03-09-98

AMERICAN MUSIC: THE VIOLENT FEMMES MAILING LIST currently run by Pat. Wary ************************************************************************ TOUR DATES: (NEW DATES MARKED WITH A **) **Apr. 1- Salem State College, Salem, MA (O) TENTATIVE** Apr. 2- Brandeis Universtiy, Waltham, MA (O) TENTATIVE Apr. 4- 8:30 p.m. Timkin Gymnasium, Mt. Union College, Alliance, OH $10 (P,O) Apr. 5- 7.30 p.m. Elco Theatre, Elkhart, IN (T,O,P) Apr. 6- 9 p.m. World Mardi Gras, Indianapolis, IN (T,O,P) 21+ SHOW Apr. 7- Knight's Hall, Bellarmine College, Louisville, KY, ~$17.50 (P,O) **Apr. 16- University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, WI (O) TENTATIVE** **Apr. 17- North Michigan University, Marquette, MI (O) TENTATIVE** Apr. 18- 7:30 p.m. McGown Gym, Winona State University, Winona, MN (P,O) Apr. 19- Fargo Civic Auditorium, Fargo, ND (O) Apr. 21- Madison Theatre, Peoria, IL (O) Apr. 24- Center CityFest '98, Charlotte, NC (O) **Apr. 26- La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA (O)** **May 2- Salisbury State College, Salisbury, MD (O) TENTATIVE** May 3- 99X Stage@Music Midtown, Atlanta, GA (O) May 15- Chocolate Fest, Burlington, WI (O) 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, contact Monterey Peninsula Artists. Serious inquiries only. ************************************************************************ The Quote Of The Day: special favors come in 31 flavors were out of mints pass the life savers I'm droppin hints candy for candy-coated tongue -From Prove My Love -Submitted by 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! Alliance, OH ------------ Indianapolis, IN ---------------- Louisville, KY -------------- Winona, MN ----------- Peoria, IL ---------- Charlotte, NC ------------- Atlanta, GA ----------- Burlington, WI -------------- ************************************************************************ 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: Cincy and Asheville Shows Deleted Alliance Directions Fred Show..RE: RBF Fred and DC Shows Pat. in DC RE: RBF Freak TMBG Magnet RE: Freak Magnet (Mostly) Aaron! Beautiful Ending Top 10 Again ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cincy and Asheville Shows Deleted ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Due to the fact that the Cincinnati and Asheville shows are no longer listed in the Official Homepage, I have removed them from the tourdates. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alliance Directions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I got these of the Mt. Union website for the April 4th concert: >From Cleveland: Take 77 South to Canton, then Rt. 62 East to Alliance >From Columbus: Take 7l North to Mansfield, then Rt. 30 East to Canton. Follow 77 North to Rt. 62 East. Follow to the Alliance Exit Check http://www.muc.edu for directions from other places. 1djek3 "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to their graves with their song still in them." -Henry David Thoreau ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fred Show..RE: RBF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have always said the violent (voilet) Femmes are always getting better. That's still true. Being a rock star must be a real hard job. That's one of the lessons I learned from the Fredericksburg show. It was quite incredible to see that show with real VF fans. It makes a big difference being with real fans. I am looking forward to the Ashville and Charlotte shows. I will find it real hard not to compare this last show with other shows. I have never really worried about being up front before. But, with the Violent Femmes it seems to make a difference in that there is some communication. Somehow, Guy knew that I was on the front row...though I was furtherest from him. So, I bet the next two shows will be at bigger venues, so that will suck. If Reel Big Fish want to tease the Femmes let them. RBF sucks anyway sell-outs who do a song about selling-out which isn't even that good anyway, who further don't know how to put on a good ska show. So don't take RBF to damn seriously..they suck. Listen to good ska bands instead. Deana said really all that needed to be said about the Fredericksburg show in itself. I just wanted to add my 2 cents. Jesse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fred and DC Shows ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ok, I'm sick of this! I never write because I always say "I'm too busy! I'm too busy!" Well, fuck studying for the Biochem test! As far as I'm concerned that's why God made Perkins! "And on the night of the 6th day, Jehovah realized that after all that creative work he had a hankerin' for an omlette, some home fries, and some really bad but cheap coffee, so he created 24 hour diners like Perkins, Denny's, and Eat-N-Park. AMEN!!!!" I have just had possibly the greatest week of my life! It started Tuesday morning when Deana and I drove to Fredericksburg for the most awesome VF show I've ever seen! Deana already gave y'all the details (sorry, I've now spent over 3 years in the South, the speech is rubbing off. Next I'll be a NASCAR fan! ) so I won't bore you with many more except to agree that musically, you just can't beat the shows where the Femmes get a chance to JAM! like they did with Eugene Chadbourne! Aaahhhh! I was going nuts it was so wonderful! And Gordon at the beginning saying "I'm not going to do any guitar solos. No wait. You've just seen two really great guitarists, and maybe some of you are trying to play the guitar and you see them and think 'I can't do that!' So, maybe I WILL play some guitar so you will see me and think 'Yeah! I CAN do that!!!!'" And when Gordon started singing the 2nd verse too early in "Held her in my arms" and I looked at him like "Gordon, what the fuck?!!!" and he just laughed and shrugged, Ooops! You didn't see that folks! Really, I would have been thrilled to death if the night had ended after "Add it up", but nooooooo. We talked to Guy and yes, he