12-03-99

Best viewed with Courier size 10 maximized screen *********************************************************************** The Quote Of The Day: Cause if you get, really, really, fat you might just want me to come back.... -From Fat -Submitted by C1J2M3Com *********************************************************************** TOUR DATES (NEW TOUR DATES MARKED WITH **): Dec 4- Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg, GER (P,O) Dec 12- Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH (P) Dec 27- Australia Anniversary Park, Perth, Western Aus, AUS (O) Dec 31- Falls Festival, Lorne, AUS (P,O) Mar 20- Babylon, Munich, GER (P) Mar 21- Longhorn, Stuttgart, GER (P) Mar 22- Hugenottenhalle, Neu-Isenburg, GER (P) Mar 23- Hirsch, Nuremburg, GER (P) Mar 24- Kesselhaus, Berlin, GER (P) Mar 26- Live Music Hall, Cologne, GER (P) Mar 27- PC 69, Bielefeld, GER (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! Columbus, OH ------------ steindnw (Nevin) Lorne, AUS ---------- cmc688 (Chris) ************************************************************************ 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/ 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://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: Thessaloniki Review Dublin Concert Violent Femmes London Femmes in WI? I Hope, You Get....Fat Late Late..Viva WI Bumbershoot Live on the Net All Sorts of Happy Things Viva Wisconsin and Live Femmes..... Anybody Willing to Trade? "Viva Wisconsin" Review Femmes Article at CDnow The Blessed Faustina The Blessed Faustina Behind the Music RE: Voting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thessaloniki Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ hello everybody ! i had really bad luck the last months ,so it was very good to see the femmes play.It s the 4th (after 92,94 and 96) time in greece,but i fear that it was the last because to the shows in athens went only 800 people the first day and 400 the second day. (comparing with the 6000 fans in 92).Maybe it has to do with the fact that viva wisconsin is not out here in greece.Anyway here are the songs from the thessaloniki show(of course like a true femmes fan i was 1st row): prove my love blister in the sun kiss of add it up confessions good feeling gone daddy gone promise hallowed ground country death song black girls im nothing mirror mirror sleepwalking freak magnet i can change dance motherfucker dance gimme the car out the window american music color me once gordon was reading a greek poem from kabafis,and 1 and a half hour was not enough for me. billybye sapountz ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dublin Concert ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello all, Just some thoughs/questions about a Femmes' concert. I come back from Dublin where I saw the Femmes. It was the first concert in Ireland in the history of the Femmes. It was not "American Music since 1981" but a sort of heraldic blason with the date 1848 (smth hapenned in Wisconsin?) with the sentence "E Pleribus Unum" (Latin for "From several, (make) only one"). Was it already present in past concerts? Gordon spoke about the birthday of his father -it was the 29 or 30 November, he did not remember-. He told us that "I Held Her in my Arms" was the favourite song of his father. (true?) And not of her mother because "I held her in my arms and it wasn't you". Besides Freak Magnet, they played two songs I did not know (from Freak Magnet ?). One contains smth like that (my English and my memory are not too good): "Am I bad or good" and "I can change". Any indications? Bye, Alexandre adobly ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Violent Femmes London ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have just recovered from last nights VF show in London, I have heard it said before that they just get better and better and I can confirm that this is indeed the case. Last nights show was the third that I have been to and the performance was the best so far. I had to drag my wife 'kicking and screaming' to the concert but when we returned to our car it was her and not me who put on the Viva Wisconsin CD, she also said that she woke up this morning and started singing American Music. Back to the concert though, Brian Ritchie once again confirmed that the next CD would be out in Feb 2000 and stated that All I Want would be one of the songs featured on the album. One of the things that made the show extra special was the crowds participation singing the songs etc and the fact that they seemed to be true VF fans. I would just like to thank any members of amusic who attended and of course the band for a fantastic early xmas present and once again cannot wait for their next visit. P.S. I have noticed that VF have put on some dates in Germany next year (March), has any one got any details of any shows they may be doing anywhere else in europe. Harry NFLHWB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Femmes in WI? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How come the Femmes do so many european tours and very rarely ever come to the Milwaukee area? It seems that the only time they ever come is for Summerfest ,and I would like to see them more often within driving distance. Could you addresss this in one of your issues? Thanks for your time, Melanie Larson mlarson -Pat. Says: I think the reason may be that none of the band members presently live in WI. Brian and Gordon are apparently in NY, thus the frequent East Coast shows. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I Hope, You Get....Fat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Cause if I get, really, really, fat, you might just want me to come back...." After Viewing the Femmes on the Late Late Show, it appears that Gordon and Brian are being stuffed for love if the lyrics for "Fat" prove true. Every time I see them they get a little more. It was Brian that had gained some pounds over the years, but I was really suprised to see Gordon with at least 20 extra pounds on the Late Late Show. Maybe their weight is an allusion as they play along next to a drummer skinnier than Slim Jim Phantom on Phen Phen. Is it me, or was something off on that show? (Late Late Show) After watching it, it hit me for the first time that there is something missing. If it could be measured, I would probably give it a 33.33 percent loss in the form of a drummer named Victor. The cool Milwaukee based ex - BoDean allure is beginning to rub off and it's time for the original trio to dig out the raw and glorious creative melodies of the past, or have Gordon and Brian create someting new. This is the greatest band of my generation and given the fact that they are still young and cynical, the future can still look bright. C1J2M3Com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Late Late..Viva WI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Regarding the Late Late Show appearance last Friday and Viva Wisconsin... When I saw the Femmes on the Kilbourn Show (as I call it..."Late Late Show" reminds me of sad ol' Tom Snyder), I was kind of disappointed. It's a put off seeing them play an ancient, well known Femmes song like "Blister..." being played by VF mark 2. I'd seen them last March when they played Kutztown University here in PA, and so I was completely aware of how they looked and sounded as of now, but just the same... "Blister..." is a big disappointment these days. It's limp, not fast enough, and Gordon's voice is no longer as nervous and whiney as it was in the '80s. If it wasn't their best known song, I imagine they'd probably shy away from playing it. Same comments go for the version on Viva Wisconsin. The rest of that disc, though, is damn good! I can't say I really care for the sound quality (very pristine, but disgusting as the acoustic guitars are, apparently, plugged via piezo pickups and don't seem to be EQ'd particularly well...this is particularly annoying on Brian's bass -where's that lo-fi rumble and rattle we know and love???). And I don't care for "Blister...", as I've said before. But everything else... WOW!!! I'm especially surprised at how nicely "Black Girls" (my favorite Femmes song to hear live) translated to an acoustic rendition. It's also nice hearing some of the more recent material (i.e. "Life is an Adventure" and "Dahmer is Dead")...when I saw them in March, they mainly went for a "greatest hits" set, playing the songs from the Add It Up compilation disc. All around, Viva Wisconsin is a great disc. Finally, an honest, official live document of the Femmes...mark 2, no less! Goes to show that, for the most part, they can still do it. One question: Brian's credited as playing a theremin. Odd seeing a weirdo electronic instrument in an "acoustic" album's credits. Does anyone know where it's used? I love theremins, but I haven't figured out where it's used just yet (only listened to the disc approximately 2.5 times so far). -Ian Keiser daykarak ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bumbershoot Live on the Net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hey everybody, Real.com will be airing the Femmes performance at Bumbershoot '99 on Sunday, December 5th at 10 pm ET. The URL is: http://realguide.real.com/music/?s=bumber Also at real.com you can listent to the KROQ Acoustic Christmas CD in all it's glory. OH YEAH... anyway the Femmes are the last song on the cd. So those of you can't get enough of Blister. go on and listen. http://realguide.real.com/music/?s=kroq That's it. Kathryn PS oh before I forget to mention you get to hear about 5 seconds of the song before it becomes all garbled in some anti pirating noise. IT's probably a waste of time but I'm sure some people might enjoy it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All Sorts of Happy Things ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wow, today rocked. I was buying cds, and found the new David Bowie and Rage Against the Machine right away. Normally, either one of those would have made me really happy. But then, when I did my usual check of the Femmes selection, I found out that Viva Wisconsin was out!! I hadn't realized that, and it pretty much made my day :) After that, I come home to find the new edition of American Music (which would have told me that Viva was out, had I received it a few hours earlier)....and learned that the Femmes are finally doing another show in Columbus!!! I'm so excited. Every time I try to see them, it gets fucked up for some reason, but the Newport is pretty reliable and I don't have any worries. Ok, I have to find a friend to drive me from college (an hour and a half away) the day before final exams start, but I won't let that stop me. No way. You can put me on the list of people who are going Pat. Anyway, my first impressions of Viva Wisconsin: It's a good album. A lot of the songs were better in the studio, and I won't start any arguments by trying to decide which ones those are (especially after only hearing most of the songs once). BUT...whether or not the songs as a whole are always the best versions, the music is really well-done. It has the raw emotional feeling of their first album, combined with the skilled folk/acoustical abilities they display on "3", and topped off with the strong confidence they have in "Freak Magnet". (Wow, I really feel like a pretentious reviewer now.) Some songs, like Good Feelings and Dahmer is Dead, are just wonderful...all have at least something that makes them worth listening to (the "count to 7" in Country Death Song almost made chills run down my spine, and when Gordon talked about touching her all over her body in Gimme the Car, he really sounded disturbed...) I'm Nothing did a good job of finding a happy median between the New Times and Freak Magnet versions, but the only song that they really seemed to change too much was Black Girls. I'll stop now, because I'm sure there are a dozen other reviews along with mine. So I'll just say that everyone on this list needs to buy Viva Wisconsin. Hopefully I'll see some of you on December 12. Nevin steindnw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Viva Wisconsin and Live Femmes..