09-02-99

Best viewed with Courier size 10 maximized screen *********************************************************************** The Quote Of The Day: *********************************************************************** TOUR DATES (NEW TOUR DATES MARKED WITH **): Sept 2- Blue Note, Columbia, MO (O) Sept 3- Liberty Memorial Park, Kansas City, MO (O) Sept 4- Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle, WA (O,P) Sept 5- 5 p.m., Washington Park Rose Garden Amphitheater, Portland, OR, $25 (P,T) w/Cake Sept 7- Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, CA (P) Sept 8- Fillmore, San Francisco, CA (P) Sept 10- Gas Lamp Quarter, San Diego, CA (P) Sept 11- 8 p.m., Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, CA, $5-$14 (P,T) see http://www.fairplex.com Sept 14- 7:30 p.m., Ramapo College Gymnasium, Mahwah, NJ (P,T) Sept 17- Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ $21 in advance (P) Tickets available at Dillard's 1-800-638-4253 http://bsd.emgee.com/rialtotheatre/upcoming.htm Sept 18- 12 p.m., That Damn Show, Peoria Stadium, Peoria, AZ, $30, (T) Dec 31- Falls Festival, Lorne, AUS (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 Hornblow USA at: hbgusa Serious inquiries only. ************************************************************************ WHO/WHERE Going to a VF concert? Want to know if anyone else on the list also going? Check here first! Columbia, MO ------------ Questor827 (Russell) Seattle, WA ----------- stevens (Michelle) Portland, OR ------------ stevens (Michelle) LilBoek (Steve) fridayt (Sandy) parr (Nick) Orchid795 (Whitney) San Francisco, CA ----------------- stepheno (Stephen) Pomona, CA ---------- mypen15 (Nick) Xfilesfanm (Michaela) rpouder (Robert) Ramapo, NJ ---------- JStamm (Dan) Tucson, AZ ---------- ChrisS (Chris) ************************************************************************ WEB PAGES: Official: http://www.vfemmes.com Unofficial: http://vf.lasvegasweekly.com/ http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/bluenote/936/ http://www.bigfoot.com/~planetblue http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Theater/6571/index.html http://geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Show/6806/ http://www.violentfemmes.net http://www.homestead.com/lucylittleland/vf.html http://www.fortunecity.com/campus/bates/377/ Yahoo Chat: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/newtimesviolentfemmesclub Past Tour Dates: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/1725/femmes/femmes.html Guitar: http://www.smug.adelaide.edu.au/~therapy/femmes/ http://www.angelfire.com/hi/VFemmes Glenn Gano's Page: http://www.alaska.net/~ggano Charm Records: http://www.charmrec.com *********************************************************************** ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO AMUSIC *********************************************************************** In Today's Issue: Jones Beach RE: Femmes in Tuscon RE: KROQ Generations Video Compilation Red Eyes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jones Beach ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi everyone, I'm recovering from an incredible weekend with my "house guest," Deana. It really defies description but let me try and maybe Deana will fill in all of the lapses in memory caused by lack of sleep, driving, driving, driving, New York City and sheer joy. Deana had a lesson scheduled with Jim, Brian's shakahachi teacher in Brooklyn so we made the trip up there and spent the afternoon at his apartment learning all about this amazing instrument and it's history in Japanese culture. I feel like I took one of The classes he teaches at NYU. The man really knows his stuff. He was so patient with Deana the novice shakahachi player and taught her so much to get her going. Who knows, maybe someday we'll be hearing her in the Horns of Dilemma. He was also gracious enough to offer to make us lunch and he served us green tea while he allowed us to sit in on a lesson with a very accomplished student of his named Michael. Michael told us he practices 5 hours a day and his playing showed it. He was so amazing. It was a double treat to hear him play with Jim, who is a Master. Jim has been playing for 22 years! Deana and I then made the trek across the Manhattan Bridge into Chinatown in Manhattan. We were like two wagoneers crossing the wild, wild west in covered wagons. (Boy, can that Deana read a map!!) After a delicious dinner in a dumpling house in Chinatown,which we found by walking into an alley which was in another world, we made out way up to a small club on the Lower East Side called Tonic to hear a magical shakahachi performance by Jim, a guy named Shalom and our very own Brian Richie. A word about Brian: The man has so many layers to his musical prowess. He plays with his very own style which I can only describe as controlled, accomplished