04-26-00

Best viewed with COURIER NEW size 10 maximized screen *********************************************************************** The Quote Of The Day: We are the salt of the earth If we are not salty what are we worth -From Rejoice and be Happy -Submitted by pwnordic *********************************************************************** TOUR DATES (NEW TOUR DATES MARKED WITH **): 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: RE: Ticket Prices How Do You Afford Your RNR Lifestyle? RE: Freak Magnet Freak Magnet for Everyone ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What's happened to Bobby V? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Ticket Prices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Just wanted to give my two cents about something that bothers me about >one of my favorite bands. > > YOU JUST SHOULDN'T CHARGE $25.00 !!!! > > THAT DOESN'T ROCK !!!!!! at all 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... >-Pat. Says: I think the fault lies more heavily on the shoulders of > the venues, and on TM for taking their cut. Sure, you > might get to see a band like Fugazi for like $6.00 > (Really? tell me where, and I'm there). 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. > but that's how I always thought the business was run: > The VF charge a venue a set price, and the venue decides > how much to charge the audience. i think that's how it works... but that means that in effect, the Femmes do set the ticket prices by what they charge the venue... Nick mypen15 -Pat. Says: Let me rephrase. What I meant was, the venue decides how much percentage profit it wants to make off of the show. Let's assume, as a wild guess, that the VF charges a set price of $25,000 a show, any show, wherever it may be. If a venue can allow 2500 people, tickets with no profit for the venue would be $10. If they decide to make 20% gross from each ticket, they would charge $12.50. If they decide to make 50% gross from each ticket, they would charge $15.00. You can buy tickets for college shows at these prices. Now, what do you think a venue, many of which make a 100% gross profit from each and every bottle of beer it sells, would charge for a ticket? Now, if the venue wants to make 100% profit net, rather than gross, they would also factor in additional expenses such as insurance, electricity, advertising, employee income, Ticketmaster's cut, fur coat for the mistress, etc, etc. and you can see how some ticket prices are inflated to $25 and beyond. A venue will also charge according to how popular they PERCEIVE a band to be. Although some of you are lucky enough to live in an area which is very eclectic musically, where I live you have three musical choices: Brittney Spears and the like, Aerosmith etc, or Garth Brooks et al. So while a venue owner, or some other Mainstream Average Joe may have only heard THAT ONE VF SONG, he may look at you blankly and say, "Fuga-WHO???" and charge his customers more to see the Violent Femmes than Fugazi. Ok, so now I know that Fugazi does things a bit differently, so just fill in the blank with any other talented but possibly not as universally-known band. Why, you may ask, do the VF charge what they do per show, (and don't quote me on that $25,000 number. It's just a nice round number of which I am peculiarly fond) We all know Brian and Guy have families to support. All three presumably have homes to maintain. Now figure income for the tour manager and, let's say, 3 crew, cost of travel and accomodations for everyone on tour, rental and/or upkeep of tour bus, cars, van for gear, maintainance and/or replacement of instruments. Now figure in the payments to promotional staff, agents, web designer, tax consultant/accountant, plus anyone and everything else I couldn't possibly have thought of because I'm not in the buisiness. I'm willing to bet the farm that neither of the three live in posh Central Park digs, or own a fleet of Porches and BMW's. Sure, they're probably quite comfortable, but not obscenely so. Well, for what it's worth, that's my take on it, and I'm sticking with it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How Do You Afford Your RNR Lifestyle? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am posting this note for 3 reasons 1) I am enjoying the irony that we are discussing a DC band - Fugazi - in the midst of the Femmes 2 date gig at the 9:30. 2) I booked and promoted a Fugazi show last Dec (12/19) and 3)As Femmes fans and music lovers - I think it is not only appropriate for us to discuss music industry integrity but absolutely imperative that we do so. Ticketmaster monopolizes the performing arts only because we allow it to do so. WE ARE the ticket buying community! Anyone who knows who Fugazi is knows that you can currently see them for $5-$6 no matter where they play. That's their "calling card" if you will - they keep it real ... real cheap and real simple. I'm not taking anything away from Fugazi here either - musically it's not really my preference - but I do admire their intensity. I also admire their integrity. Talk about the road less traveled. When we booked them we spoke directly to Ian - no manager, no booking agent. No money up front - no guarantee either - just a percentage of ticket sales. Basically they could have played the show and left with $10 bucks if no one showed. Thankfully, 1200 people showed. In fact we noticed groups of cars with DC, Chicago and even California tags in the parking lot as early as 10am on the day of the show (so much for people knowing VF more than Fugazi). Here's the