04-19-00

Best viewed with COURIER NEW size 10 maximized screen *********************************************************************** The Quote Of The Day: If you are lucky I'll play in your city... And you can come see me, If you got the money.. -From More Money Tonight. -Submitted by LilBoek *********************************************************************** TOUR DATES (NEW TOUR DATES MARKED WITH **): Apr 20- 8 p.m., Warehouse, Toronto, ON, CAN, $22.50 (P,O,T-Ca) Apr 21- 6:30 p.m., State Theatre, Detroit, MI, $24.25 (P,T,O) Apr 22- 7:30 p.m., Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL, $20 (P,T,O) SOLD OUT? Apr 24- 7:30 p.m., Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, $26.50 (P,O,T) Apr 25- Bemidji St. University, Bemidji MN (P,O) Apr 27- 8 p.m., Investors Gym, Winnipeg, MB, CAN, $26.50 (P,O,T-Ca) Apr 28- 8 p.m., Centennial Auditorium, Saskatoon, SK, CAN, $25 (P,O,T-Ca) Apr 29- MacEwan Hall, Calgary, AB, CAN (P,O) Apr 30- Wild Bill's, Banff, AB, CAN (P,O) May 2- 8 p.m., Shaw Conference Centre, Edmonton, AB, CAN, $29.50 (P,O,T-Ca) May 4- 8 p.m., Vancouver, BC, CAN $29.50 (O,T-Ca) May 5- 8 p.m., Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA, $19.50 (P,O,T) May 6- 8 p.m., Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA, $19.50 (P,O,T) May 7- Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR (P,O) May 9- 8 p.m., Warfield, San Francisco, CA, $22.50 (O, T) May 10- 8 p.m., Wilshire Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, $30 (T,O) 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) 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! Seattle, WA ----------- Lilboek (Steve) Seattle, WA ----------- Lilboek (Steve) Portland, OR ------------ Lilboek (Steve) 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 *********************************************************************** ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO AMUSIC *********************************************************************** In Today's Issue: Tickets Needed Providence Review RE: Ticket Prices RE: Freak Magnet and Prices RE: Freak Magnet RE: Freak Magnet RE: Freak Magnet RE: Freak Magnet RE: Freak Magnet RE: Freak Magnet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tickets Needed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hey Pat and all other fans, I'm from Columbus, OH and wanting to attend the show in Chicago this weekend but it seems to be sold out---can anyone help?? I need 4 tickets---please, if you can help, I'm desperate! arine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Providence Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ first off, i'm a terrible reviewer. that said, both concerts were great. boston was definetly more mellow, with more ballad-type songs being played. gordon's comment after opening with "rejoice and be happy" in boston was amusing as all hell. he said "now that wasn't a song that anybody came here going 'i don't know what i'm gonna do if they don't play that'...but it's the first song, it's alright." i love how laidback they can be onstage. providence was the converse of boston, with a lot more of a rock n' roll feel. one of the greatest things about the femmes is that they can turn on you any time they feel like it. so, they gave providence a stiff dose of rock. i can't remember the specific songs. (boston was my 19th femmes show and providence my 20th, so forgive my memory) at any rate, they were monstrously good as always. i'm glad sigmund snopek III has been playing with them. i think he adds a lot of flavor to the live show. the most noteworthy thing between both shows was at the end of the providence show. brian began playing his cat in the hat theremin. now, that's nothing new, (amusing as always, but not new). what was new was the fact that he set it down at the edge of the lupo's stage and began playing it with his butt. i don't think i'm alone in saying that it was the high point of the gig. i was lucky enough to play with them again, which i will never get over. it can happen 300 more times and i will still never get over it. we played "gone daddy gone". i guess it could be said that i was a bit biased towards the providence gig. ah well. i hope you all had as much fun as i did. Ron Dumont - "Crazy tattoo guy" Nevertell6 http://www.camelliarocks.com/ http://www.gotpoetry.