Violent Femmes, Tsunami Relief
Feb. 4th, 2005 08:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevins_concertsA couple of weeks after the last Femmes show, the Indian Ocean Tsunami happened. Since bassist Brian Ritchie's wife was from Sri Lanka, he felt compelled to help. The Violent Femmes put on a benefit show for Sri Lanka.
It was a great show. The theater was nice, the sound was good, our seats were decent. Totally made up for the last time. The sound was mixed pretty well. The bass was a bit loud, but at least it sounded good. The guitar was nice and loud in the mix, but only near the end of the show. And I could hear the keyboards well.
They opened with "Breaking Up" from New Times. Followed that with "Mother of a Girl" and "Please Do Not Go." Other songs included "I Want to See You Again," "I'm Nothing," "Waiting for the Bus" (which sounded great with added piano (Sigmund Snopek III) and sax (Bob Friedman)), "Blister in the Sun," "Kiss Off," "Please Do Not Go," "Add It Up," "Confessions," "Prove My Love," "Gone Daddy Gone," "Gimme the Car," "Black Girls," "I Held Her in My Arms," "Out the Window," "American Music." Both "Never Tell" and "Hallowed Ground."
Gordon sang a little a capella hymn leading into "Jesus Walking on the Water." For that one, he had his violin. He strummed it like a mandolin for the first part. In the bridge, Ritchie did a solo on his acoustic bass guitar that was very country. Woulda made Johnny Cash proud. Since Gordon had his fiddle, Jim Eanelli sat in on guitar and also took a solo. When he was done, Gordon did a dramatic entrance with his bow and fiddle, but missed the fact that it was not plugged in. Total embarrassment. It took him a couple of songs to get over it.
Victor was as goofy as ever.
Ritchie played his mariachi-looking Ernie Ball acoustic bass, electric bass, one-string bass, upright electric bass, "washtub" bass, xylophone and conch shell.
It was a nice, long show of more than two hours.
Sam Llanas opened. He sang songs from Absinthe, Bodeans and solo work. Near the end of his set, he sang a song off-mic, to highlight the great acoustics of the Pabst.
They raised over $30,000. Nobody took any money from it. Everyone donated their time - the band, its management, crew, stagehands, the theater, advertising, etc.
It was a great show. The theater was nice, the sound was good, our seats were decent. Totally made up for the last time. The sound was mixed pretty well. The bass was a bit loud, but at least it sounded good. The guitar was nice and loud in the mix, but only near the end of the show. And I could hear the keyboards well.
They opened with "Breaking Up" from New Times. Followed that with "Mother of a Girl" and "Please Do Not Go." Other songs included "I Want to See You Again," "I'm Nothing," "Waiting for the Bus" (which sounded great with added piano (Sigmund Snopek III) and sax (Bob Friedman)), "Blister in the Sun," "Kiss Off," "Please Do Not Go," "Add It Up," "Confessions," "Prove My Love," "Gone Daddy Gone," "Gimme the Car," "Black Girls," "I Held Her in My Arms," "Out the Window," "American Music." Both "Never Tell" and "Hallowed Ground."
Gordon sang a little a capella hymn leading into "Jesus Walking on the Water." For that one, he had his violin. He strummed it like a mandolin for the first part. In the bridge, Ritchie did a solo on his acoustic bass guitar that was very country. Woulda made Johnny Cash proud. Since Gordon had his fiddle, Jim Eanelli sat in on guitar and also took a solo. When he was done, Gordon did a dramatic entrance with his bow and fiddle, but missed the fact that it was not plugged in. Total embarrassment. It took him a couple of songs to get over it.
Victor was as goofy as ever.
Ritchie played his mariachi-looking Ernie Ball acoustic bass, electric bass, one-string bass, upright electric bass, "washtub" bass, xylophone and conch shell.
It was a nice, long show of more than two hours.
Sam Llanas opened. He sang songs from Absinthe, Bodeans and solo work. Near the end of his set, he sang a song off-mic, to highlight the great acoustics of the Pabst.
They raised over $30,000. Nobody took any money from it. Everyone donated their time - the band, its management, crew, stagehands, the theater, advertising, etc.