08-24-98

Best viewed with Courier size 10 maximized screen ************************************************************************ The Quote Of The Day: Oh my body has been punished with too much and not enough. -From I Know It's True But I'm Sorry to Say PLEASE send your VF quotes to amusic ************************************************************************ TOUR DATES: (NEW DATES MARKED WITH A **) August 25- Mountain Lair Plaza, Morgantown, WV (O,P) August 27- Ottawa Centre Theater, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (O, P) August 28- Warehouse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (O, TMCA) August 29- Buffalo Naval Park, Buffalo, NY (P, O) Sept. 19- Newport Folk Fest, Concord Pavillion, Concord, CA (P) Sept. 20- Fresno County Fairgrounds, Fresno, CA (P) October 2- Case Western University, Cleveland, OH (O,P) October 3- St. Norbert College, Green Bay (De Pere), WI (O,P) 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. ************************************************************************ WHO/WHERE Going to a VF concert? Want to know if anyone else on the list also going? Check here first! Morgantown, WV -------------- ddearry (Deana) Kittricken Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ------------------------ thehappycyclops (Eric) Buffalo, NY ----------- SirBoutros (Joel) ************************************************************************ ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO AMUSIC ************************************************************************ WEB PAGES: Official: http://www.vfemmes.com Unofficial: http://vf.scopemag.com if this doesn't work, try: http://206.103.163.50 http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/6918 VF Message Board: http://red.cscwc.pima.edu/~cstaley/femmes/board.html Past Tour Dates: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/1725/femmes.html Guitar: http://www.angelfire.com/hi/VFemmes http://www.smug.adelaide.edu.au/~therapy/violent_femmes/ http://www.olga.net MP3's http://members.tripod.com/~GasolineFumes/music.html Une banane:Send in your top five faves each week to: melancon HERE I AM: Tell me where you live for the Here I Am list. ************************************************************************ In Today's Issue: The Birthday Present Newport Folk Fest in Chicago RE: The Boathouse Disappointment RE: Hated Song RE: Hated Song RE: Hated Song RE: Didgeriblues etc. Some Questions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Birthday Present ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, my son Austin had his 10th birthday yesterday. My mother in law gave him a didgeridoo. He is thrilled! Now I know what those close to Brian must have experienced when he first got his. Right now, Austin has it with him at all times, and he is listening to the instruction tape. I guess I'm going to have to learn circular breathing in order to teach it to him. That'll come in handy for me too I suppose, whenever I finally feel proficient enough on my practice chanter to progress to the bagpipes. Maybe I'll get into it again this winter. Hey, there's a little sticker on this didg, which says Eb. I had no idea these things were made in keys. Suppose it'd make sense though that different lengths would make different sounds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Newport Folk Fest in Chicago ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, I went and it was awesome. The only thing I wish is that the Femmes set was longer and that the MC quits the tour before anyone else is forced to listen to him. It was a really great festival of music to begin with, but then you bring in the Femmes and it kicks ass!!!! There weren't as many Femmes fans there as I expected. It seemed like everyone wanted to see John Hiatt. New World is an outdoor theatre so at the times the Femmes were playing it was still daylight and the theatre definantly was not filled. I felt bad for the performers. Anywho what songs did they play. They opened up with a little religious ditty to honor the Stapple Singers who had gone on before them. Then they went in to Blister in the Sun, American Music, Country Death Song, Old Mother Reagan, Good Feelings, Kiss off, Rejoice and Be Happy, I wanna see You again, and I'm Nothing. They ended with Add it up. I believe that was the whole play list. 40 minutes just isn't enough time. Then they had to make room for Ricki Lee Jones. It was way too short.....but none the less awesome. I highly suggest that if the NewPort Folk Fest is coming to your area...GO!!! Not only do you get to see the Femmes but you also get to see some legendary performers that will blow you away. -Jenny -jellogirl03 P.S. What is the definition of folk anyway?????? -Pat. Says: Tom Glazer, in A New Treasury of Folk Songs (Bantam Books, 1961) defines a folk song as: "almost any song which is liked by almost everybody in the country of its origin over a long period of time." That would rule out most songs now played at the Newport Folk Fest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: The Boathouse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi Everyone! I know how you feel Travis! I'm currently living in Maine, but I'm from Virginia Beach. I use to work as A stagehand at the