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Ticket Prices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I promise this will be the last thing I have to say about ticket prices and philosophy... :) Bands (including the Femmes) do have control over where they play and how they play. I cite personal experience here, booking my band and others in an effort to get an independent record company off the ground (www.bastardrecords.com). Where you play doesn't say as much as how you play, obviously. How you play should be for the people who love and are influenced by your music (musicianship, spiritually, etc.). In this way I feel bands like Fugazi and the Femmes (both of whom I've seen at Metropol when I was at CMU) have been much the same in the past. I would consider both the Femmes and Fugazi (two of my favorite bands) to have been generally straight-edge(ish) punk. But, I know that bands change too. Fugazi as a whole is no longer straight-edge for example. It is rumored that Ian McKay finds ways to get photographed with a beer in his hands these days, of course he has a long time girlfriend. I don't think that he smokes though :) He can still fuckin' think. Of course the writing is still very anti-stuff that hurts people. And the Femmes are probably getting fed up with the insincerity of their audiences. I don't believe personally that the throng of people at VF shows really appreciate the sincerity and magic that have come from the VF stage over the years. After playing music for almost 20 years, I'm sure that can burn you out. Especially, as the crowd gets bigger and emotional exchange gets smaller. So going for the cash before people are disinterested may be ticket (pun intended). Some bands mistakenly think that raising the price will only attract the people who really like them, I don't believe that (American economy = "It's the year 2000 EXPECT to pay more"). OR you can choose your venues, choose the songs you play, choose the price of the music. I think this is a better strategy for the Femmes if they want to keep the hard core fans (speaking personally of course). If they would play smaller places and forget to play those 3 songs at a couple of shows their Frat boy friends (and majority of their audience) would go away pretty soon I bet. Then you and I would still be looking up starry-eyed at them at their shows (and probably want to buy Freak Magnet more...I doubt that more than %5 of the people at the $25.00 show in DC will ever own a future VF album). In a way the Femmes will have re-invented themselves. Which is something the terribly need to do. A great poet once said, "America is the home of the hypocrite" and "my nose don't work, but I smell trouble" Jesse jesse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Freak Magnet and Prices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i for the most part like freak magnet. i do think it sounds like something they would do more so than new times which is my least favorite femmes album. i have had to let new times really grow on me and i still think it is their worst album. another comment on ticket prices. i don't know what concerts you all have been going to but the concerts i have been to have been about $40 average. so $20 for the femmes is not unreasonable. The only concert that was cheaper was R.E.M back on the green tour and I doubt it would be that cheap to see them now. they wouldn't even play where I saw them first their next tour they where "too big" for the arena. Even though Michael Stipe had attended SIU (southern Illinois university). The tickets where only $16 . I have to admit that the opening act was someone I had never heard of. I cant even remember his name now but he only did covers. So I did feel cheated there. But I would have paid the $20 just for the femmes. Rudykitten ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Freak Magnet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i heard freak magnet last summer...just the song......and i havn't listened to the femmes since....(just good feeling in the shower...and just once i promise.....) the lyrics seemed very cheesey......i understand their humor but something was different with this song....it made me feel the same way that i feel when i hear silver chair say stuff about the year 2,000----terrible..... i'll get the album sometime just because it's a femmes album but that just doesn't seem right anymore...oh well kyle Kyle_Souza ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Freak Magnet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'd have to say that in my opinion one of the signs of a great band is controversy. A band's ability to create and overcome controversy amongst its fans shows a lot of strength and balls. Not only have the Femmes taken a step away from the norm, they have put their core audience at risk by choosing music that perhaps does not apeal to them, and instead music that will perhaps appeal to a younger generation of Femmes fans, a wider expanse of listeners, or perhaps no one. I think that says a lot about the band that they are willing to take such risks. Let us go back several years to when albums such as Rock and Hallowed Ground were released, if my memory serves me right, at least amongst the Femmes fans with whom I am friends, there was a lot of controversy about, "does this suck? is this femmes quality music? what the hell is this?" And in the end it turned out that Rock was arguably the best femmes record around. Now it took time to grow on us, but it did, and so will freak magnet. I got Freak Magnet when the ORIGINAL copy was sort of but not really released, and I have to admit I didn't think it was that