04-29-98

************************************************************************ TOUR DATES: (NEW DATES MARKED WITH A **) May 2- Salisbury State College, Salisbury, MD (O,P) ONLY STUDENTS MAY BUY TIX TO THE SALISBURY SHOW May 3- 99X Stage@Music Midtown, Atlanta, GA (O,P) **May 23- WCPR 97.9 Fest, Biloxi, MS (O)** **May 24- Starplex Amphitheatre, Dallas, TX (O)** **June 26- Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI (O)** TENTATIVE DATES (Pat's note: I've never heard of the Newport Folk Fest travelling to places other than Newport, RI) **June 28- 89X, Pontiac, MI (O)** **July 9- Festival d'ete International de Quebec, Canada (O)** **July 30- Newport Folk Fest, Atlanta, GA (O)** **August 1- Newport Folk Fest, Philadelphia, PA (O)** **August 2, Newport Folk Fest, Jones Beach, NY (O)** Anyone know where this is? **August 16- Newport Folk Fest, Washington, DC (O)** **August 20- Newport Folk Fest, Indianapolis, IN (O)** **August 21- Newport Folk Fest, Chicago, IL (O)** **August 22- Newport Folk Fest, Detroit, MI (O)** **August 23- Newport Folk Fest, Pittsburgh, PA (O)** ************************************************************************ The Quote Of The Day: I see no way out I feel a closing in Living this way, I won't live this way It's no way to live -From Thanksgiving (No Way Out) 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! Salisbury, MD ------------- Atlanta, GA ----------- ************************************************************************ 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: Radio Station Error Drexel Info Needed The Charlotte Show RE: The Moshing Thread RE: Reggie White RE: Reggie White RE: Reggie White RE: Reggie White RE: Reggie White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Radio Station Error ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi, I just wanted to let you know that the call letters for the radio station sponsoring New Rock Fest is WLUM, not WLVM. It's not a big deal, but I felt like telling you anyway. -Jason -Pat. Says: That's been fixed; you'll see the correction on Monday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Drexel Info Needed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ does anyone have information on the drexel show on May 30th? i hope it isn't another one of those shows where you have to be a student, but then again, where there's a will there's a way. anybody going.. also, with that one FREAK MAGNET CD out there, is there any chance of making copies of it for some of our special listserv members. that being me. just thought I'd take the chance and ask Bobby V. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Charlotte Show ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, as a more than pleasant diversion between finishing my last organic chemistry lab write-up (Let me hear ya say "AMEN!!!) and studying for tomorrow's Physics final (groan!) I'd love to add some stuff about the Charlotte show. First of all, I REALLY shouldn't have gone. No, seriously, this has been my hardest semester ever class-wise and I haven't had time to eat a real meal since Sunday afternoon because I've been soooo busy (my env sci prof found this out and thrust a box of fruit bars at me saying "Dear God Amber! You must eat something! You're brain needs carbohydrates to make ATP to function!" HA! What does she know?!). Not going to the concert would have given me time to catch up on a lot of work thereby relieving a lot of stress. But how could I resist?!!! I tried to be responsible by having my friend Rebecca ask me questions for one of my pre-vet courses on the ride down; I wonder if rectal palpations have ever been a topic of discussion by anyone enroute to a VF show before! I'm sure Deana learned a lot more than she really wanted to! :) Oh what a show!!! So many things I haven't seen before: Brian's goggle-like glasses, Gordon playing the fiddle (I couldn't help it--my eyes got all watery!), their rendition of "Seasons of the Heart" (I *think* that's the right title), the HUGE horns section! And how could we ever forget Ray's little "Snoopy-dance" while playing trombone?! (I hope he doesn't get in TOO much trouble for that!) And the psychedelic slinky he had attatched to his slide! The guys were a little trepidatious about going on (due to the Jerry Lee Lewis no-show) so maybe they felt (as Deana theorized) that they had to put on an extra great performance so nobody felt cheated by not getting to see Jerry Lee "I killed my two wives" Lewis. Whatever the reason, this was the most I've felt like all of them were really "into" a show from beginning to end for a while. They had a really good time on stage and I'm glad! Share the joy! After the show, Guy said he'd felt really on for the first 6 or 7 songs until he looked out and saw the mosh pit begin to swirl and that ruined it for him. It's your story Mr. Hoffman, you tell it like you want because I thought you were awesome the entire time! I'd forgotten how nice outdoor venues can be--this was the coolest I've been for a VF show since Knoxville last year! The crowd wasn't *too* bad, although I'm not sure I appreciated the girl behind me totally copping a feel reaching around me to grab onto the barrier! My friend Rebecca was completely slammed in the head a few times by crowd surfers getting grabbed by guards. I think she even lost some hair in the deal! (That's ok. She's tough. She's a hockey player! alright, not really, but I felt like saying that-I dunno why.) OK, it was fun but now it's done. I must go learn(x7) everything I can learn about Physics! wish me luck! ***amber ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: The Moshing Thread ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i can understand where you are coming from but you have to understand that people who go closer to a stage at a show are liable to get caught in the crunch and moshers have just as much right as people who want to enjoy the music do. later days candice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Reggie White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Pat. Says: I've edited the following post so that it includes only those words to which Gordon was referring in Peoria. What Reggie Said disclaimer: This is what Reggie White said in his speech to the Legislature, he said it as his own opinion, not as an opinion for a group, you have to respect Reggie White because he had the guts to say what he believed, and if you think any less of Reggie White for saying this then you can just go fuck a