gave me a backstage pass since I will hopefully be seeing them a lot in the next few months. On the drive home, Deana kept asking me "Has it sunk in yet?!" No, it didn't sink in until I went to the DC show. I had almost sold my DC ticket to Travis, because he wanted it so badly, but after getting the pass, I told Travis he could have my spleen, but not the ticket! He understood, and happily got one from Gordon's brother! So, I drove up to DC on Friday night and first met Pat (and hubby Scott!) while waiting in line! Believe me everyone, she's just as great as you all suspect! After the opening act was over, I decided to make use of my pass. I was hanging out backstage when Guy came up and said "Hi Amber!" I was surprised he remembered, I'd given him the mneumonic device of "Think of Amber Bock beer" on Tuesday--it must've worked! :) We talked for a while, and then he said Pat was upstairs with the rest of the band if I wanted to go up, so I did. Really folks, it's hard to stay calm when you're in a room with all these great people. There were several times I had to turn my face to the wall and break out in the goofiest grin because I couldn't quite believe where I was. I asked Gordon if I could have an apple from their complimentary fruit basket and he assured me that was ok and "Thanks for asking!" To me, that's just plain funny. I don't know. Anyway, the show was incredible. It's great being able to move and breathe backstage, but I think I'll try to get back up front in the crowd for the next few shows if they're small venues--it's nice being able to make eye contact and watch Gordon's expressions as he sings. Guy and I talked for a while after the show; I also got to meet Travis, Bek, and MaryLee. Then I left and Ray walked me back to my car parked a few blocks down in the crack maniac section of town! Everyone I met was so unbelievably nice like that! What a night! I love you all!!! What I didn't love was the 6 hour drive back to college. I just prayed ("Please God, don't let me wreck and die. There's so many more Femmes shows to see!), set my car, Blue, on automatic pilot, and the next thing I knew it was 8:30 am and I was back at school. My little dorm bed never looked so swell! I hid my pass back under the carpeting (and you think Beky's paranoid!!!), took a shower and crashed! for 24 hours! Hmmm...should I admit to that? :) Oh well, what I'm trying to say is I had a swell time! Did I mention I'm the queen of understatements ! :):):):)***amber ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pat. in DC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, we made it to DC. Quite a place, eh? I'd rather be locked in a small room full of big stinky wet dogs who have a collective and serious case of flatulence than visit that depressing city again. Sorry. I'm just not a city person as a whole, but this place was sad and scary. As for the show, what can I say? Has there ever in the history of the world been a bad, or even mediocre, Violent Femmes performance? OF COURSE NOT. I did not care for Mary Prankster, the opening performer. Don't get me wrong, folks; she was clearly very popular, and is no doubt talented and witty. I just wasn't in the mood for an hour or so of John Valbyisms. The shock appeal wore off rather quickly. But the guys were in great form as always, despite a couple of technical problems which must have sent Willie's blood pressure through the roof. I won't give the entire set list; if anyone wants it, write me and I'll email you personally. I counted 28 songs. I was very happy to hear Special, I Held Her in My Arms, and Faith. It's been awhile. Didgeridoo Blues was played as an encore rather than in the beginning. And three new songs-Bad, Rejoice, and Freak Magnet were played somewhere in the middle of the set. First time I'd heard Freak Magnet, and loved it of course. I can almost sing along with Bad. Can't wait till May. It was great meeting all of you who managed to find me. Thanks for looking for me. Now I can visualize a few more faces. Sorry I missed the rest of you. Patrick, I've emailed everyone else I met but you. I can't remember your email aarrgh. So it was great meeting you and hope we'll be able to do it again. I'm glad you managed to get in, but sorry to hear there were a few minor problems. Hope I was a pleasant surprise, or at the least not a disappointment. Write in more often and I'll remember your addy. Keep Mike in line. -Pat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: RBF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ << It sucked i was at the Reel Big Fish show on Wendesday night. Reel Big fish opened up playing a mock song of the Violent Femmes they were making fun of the Femmes. Screw Reel Big Fish>> are you positive that they were making fun of them? Reel Big Fish gets kicks outta making fun of themselves and stuff they like, you know. it's called verbal irony, like saying, "hey i suck," when you really mean, "hey i'm cool." i could be wrong, though, i mean if RBF just came out there and mocked them and then said, "i'm glad we're making fun of the violent femmes because i hate them," or something, well, that's just another story. the femmes and RBF are both really cool bands, in my not-so-humble opinion, and even if they don't like each other or whatever, who cares? bye bye --- karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Freak TMBG Magnet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello, hi everyone. First, while I'm rarely much of an apologist for Reel Big Fish, they really mean no discredit to the Violent Femmes. They have a song that begins with a very familiar sounding "Do you like...alternative music?" It's not a femmes putdown. Second, I remember reading once upon an eon ago an interview with They Might Be Giants in which they were asked about the interesting nature of their fans. John (or maybe it was John) replied "Oh yeah, we're freak magnets." Logical conjecture time: VF have played many a concert with