good. But it grew on me, and this newer version, which I happen to think is better than the original, is growing on me too. I can understand why some hard core fans would disapprove of the step the Femmes have taken away from their norm, but wasn't one of the reasons the Femmes were always so great their ability to change and adapt in a revolutionary way that nobody could have guessed? That's my humble opinion. -Beky Extatika ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Freak Magnet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Listening to all the mixed reviews of Freak Magnet makes me think that the Femmes still have the edge that makes them stand apart from other bands. Over the years, each album released has been different than preceding ones and I often was disappointed on my first listen. I was expecting to hear the "old" Femmes but their sound had changed. After a while I came to enjoy, if not love, each album. This is one of the charms that the femmes offer. If a band does not evolve and grow then they will quickly lose their appeal. Although I love the Femmes' older material I now find that Freak Magnet is growing on me each time I listen to it. Freak Magnet contains a range of musical styles from the hard driving mid 80's style on "I'm Bad" and "Freak Magnet" to overtones of Frank Zappa on "A Story" and the Eastern influence of Brian Ritchie on "In the Dark". "Rejoice and be Happy" is one of Gano's finest spiritual songs in the style of "Jesus Walking on the Water". All in all I love Freak Magnet. Let's not forget about Viva Wisconsin. That live acoustical sound is what they do best. I am looking forward to hearing them play again when they come to play at the Commodore in Vancouver on May 4. And I will gladly pay the $29.50 to see them again. Glenn pwnordic ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Freak Magnet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In regard to the people who don't like freak magnet: I'm sure everyone is entitled to their opinion, so if you don't like Freak Magnet, that's fine. But, it seems like most people who really like the Violent Femmes like them because they don't follow the same formula for every album. There were some that were more commercially successful than others, but it didn't stop them from trying other things. To me, all of their different styles are like different facets of their personalities. But I do have to admit, some of their CDs aren't as good at first as they are after you've had them awhile (at least for me). But in my case, the ones I didn't like as much at first have ended up to be my favorites, I think because they were different; more complex, maybe. I don't know. But as much as I like their CDs, nothing holds a candle to their live performances, anyway. And even bad Violent Femmes songs on a CD would be absolutely fabulous in concert! Julie jjwil90 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Freak Magnet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't know about other femmes fans except for the ones I talk to on a regular basis. I don't think I've ever liked a Femmes album the first five times I listened to them. The first time I listened to New Times I put it away for about three months because I couldn't believe that the Femmes could make such a bad album. Now it's one of my favorite albums. Just because initial opinions about Freak Magnet may seem bad, only time will tell. Side note: so far "A Story" is the real meat of the album. Has a Jesus of Rio quality about it that I like. LilBoek ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Freak Magnet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The whole teenage fan/veteran fan debate really bothers me... and I don't want it to start again. I also don't want it to influence anyone's view of FREAK MAGNET. I really don't understand how the album is more geared towards a teenage audience. Teenagers don't read William Carlos Williams poetry-- or at least, I don't hear the Backstreet Boys singing his poetry... I'd say teens are more interested in a different WCW these days (although I'm not a teen and not an expert on what teens like). If "MOSH PIT" is what people listen to when they think the album is aimed at teens, then I have to disagree there too. I think it's hilarious, after all the arguments on the American Music and ROCK!! lists about moshing at Femmes concerts. I don't think they're saying "Look, we can do a song you can mosh to! We're young and hip!" Rather, I think they're saying "Isn't it silly to mosh to Femmes songs? Mosh to this one." Plus, I'm sure it's fun to slam the PUNK in there. Anyway, that's my counterpoint to negative reviews of FM. Jared pez -Pat. Says: I think everybody should know that the person who wrote the original post about Freak Magnet resubbed after a long absence, wrote the nasty review, and promptly unsubbed. I think I'll write and thank him for breathing new life into this newsletter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~