important thing though -1200 tickets at $6 =7200. You know those MasterCard commercials? Sound & lighting $2400, Security Staff $950, Hospitality $350, Sales Tax $72 and for everything else there's ... about $200 left over. You certainly get an entirely different view of things from the other side of the ticket window. Fugazi is not living the rock 'n roll lifestyle. They arrived - gear and all - in 2 cargo vans. I got the distinct impression they had also slept in the vans the night before. They did everything they could to talk to all the fans who hung around afterwards but Ian couldn't have been available for many autographs since he was in the office with us "settling up." So Fugazi has integrity for charging $6 and the Femmes are staunch capitalists because a venue (where Fugazi had 2 dates in Dec 99) is charging $25? Nope. That's one dog that just won't hunt. The Femmes have fought the good fight too. Or has everyone forgotten that they produced New Times themselves? As for this comment: > Now the younger crowd with less cash (who, by the way, are where >the real heart and soul fans form) are being alienated. I'm not in >that younger crowd any more, but I'm still not going to spend that >kind of cash. Or at least not spend that cash and keep my level of >respect for the spirit of VF music constant. I fear that this money >grab may affect more hard-core fans like me here-to-forward if it >continues, though. I agree that the heart and soul of the Femmes music is in the younger crowd but as far as them being alienated you could NOT be more wrong! After I secured my beloved front row spot Monday night I looked around and realized I was pretty much surrounded by people half my age. The guy on my right side - Eric - asked me what significant thing had happened in VF history in 1984. I said, "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! BTW the guy on my right side Monday night - who I nicknamed can't come on Tuesday night because I have a quiz and I have to study Travis - has to be referred to as HOD Travis after Tues night's show! If you're reading this and you know Travis please tell him we all thought he did a fantastic job! Deana 1/3 of the hardest, corest VF fans anywhere - can I get an amen from the cleavage girls? ddearry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Freak Magnet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As for FM I would first of start by saying that it does seem more like ROCK than any of the other albums. I guess that means that the Femmes have been changing their style, and if you like ROCK you will probably like FM. Anyways, its different from their earlier stuff but I still like it all the same. As for the album itself, I must agree with the majority that it does grow on you. I will also agree that the Mosh Pit song does seem like a teenager trying to write a song, and although i recognize it for sarcasm, i dont think it is that funny. I do find Happiness Is and A Story both very funny. Happiness Is is really hilarious. I think my favorite song (so far) must be Rejoice and Be Happy although In the Dark is good too. Sleepwalkin is very catchy. Now I have a question. What do you guys think the Forbidden song is about? I have this idea that it is about mermaids, but then i also have this idea that i am totally wrong about the first idea. Anyways......give the album a chance, and then next week give it three more chances, and I would think your view of it will shift a little. Bobby Ticknor Helmsley2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Freak Magnet for Everyone ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been reading all these reviews concerning Freak Magnet, some good, some not so good. Personally I love the album. I myself am a teenage Femmes fan, 17 years young, and I've been listening to the Femmes since 1994. However, I didn't buy New Times when it was released. The first taste of the Violent Femmes I had was Hallowed Ground. Songs like Country Death Song, and I Hear the Rain, etc. blew me off my feet. It made me appreciate music on a whole new level, a level which bands like Nirvana and Green Day (who were popular at the time) could never possibly reach. I have been a devout fan ever since. Last night I attended my first Femmes concert in Toronto, at the Warehouse. I expected to be sourounded by 30-40 year olds who are the original fans from the eighties, but insted the majority of the people there were my age. I thought, "Oh great, all these people are here just because of Blister in the Sun." But then as the concert progressed I noticed that everyone in that venu knew every single word to every single song. It was a religous experience. It may be true that Freak Magnet is trying to appeal to the teenage audience, but at the same time it is opening up a whole world of Femmes for them to discover. Pot is considered to be a gateway drug that opens up users to new and dangerous drugs. Well than maybe Freak Magnet serves the same purpose by being a gateway to new and dangerous music. I.e. other Femmes albums. But I can assure you that todays youth is not lost. It is true that the majority it buying into this WWF and Korn crap, but there is still a teenage fan base that loves the Femmes for more than Freak Magnet, and personaly I think we deserve a bit more respect. So what if a kid buys Freak Magnet just for the hard, sometimes poppier rock. He's still buying the Femmes, and as far as I know, there's no crime in buying an album cause you dig the music. -Andrew Hood skip_skipperton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~