05-08-00

Best viewed with COURIER NEW size 10 maximized screen *********************************************************************** The Quote Of The Day: You can come see me, If you got the Money! -From More Money Tonight -Submitted by sammyd *********************************************************************** 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 *********************************************************************** ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO AMUSIC *********************************************************************** 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cancellations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The San Francisco and the LA shows are cancelled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wilshire Cancellation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Commodore Ballroom Still Rocks !!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Ticket Prices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Ticket Prices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Freak Magnet Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Freak Magnet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Teenage Fan Base ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Teenage Fan Base ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Teenage Fan Base ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ << "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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VF Music in Animation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 120 Minutes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~