gusto. He was wonderful. To hear him play with Jim and Michael was a real treat. We headed home that night exhausted (It's a two hour ride back to my house), and so much in awe of all we had been privileged to witness. The next morning we headed out to Jones Beach. My son, Dan was playing with the Horns of Dilemma and Dan and my husband and my daughter left after we did so that Deana and I could go into the city after the show. The traffic was so horrible on the Belt Parkway that it took us 3 and a half hours to get there. I was so worried that Dan wouldn't make it there in time for the one hour Femmes set, but he arrived 20 minutes before they were to go on. It is such a thrill for me to see Dan play with them. He gets a little more confidence each time and although he could only play Black Girls because of the time constraints, he considers it well worth the drive and traffic nightmare. He sounded wonderful. (this is his mother speaking, mind you). The Femmes show was kind of your typical "Play the standards" show but as always, they rocked. The audience loved them. After the show, we didn't spend too much time backstage because everyone was in a rush to leave, no doubt anticipating another encounter with that God-awful traffic. Deana and I, feeling like we could handle any New York driving after our brave adventure the previous day, headed into Manhattan, where we hung out on Bleeker Street. Bleeker Street is so busy, crowded, crazy. Where do all of those people come from? I wanted to show Deana the club where my daughter's boyfriend plays so we headed over to the Elbow Room and stayed for two really wonderful bands. By that time, we were ready to drop so we started for home. The city had other plans for us. We sat in line for the Holland tunnel for almost 2 hours and made it home about 4:30am. The next day after Deana, AKA "Sleeping Beauty" woke up 3:30PM!!!!, we did Philadelphia. Martini Bar, South Street, Art Museum, my daughter's apartment etc. We made dinner at 11:00PM and collapsed. Monday, we took it easy and then headed up to Manhattan to the Knitting Factory for Brian's show. We did the quick touristy subway ride up to Time Square, Central Park, Madison Square Garden, etc., and then took a cab back to the Knitting Factory. Brian was the special guest of improvisational musicians, Straylight and this was the musical treat of the weekend. Straylight consists of a synthesizer, a bass guitar and Jason Finkelman on every possible percussion instrument know to man. He blew me away. Brian played guitar, conch digeridoo, shakahachi and a variety of whistle things. He was just amazing. Again, I thought to myself how many musical layers the man has. I don't think I've seen them all yet. Jason made some kind of comment about how great it was to have such a legend playing with them. We stayed around for a while afterwards drinking and relaxing and then headed back home in time to sleep one and a half hours before waking up to get Deana down to the airport for her sleeping, (I'm sure) ride home. What a blast!! I'm going to sleep now. Bye. Marylee Rubaiyat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: KROQ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...because let's face it, this song is honestly nowhere near the top 500 most POPULAR songs of the 90's. Nick, don't underestimate the power or the appeal of the Femmes. First of all, it's KROQ, so Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey, and Will Smith are right out of contention. Also, KROQ is notably Femmes-Friendly (at least in my limitied listening time) and their demographic extends beyond the stereotypical skater dudes and mallrats. I encourage everyone to vote, yes, but don't sell our band short. :) Claire lottelita Joke of the week: Have you visited the Jewish section of India's capital city? It's called Kosher Dehli. (Does that pun get a standing oy vaytion?) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Femmes in Tuscon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hay pat et. al. This is concerning the Femmes show in Tuscon, Arizona. We saw the Tuscon weekly as well, but the news doesn't look too good. The tickets were supposed to go on sale last saturday but the radio station as well as the club where they're playing didn't say a thing about it. Plus the number they give for the club in the ad is wrong. All these litle things make me worried, but they're playing in Phx the next day so they probably are here. I think that the Phx show is going to suck. "That Damn Show" is just an excuse to say damn on the radio for a alterna-pud radio station. But all the radio stations in Phx have gone down hill in the last 6 months (can you say no more club retro? die 104.7, die). anyway, that's my little rant. if they are really playing, i'll be there. bye then. -jason jholt1 --- "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read" Groucho