TMBG...is the title of their new cd a reference to the Giants quote??? thank you. I'll go back to thinking about school related crapola now. Josh - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Freak Magnet (Mostly) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ok, well since i'd rather write in to AM than get out of my pajamas and go get ready for saturday morning crap, i'm writing in. are you just oh so excited? i'm sure. so anyways i was kind of wondering, where exactly did the femmes get the idea for the album to be called FREAK MAGNET? just kind of curious. I mean it's like the femmes have all these albums with like really cool names (shut up i like the word like, ok?) and then they bust out with one called FREAK MAGNET... i don't really get it. I'm not saying it's like a shitty album name or anything, it just sounds more like something the Bloodhound Gang would come up with. The Bloodhound Gang being a band i like, but would NOT want to hear cover a femmes song excpet maybe dance mother fucker dance, and not even that really. i babble a lot. Back to the subject though... why would you wreck a perfectly good like roll of great album names with a kinda not fitting one? WELCOME BACK WES!!! sorry, random outburst there. OK, so i might be going to germany for a whole month this summer because im good at german (shut up, i am, i'm smart) and i was thinking "wouldn't it be cool if the femmes would be in germany while i was there?" but they won't be so that's wishful thinking and me talking too much and you guys wanting to hit me with a baseball bat because i talk way too much when i do talk. ok, well im done now and now i have fifteen minutes to shower, do my hair, makeup, get dressed, eat breakfast and get out of the house. oops. i really shouldn't do these things.... -beky -Pat. Says: Apparently Freak Magnet is a term one of them heard and it sort of stuck in his memory. You don't think it fits? Take a look around at some of the people next to you at your next concert. Watch some of the stuff they throw onstage. How many times have you seen someone ask Brian if it'd be OK to try out the didg or get a taste of that cigar? Of course I don't mean anyone on THIS list; every one knows WE'RE all clean cut outstanding fine specimens of humanity. Personally, I think ROCK is the weakest title they've ever given an album. Pity. It also happens to be one of my favorites. But, hey, it's what's INSIDE that counts, right? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aaron! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ aaron messed up. the culture club wrote "do you really want to hurt me" just a correction. em ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beautiful Ending ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's something I think you'll all enjoy. Down here in Pheonix Arizona we haven't got the Femmes to play for us since christmas 1995(21+ show, damn those drinking laws. and why would i drink at a femmes show? i'd be too busy screaming my head off, anyway) and we were all pretty upset about getting passed up on their west coast tour(yes, i polled all 5 million+ people, we all feel kind of ditched). Oh yes, now I remember my original intent....slips away some times......Saturday night five us went to see Nakid(no biggie for me, i hate the radio as much as i hate the tv/president/ect.) and The Refreshments. The refreshments are local to pheonix so it was pretty neat, and this was a free show put on for arizona days(or some equally meaningless psudo-holiday). Well, it was a pretty good show, but it got infinitely better. Halfway through their second song of their first encore, the break into none other than the immortal "Kiss Off". While we had been rather nonchalant for most of this event(it was getting late and the 50 year old guy on his 4th joint for the night was starting to bug me) when we heard the first 2 words of the first very my girlfriend and i broke into a wild frenzy. I'd say that only 50-60 people even knew the words so in reality we were the only people screaming something meaingful. After this 5 minutes of pleasure, we politely(we were still screaming and didn't quite notice) screamed out how much better this was then sex to anyone who was looking our way(which, incidentally, covered pretty much anyone near the beer tents). This is getting rather longer than i had hoped, but i've said my peace and probably(definitely) bored you into a state of unparalleled zombiness. violently yours, jason 111cuzyouleftme222formyfamily...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Top 10 Again ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o.k.....i've got an idea......it might not be that cool....but what the hey... since we're all on the violent femmes mailing list, that must mean that we share some of the same interests in music....so, just for kicks, i propose that everybody posts a top ten bands list (besides the femmes), just so everybody can see what everybody else is into and maybe what they should get into...............so what if this isn't the greatest idea ever.....at least i'm trying... here, i'll start (in no particular order) 1. modest mouse (isaac!!!!) 2. built to spill 3. 764-HERO 4. weezer =w= 5. sleater-kinney (i live pretty close to the namesake) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. the halo benders | 7. dub narcotic sound system | oh calvin.... 8. beat happening | -------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. de la soul 10. the rentals it's all about the moog.... (satan's pilgrims, cub, gaze, a tribe called quest,dj shadow, man...or astroman?, beck, combustible edison, royal crown revue, satisfact and radiohead too) i'm sure you have better things to do, but please....just humor me... ~pretend there's a really cool quote here~ matt -Pat. Says: This thread crops up every few months or so. There's no harm in it, so have at. Interesting selections Matt. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~