Boathouse, & had the chance to see the Femmes 3 times there. All 3 times were absolutely incredible!! In '91 there was A film crew at their show, & Gordon mentioned that there would be A home video release of the show, & for us to look for it soon! Had I died & gone to heaven? Well no, the video was never released :( But at least "Add It Up" from the show made it onto the Add It Up 1981-1993 CD. I had mentioned to Deanna, that I was dying to go (about A 13 Hour drive) I even have relatives to stay with there, but my wife is due soon, & there's just no way we could make the trip :( So if anyone went, please submit A review! Or better yet, if anyone recorded the show, I know lots of people would love to trade for it. Including me! I have A master tape I recorded at an '89 Femmes Boathouse show I could offer A copy of. So any ways, I know what you're going through Travis :) If you haven't seen my web site, I took some photos of the Femmes playing at the Boathouse, there's also some photos that are even better that Deanna took, take A look if you haven't seen them: http://www.geocities.com/6918 The photos are in the photo gallery. I know this is A long post, but just real quick: has anyone seen any videos of the Violent Femmes surface? There's lots of audience shot camcorder videos around of just about any band, except the Femmes! Why, oh why?? Take Care! Eric boothaus -Pat. Says: If anyone went to this show, please send in a review for Eric and Travis. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disappointment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I just got back from work, and I'm sitting here really disappointed because the Violent Femmes are performing _right now_ 10 minutes away from my house... But I didn't think it was worth paying $40 and skipping work to go see, and I still don't know if I made the right choice... (I know, I know, I could've bought cheaper tickets, but I don't like doing that... if I'm gonna see them, I wanna see them RIGHT!) It helps a little bit that the radio is about to play a block of Violent Femmes songs (if you're ever in the Columbus area, CD101 is the best non-college station I've ever heard). But I'm also still getting over the disappointment of not having Freak Magnet...I got to read Brett's nice long description of the album, and every sentence just drove in the fact that _I_didn't_have_it!! I can't believe how depressing that was.... Sure, I ordered it from Southland CD a couple weeks ago, but I don't think it's ever gonna come... I paid with cash (call me paranoid, but I'm not giving out credit card info over the internet), which meant I had to mail them the money...and a week after I sent it, I got the damn thing returned to me without a stamp!!! It's all a conspiracy. I KNOW it was stamped when I mailed it. If you look at the envelope really closely, you can even see little tears where the stamp fell off. Those post office people just don't want me to ever get any Violent Femmes albums. ("Why can't I get just one album/why can't I get just one album/I guess it's got something to do with the post office!" Sorry, I guess I'm not a very good lyricist.) I got a similar feeling a few days ago when I read Pat's list of Femmes singles, rarities, etc... Every item was just one more that I'll never find. (I do have Machine...I guess I just got lucky, because last time the Femmes played here I checked in Best Buy and saw that they'd stocked up on tons of VF music.) Has anyone ever discussed a system for trading copies of albums that no one is ever gonna get any other way? It wouldn't be right to send around copies of their major albums, since everyone should be able to get those anyway, but I know that the group has unofficially said they don't mind people making live copies as long as no one makes a profit off of them (I have one very cool bootleg). And I think it's pretty much the same for singles that can't be found anyway. If I ever found one of them somewhere, I'd buy it even if someone already had copied it for me. As long as no one gets hurt, it's ok. Right? Nevin nsteinda -Pat. Says: OK, OK, I'm going to TRY REAL HARD to get the Classifieds out today. If any of you also live in the country, you probably know how things get when the harvests start coming in. Last year was terrible, but this year is very prolific, and I have to get everything in. OH, one thing about Freak Magnet. On Chris's message board a couple of people from overseas (in Europe) have said that Freak Magnet has been released there. Can any of you verify this? Are these Southland CD's promos or imports? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Hated Song ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For a long while, I had never met a Femmes song that I didn't like. I liked some a lot more than others, including most of the most hated ones listed to date. Jesus Walking On The Water is one of my five favorites, for instance. I agree with those who say Dance MF Dance is great live but not much on disc. My favorite CD is also most Femmes fans' least favorite--New Times. The title cut is my least favorite on the CD. I just love When Everybody's Happy and Mirror Mirror (I See A Damsel) is my favorite Femmes song. Finally, I found a song I absolutely hate. I love Tom Waits and bought the mostly lousy tribute album to him. The album is called Step Right Up and the Femmes are honored to do the cover of the title song. I listened to it twice and will never again. Truly atrocious. Bob, the 56 year old Femmes freak. BurrResear ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Hated Song ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>Next: I can't listen to Vancouver. i've only called a few things beautiful....once i called myself beautiful and my head says that vancouver is a beautiful song...from didgeridoo to sax...i don't know why i just think it to be and it is....maybe it's those unexplained things that are beautiful...i've now summed up my total to be an imperfect three....it might be time to off it byebye Kyle_Souza ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Hated Song ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I love Please Don't Go because it has a "meet the Femmes" story attached to it. About four years ago, the Femmes were playing here in Phila. and our whole family decided to go see them. My youngest son was about 15 and a bunch of his friends wanted to go but their parents insisted that they could only go if a parent accompanied them. My husband and I were designated, "the parents". Little did the parents know that my husband and I were as much into the Femmes music as our offspring. My daughter was going to Penn at the time so a bunch of her friends went too. My oldest son was also there with some of his friends. We had three carloads of kids, young adults and us. After the show, my kids wanted to see if they could meet Gordon, etc., so we went into the alley behind the venue. We knew they were somewhere in the building so everyone was yelling up to the top floor where there were these outward opening windows (kind of like french doors.) All of the people in the alley started singing, Please don't go in the direction of these windows and all of a sudden, the windows opened and ther was Gordon with a big smile on his face just standing there in the open window listening to us. He seemed very amused. Everyone was yelling up questions and comments and Gordon finally said, "Wait, we're coming down." I can't begin to describe the excitement level of our group at this point. Everyone was psyched beyond words. They came out and hung out with us for a good half hour or so. While we were talking to Gordon, my daughter said to me, "I wish we had the camera." I remarked that the camera was in the car which was in a parking garage about three blocks away. Gordon said, "If you want to go get it, We'll wait around." So I ran through the alleys of Phila., 12:30am, with a mace can in my hand so I wouldn't get mugged or worse and I got the camera,we took lots of pictures and Gordon signed everyone's shirt, hand etc. When they were leaving, Gordon came over to me and thanked me for bringing everyone to the show. He said when they first started playing in clubs back home, parents used to bring their kids and he always liked to see the parents come back without their kids. Well, I'm one of those parents. My older kids have moved on in their musical tastes, but I still can't get enough of this band. And everytime I hear Please don't go, I can picture all of those excited, thrilled and enthralled faces looking up at that window, and that window opening up with Gordon right there in front of us all. It was an awesome night. -Rubaiyat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Didgeriblues etc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In reply to the person who commented on the version of didgeriblues on the Breakin' Up single, I think this version IS the original, I remember listening to this song (from the single), at least a year before ROCK!!!!! was released. I also remember commenting to a friend that the new album (ROCK!!!!!) had a new version of didgeriblues on it, one that sounded very different to the one from Breakin' Up. There have been a few songs that I didn't like at one time or another, but now I absolutely love: I hate the TV, Hallowed Ground, Johnny, Dance MF Dance (I didn't like this song- I thought it was stupid- until I heard it live!!!!!!). I now think that all these songs are great. Lastly, does anyone have an inkling of when the Femmes might head back to Australia? It is hard having not seen them for nearly 3 years! -msorrell # ### ### # # ### ### # ##### ##### ##### ##### | | | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some Questions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ just some questions I was wondering about. Pat must know them because she knows freaking everything about the band 1. How old are the band members? 2.Were any of the band members in jail? 3. Did any of the femmes go to college? Well thats about it joel SirBoutros -Pat. Says: Not Everything. But I can give these a shot. According to the Official Homepage, Gordon is 35, Brian is 37. Guy does not give his age, but I read on another page somewhere that he is 44, same age as Victor. I seriously doubt any of them have been in jail. They've been performers all their adult lives, too busy to get in serious trouble. Gordon and Brian did not go to college, but I suppose it's possible that Guy went to art school. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~