Marx --- UPDATE: Anyway, here's some more info on the femmes in tuscon. They are susposed to be playing at the Rialto Theater on Congress street. A friend and i went down there and it was alive but didn't say anything about the femmes. nobody was there so we couldn't find out ticked information, etc. but the rialto is *small* so it looks like it's going to be a good show. while the concert hasn't been announced on the marquee it *has* been announced on the rialto web page, who's address escapes me right now. we've been calling and emailing since last friday to find out about this, so i'll write back with any updated information. drunken frat boys need not apply (even though it is pretty close to the U of A campus). peace. jason -Pat. Says: the URL for the Rialto is: http://bsd.emgee.com/rialtotheatre/upcoming.htm This date is also listed on the Pollstar webpage. So I think it's a go. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Generations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ someone said that he assumed none of us had children. well i have 2 kids. a son 7 and a baby girl 10 months old. my son has none the lyrics of several of the femmes songs since he was 3. i never knew he even paid attention to what i listened to until we where on a trip to indi. and he started singing blister in the sun . he was 3 at the time. so i have turned on the next generation to the femmes. Rudykitten ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Video Compilation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ hi pat. i've been on the american music mailing list for quite some time. unfortunately, for the summer months, i've not been able to keep up with it too much. recently, i've read some mentions of a video compilation of some sort. you had said that you haven't distributed them yet but was close to it. i was just curious as to what this is, exactly. also, how do i get one? okay, that's it. thanks a lot. kelly KARTH -Pat. Says: Several months ago, Deana and I collected a bunch of Violent Femmes videos, sent to us by several very generous fellow subscribers. These videos are MTV-type singles, TV appearances, live concert video boots, etc. This video will be made available to all subscribers of American Music. All you have to do is send to a distributer the price of a blank tape plus postage, or send a bland tape of your own choice plus postage. All we have to do is make our lives slow down enough to get going on this again. I PROMISE I will write Deana tomorrow, assuming she has recovered from her weekend with Marylee (see post above!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Red Eyes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Speaking of videos, last issue I mentioned I was waiting to receive a copy of this Brian Ritchie movie, and that I would report upon it when it came in. Well, it came in the mail today! Unfortunately, I could not tear into the box and put it immediately into the VCR player because I decided today to make homemade shitake raviolis. This was a five hour job, from going into the woods to search for fresh shitakes, making and rolling out the dough (because despite REPEATED requests, I still have not received a pasta maker for birthday or December Holiday, and even though my birthday is only three days away, I already know I won't get one this time either), to making the sauce. OK, I didn't pick and cook the tomatoes...I got a jar of tomatoes I cooked and canned last year. At any rate, my husband and I will be watching the movie tonight, but until then, I can at least describe the video for you. It is called Red Eyes, and this is what the box says: Three A.M. Presents a Film by Don Adams and Harry James Picardi starring Dan Boesch and Daniel J. Davies, with Brian Ritchie of the Violent Femmes (yes, that's what it says) On the back of the box, it says: "Brian Ritchie of Violent Femmes is the COM-AKZ, a cyborg hit man created by the VIDDY-OH! corporation. The company's new product, the VID-VISOR, is a story-playing headset marketed to video stores. To insure profits, a microchip MOTIVATOR forces viewers to keep feeding quarters into the coin-operated device...But a malfunction sends one punk running amok on a crime spree for change. Will the COM-AKZ pull the punk's plug before video violence becomes virtual reality? RED EYES is a gothic/alternative rock video satire with makeup FX artists from GHOSTBUSTERS 2 and NEW JACK CITY. Three A.M. films, P.O. Box 450, Fremont, WI 54940" In addition to this, there are several pictures on the back, and one of them is of Brian, with some sort of assault weapon. The tape itself states that the video is 90 minutes long, Music by Sigmund Snopek III, Songs by Graphic Nature and Never. Copyright 1994. I'll tell you about the movie itself in the next issue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~