are more wonderful than others,
true but their is always this electricity between the Femmes and their
fans. I never get tired of or cease to be amazed by it.
BTW, Did we ever find out about that Manchester rescheduled show 5/21
or 5/22? I forgot to ask the Femmes at the DC show. They did tell me
that they played three shows in South Africa. They said that the
audiences were wild and that they traveled all around with armed
guards.
Marylee
(Who has been hypnotizing audiences with her percussion abilities and
illusions of grandeur.)
Rubaiyat
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VF Music in Animation
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It seems that the Violent Femmes have been able to have their music
used in Internet animated films. If you goto http://www.slitfinger.com
and click on Scrotum the puppy or something like that you will be
prompted to a whole bunch of films involving scrotum, an animated
puppy. Blister in the Sun is incorporated into the background effects
of the first movie.
You will need Flash by Macromedia on your computer to watch this film.
Viewers should be warned that this content is very obscene (this is
evident just from the name of the character in the film), more so that
South Park. Just thought I’d make other fans aware of this.
Mike.
Michael E. Pellen
mpellen
mpellen
http://www.dqc.org/~mike
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120 Minutes
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Did anyone catch the Violent Femmes’ new video on Sunday on 120
minutes? It was really sweet, I thought. My sister thought she saw
Brian Ritchie’s wife for a split second on the video/TV that Gordon was
watching of the party. Pretty cool all-in-all! I think I’ve been
watching 120 minutes religiously for a few years now just for the SMALL
chance that there might be something on it from the Violent Femmes, and
lo and behold! I almost had a heart attack on Sunday when it came on.
For those that might not have seen it, it was for “All I Want.” By the
way, Did they have a video for “Sleep Walkin'” and I missed it???
Julie
jjwil90
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