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I bought Viva Wisconsin, yesterday. Its awsome, I love it. Listening to them live reminds me of the last two concerts i saw in 1996 and this summer, 1999. Gordon sings the classics differently than he did in the early days, but with the same spunk. His singing is consistent though, and on most of the cd tracks he sounds just like he did in the concerts I saw. If Gordon reads this message (i wish) I'd like to ask him to PLEASE crank up his guitar louder next time he's in NH. I love his playing style, his solos are awsome, but he just didn't turn up loud enough this summer. Maybe he was feeling mellow that night. No disrespect intended. shipyard21 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anybody Willing to Trade? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have an extra copy of Freak Magnet that I would be willing to trade for an official copy of Viva Wisconsin, if anybody is interested. I originally picked it up to sell on ebay, however I decided that I would not try to gouge my fellow femmes fans, so I never did anything with it. I just ran across it the other day, and being that I am poor (woe is the life of a college student) I have not yet picked up a copy of VW. If anyone is interested, let me know, and if not that is ok too. Please e-mail me at: staley Thanks, Chris Staley Zonge Engineering and Research Organization http://www.zonge.com 3322 E. Ft. Lowell Rd. Tucson, AZ 85716 (520) 327-5501 Fax: (520) 325-1588 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Viva Wisconsin" Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's the first review I've read of "Viva Wisconsin." This is from the December issue of "Details." The reviews are divided into "Don't Miss" and "Don't Bother," with the Femmes' new album falling in the latter category: "1993's sampler 'Add It Up' (with live tracks) makes this album not only superfluous but unnecessary and redundant." Ouch! chrishatch -Pat. Says: Ignore them. Buy the album, and listen to Sweet Worlds of Angels full blast. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Femmes Article at CDnow ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ hey everyone, just wanted to tell you about a small Femmes article on Viva Wisconsin. This one's at CDnow and here's the URL: http://p01.com/t.d?QkDkoOje=/cdnow.com/allstararticle/fid=157248 enjoy! ryan rcbarbato ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Blessed Faustina ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wow this album is great. I haven't heard anything that I really enjoyed listening to this much in a long time. Victor has grown leaps and bounds since he released Pancake Day. The album has this other worldly original sound to it. It would be really hard to compare it to anything else but for those of you who absolutely need something to base it off of, this would kind of be like a cross between Pink Floyd's "The Division Bell" and "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys with a modern feel. But even then that's not a really good comparison. It's hard because this is a really unique album. My favorite tracks so far would have to be "Pagan Driftwood" and "Forever". Here's the title of the tracks: Crazy as a Stick Observatory Pagan DriftwoodWhistle Baby Jesus Hoeing Spring Diet for a Nervous Man She's a Resin It's a bearutiful Machine too late to wonder Mr Wilsons' Safari Frail pagans Forever She Tried to find Heaven Seems a were getting a lot of good stuff from the drummers of this group. First Guy and his side work with Absinthe and now Victor with The Blessed Faustina. I highly recommend picking it up if you get the chance. Kathryn Kittricken ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Blessed Faustina ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I got my hand on the new album by Victor, and it is by far the best he did... I think it is a really cool and it sounds really good. Victor did a fine work. He's a really talented architect of sound. One of the best feature of the album, is that there is kind of a sense of unity among the song, if we compare with the other solos he did. It's a flowing album. Get it, you must... Frank ffrenet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Behind the Music ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have just written to VH1 to ask them to come up with a Violent Femmes "Behind the Music" episode. I would like to urge ALL-ALL-ALL members of the AM list to do the same. http://www.vh1.com/tools/email P.S. last week I put up a VF message board at: http://www.insidetheweb.com/messageboard/mbs.cgi?acct=mb870757&TL= opkutech ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Voting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ iN REPLY TO CATHERINES LETTER ON VOTING, I DID GO AND VOTE ON THE VIOLENT FEMMES FOR YOU, BUT AS I WAS LOOKING AT THE OTHER BANDS I SAW THEY HAD THE OPTION OF TMBG AND I CANT UNDERSTAND WHY NOBAODY WOULD HAVE VOTED FOR THEM IT REALLY SEEMS STRANGE KNOWING MYSELF I WOULD HAVE RATHER VOTED FOR THEM THAN THE FEMMES THOUGH I DO LIKE THE MUSIC OF THE FEMMES MORE THAN TMBG, THE FEMMES ARE GETTING OLD AND THEIR NOT AS ENTHUSIASTIC AT THEIR CONCERTS AS WHEN THEY WERE YOUNGER YET TMBG STILL YOUNG THROW REALLY REALLY GOOD SHOWS. BUT THIS IS MY OPINION IF YOU DONT AGREE ID RATHER NOT HERE ABOUT IT BUT IF ONLY IT COULD BE A BACK TO BACK CONCERT FEMMES/TMBG..... SO ANYWAYS I WAS JUST A LITTLE SUPRISED THAT TMBG DIDNT HAVE ANY VOTES. NICK PARR PARR Pat. Says: Although I agree with you completely that TMBG is always worthy of several votes, the fact is that the Johns became friends in high school in the mid-70's. This makes them contemporaries of Brian and Gordon, and also of your friendly moderator who, if you have not heretofore noticed, is becoming increasingly touchy about her age. BTW, I would highly recommend a sight of Brian with his theramin before bemoaning the lack of enthusiasm during VF shows. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~