tree or something. another thing: these are just the little setions that are basically what pissed everyone off and whatever. "Today in our nation we're not protecting one another. We don't have compassion for one another. It seems as though we as Americans are doing more to get on top and stay on top than trying to help the man down at the bottom to at least live some type of decent life. And until we as Americans learn to have extreme compassion for our people, this country will never move into the direction that we need it to." "We always should look at the situation and ask ourselves a question. Why did God create us differently? Why did God make me black and you white? Why did God make the next guy Korean and the next guy Asian and the other guy Hispanic? Why did God create the Indians? Well, it's interesting to me to know why now. When you look at the black race, black people are very gifted in what we call worship and celebration. A lot of us like to dance, and if you go to black churches, you see people jumping up and down, because they really get into it. White people were blessed with the gift of structure and organization. You guys do a good job of building businesses and things of that nature and you know how to tap into money pretty much better than a lot of people do around the world. Hispanics are gifted in family structure. You can see a Hispanic person and they can put 20 or 30 people in one home. They were gifted in the family structure. When you look at the Asians, the Asian is very gifted in creation, creativity and inventions. If you go to Japan or any Asian country, they can turn a television into a watch. They're very creative. And you look at the Indians, they have been very gifted in the spirituality. When you put all of that together, guess what it makes. It forms a complete image of God. God made us different because he was trying to create himself. He was trying to form himself, and then we got kind of knuckleheaded and kind of pushed everything aside." end of stuff I feel like copying and pasting. Okay, well that's just a little bit of what he said, he said a lot more, personally I don't think what he said was at all offensive, The message he was trying to send out was that people need to unify and get rid of racism and such. If you want to read the whole speech (it's REALLY long) here's a link with the whole thing reprinted. http://www.jsonline.com/forums/reg/0403regtxt.stm there y'go. -Beky ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Reggie White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In response to Pat's request for info about Reggie White and what it had to do with Gordon's new song I've copied the AP wire below. Let me add my 2 cents worth first though. Reggie attended college at The University of Tennesee here in Knoxville and up until a few months ago maintained a home less than 30 minutes from town. He is highly regarded here - both as an athlete and a human being. Reggie has been a vital part of community leadership in this area and not just the black community. He IS the real thing folks. Now all that said - yes, some of his comments to the legislature shocked me. They do seem a bit out of character but he has always been a very powerful speaker AND a very devout christian. I think you need to know also that Reggie was an associate pastor for a small multi-racial church here in town that was destroyed by fire about two years ago. Although never proven, most of us believe it to be related to the string of church burnings across the south. Racial slurs and other offensive things were spray painted inside the building before it was burned. A disgusting display of bigotry! Although I may disagree with some of his explicit statements I do admire him for his faith and commitment even in the face of such adversity and I do believe his intentions were to unite not divide. Seem logical Gordon would have been interested in this issue. It seems from what has been posted he came to the same conclusion. Associated Press MADISON, Wis. -- Most people invited to speak to the Wisconsin Legislature give five minutes of pleasantries, get a few moments of applause and go home. Lawmakers weren't expecting the earful Reggie White had in store for them Wednesday. They thought the Green Bay Packers star and ordained minister came to talk about his community work and a recent trip to Israel. White did, but his nearly hour-long speech also included remarks on homosexuality, race and slavery that turned the Assembly's applause to stunned silence. White said the United States has gotten away from God, in part by allowing homosexuality to "run rampant." White told lawmakers that homosexuality is a sin, and the plight of gays and lesbians should not be compared to that of blacks. "Homosexuality is a decision, it's not a race," White said. "People from all different ethnic backgrounds live in this lifestyle. But people from all different ethnic backgrounds also are liars and cheaters and malicious and back-stabbing." White said he has thought about why God created different races. Each race has certain gifts, he said. Blacks are gifted at worship and celebration, White said. "If you go to a black church, you see people jumping up and down because they really get into it," he said. Whites are good at organization, White said. "You guys do a good job of building businesses and things of that nature, and you know how to tap into money," he said. "Hispanics were gifted in family structure, and you can see a Hispanic person, and they can put 20, 30 people in one home." The Japanese and other Asians are inventive, and "can turn a television into a watch," White said. Native Americans are gifted in spirituality, he said. "When you put all of that together, guess what it makes: It forms a complete image of God," White said. White said later that his comments were about coming together as a society and were not meant to stereotype the races. "This is the first time I've been at a loss for words," Assembly Minority Leader Walter Kunicki, D-Milwaukee, said after White's speech. "You can still tell from the tension in the room that much of this was offensive." White was invited to speak by Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, R-Waukesha. Jensen called White's comments about homosexuality "disappointing." Homosexuality is a genetic predisposition, not a decision, Jensen said. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a Madison Democrat and the Legislature's only openly gay member, said she disagreed with White's remarks, but as a lawmaker believed in putting aside personal feelings to promote a "healthy debate." CBS Sports spokeswoman Leslie Ann Wade declined to comment on White's speech or whether his remarks would affect his chances for a studio analyst's job. White has auditioned for a commentating job at the network. CBS fired football analyst Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder in 1988 for saying that blacks had been "bred from slavery" to make better athletes. "CBS doesn't accept bias from any of its announcers of any kind," Wade said. -ddearry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Reggie White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That new Femmes song sounds interesting to say the least...Everyone here in Wisconsin loves our Green Bay Packers (including the Femmes), but many of us, including myself, are not too crazy about what Reggie White recently said, and I'm a little torn on how I would expect the Femmes to react to it... White is a devout speaker for the primarily black religion of the Promise-keepers, a strong conservative Christian religion which although it believes in racial equality, believes in male supremecy, and like all strong Christian religions, it condemns abortion & homosexuality. White is a great character, a really nice guy, a great football player & leader, and often leads the team in prayer before games. But in a public speech, he went on to publicly condemn homosexuality. He talked about how long ago blacks were kept as slaves and their families & houses were burned & they were hung just for being black, and yet no one's ever done that to homosexuals in American history...and the way he said it sounded to some people like he was implying that homosexuals should've been burned & murdured throughout history...he talked about how blacks were born black, and that he couldn't believe anyone that tries to tell him that homosexuals were born homosexual, and he made it out to be a very immoral & wrong thing. Later, Reggie had the courtesy to apologize publicly for his remarks & he said he's sorry if he insulted anybody. He had originally decided to retire this year, but I think one of the factors that influenced his decision to change his mind about retiring was that he wanted to be remembered for his great plays on the field & not any controversial remarks. Now I know that Gordon's pretty big on Jesus, and it's evident in a lot of his songs, but it also seems like he has no problem with homosexuality. In fact, I often wonder if he "swings both ways" when I hear him sing stuff like "I'd like him better if he wanted to dance" in "Look Like That" and that whole verse about white boys in the song "Black Girls" (and BTW that song is an obvious rip-off of the song "Black Boys" from the "Hair" musical, but I won't complain). I haven't heard this new "Diversity of Man" song yet myself & I don't know what Gordon says in it exactly or what he means with it. I trust Gordon to be pretty respectful in his lyrics. From the lyrics that were given in that post, it seems Gordon was saying only good things about different races & not really being prejudist at all in any derogatory way. I personally love Reggie, but even though I am 100% straight, I'm a liberal non-conformist and I wasn't too crazy about that statement that Reggie had originally said about homosexuals, and I don't personally support a religion that believes in male supremecy. On the other hand, I, like much of us here in Wisconsin, was rather pissed when some racist white supremist bastards burned down poor Reggie's church. Just as I will never judge a person by their color, and I will never judge a person by their sexuality or their gender, I also will never judge a person by their religion, because I know that it is sacred to each & everyone, and it's all good & moral as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Reggie's a great character & he's a well-meaning & dedicated human being. Oh, and just one minor thing, Pat-- the New Rock station in Milwaukee putting on the New Rock fest is WLUM, not WLVM. I recently made a post insulting their basic musical format on that station, but I have a newfound respect for them now that they're doing the Grateful Dead hour on Sunday nights. Milwaukee has been without a Grateful Dead hour for too long. -Tom -boxofrain3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Reggie White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since I know someone else will write in on what exactly Reggie White said, I will not repeat it. But I will say at the Peoria show when they sang this "ode to reggie", Gordon introduced by saying they totally agree with him and the song stated it, but you got that feeling of Sarcasm because Gordon got that great smile of his as he looked at Brian, Guy and the crowd. I have a feeling they do not agree, but want to make fun of the incident instead. I think they were playing the fact that people blew his comments out of proportion. MBlack http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~mg-black ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Reggie White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I guess Reggie White recently decided to inform the world of his views on TV n front of the Wisconsin Senate a while back. He kind of went of about different ethnic groups and their gifts or skills, as he put it. A few things he said: * Black people are gifted in worship and rhythm *Mexicans are gifted in family structure ("they can fit 20-30 people into one house") *Asians can turn a television into a watch. *White people are gifted in acquiring money and power. *Homosexuality is a sin, just like murder, theft, etc. I see his point, and being hispanic myself I really don't feel the least bit offended by him. I felt that he had good things to say about ethnic backgrounds, but there are always people out there who are looking for shit to get offended about. To them I say get a life. If you think that it isn't a sin to be gay, then good for you. But a man has a right to have his opinion, and his life shouldn't be torn apart because of them. I guess Reggie lost several sponsors because of the fact that he offended people, and he also lost his broadcasting job that had been offerred to him at CBS. That is a little absurd. I guess maybe he could have been more specific in his speech about what his point was, but everyone makes mistakes. Good for the Femmes in supporting their hero. Aaron ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~