![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fun Femmes
Jul. 7th, 2016 09:45 pmThe Femmes played a great show! It was the Harley stage at Summerfest, so it was back to balancing on the benches. It's been a few years for me, so my calves were feeling it the next day.
They started out with the usual, "Blister in the Sun" and "Kiss Off". After that they mixed it up a bit, including several new songs. The audience didn't get into them very much, of course, but soon they were back on track. They played an assortment of audience favorites - "American Music", "Gimme the Car", "Country Death Song", "Prove My Love", "Gone Daddy Gone", "Black Girls", "Jesus Walking on the Water", "I Held Her in My Arms", "Old Mother Reagan", "Freak Magnet" (I love that one!). Newish songs included "Good For / At Nothing" off last year's EP, Happy New Year, "I Could Be Anything" from their new album and "Rules of Success" from Something's Wrong. They also did "Color Me Once" which appeared on The Crow soundtrack. Probably my favorite of the night! As usual, they ended with "Add It Up". Checking with Setlist.com, I see that the first song of two in the encore was "Memory." They also did "Love Love Love Love Love" and "Issues" (all new songs) plus "Life Is an Adventure."
Ritchie played acoustic bass for the first half, and then electric for much of the second. Gano switched between electric guitar and electric banjo a lot. He played fiddle for two songs, and acoustic guitar for at least one. John Sparrow played a small kit - snare, tom and Weber Kettle, with two cymbals. He played cajon once or twice. Blaise Garza played tenor and subcontrabass saxophones. Also a melodica and the occasional percussion. Jeff Hamilton on electric guitar, mandolin and ukelele. When I first saw him with a trumpet during Black Girls, he was using it as a bottleneck slide, but I did see him blow it. Special guest Kevin Hearn of the Barenaked Ladies flew in for the show. He played accordion. I think he came out for the third song, and stayed. The various Horns of Dilemma members played various small horns, including an alto trombone. A couple of those guys filled in on bass and cajon in places.
The guys seemed to be having fun. That always makes it a fun show. The crowd slowly thinned out over the course of the show, so I ended up having about three spots to dance on by the end of the show. I was using most of it for "Color Me Once". Backing vocals were usually a bit off key. The sound wasn't always mixed well enough that I could hear all the instruments. Though the big sax sounded great, sometimes it was hard to hear when it was doubling Ritchie's bass. It was usually hard to pick out the accordion. Ritchie had a couple of good solos. He's added space for solos in a few songs, and plays the hell out of them.
My only complaint about their shows is that they only play for 90 minutes.
Opener was Midwest Death Rattle. They didn't sound as dark as you'd think based on their name. Good, solid rock. I need to pick up the album.
Gano and Hearn
( more photos )
They started out with the usual, "Blister in the Sun" and "Kiss Off". After that they mixed it up a bit, including several new songs. The audience didn't get into them very much, of course, but soon they were back on track. They played an assortment of audience favorites - "American Music", "Gimme the Car", "Country Death Song", "Prove My Love", "Gone Daddy Gone", "Black Girls", "Jesus Walking on the Water", "I Held Her in My Arms", "Old Mother Reagan", "Freak Magnet" (I love that one!). Newish songs included "Good For / At Nothing" off last year's EP, Happy New Year, "I Could Be Anything" from their new album and "Rules of Success" from Something's Wrong. They also did "Color Me Once" which appeared on The Crow soundtrack. Probably my favorite of the night! As usual, they ended with "Add It Up". Checking with Setlist.com, I see that the first song of two in the encore was "Memory." They also did "Love Love Love Love Love" and "Issues" (all new songs) plus "Life Is an Adventure."
Ritchie played acoustic bass for the first half, and then electric for much of the second. Gano switched between electric guitar and electric banjo a lot. He played fiddle for two songs, and acoustic guitar for at least one. John Sparrow played a small kit - snare, tom and Weber Kettle, with two cymbals. He played cajon once or twice. Blaise Garza played tenor and subcontrabass saxophones. Also a melodica and the occasional percussion. Jeff Hamilton on electric guitar, mandolin and ukelele. When I first saw him with a trumpet during Black Girls, he was using it as a bottleneck slide, but I did see him blow it. Special guest Kevin Hearn of the Barenaked Ladies flew in for the show. He played accordion. I think he came out for the third song, and stayed. The various Horns of Dilemma members played various small horns, including an alto trombone. A couple of those guys filled in on bass and cajon in places.
The guys seemed to be having fun. That always makes it a fun show. The crowd slowly thinned out over the course of the show, so I ended up having about three spots to dance on by the end of the show. I was using most of it for "Color Me Once". Backing vocals were usually a bit off key. The sound wasn't always mixed well enough that I could hear all the instruments. Though the big sax sounded great, sometimes it was hard to hear when it was doubling Ritchie's bass. It was usually hard to pick out the accordion. Ritchie had a couple of good solos. He's added space for solos in a few songs, and plays the hell out of them.
My only complaint about their shows is that they only play for 90 minutes.
Opener was Midwest Death Rattle. They didn't sound as dark as you'd think based on their name. Good, solid rock. I need to pick up the album.
Gano and Hearn
( more photos )
