All the Concerts Fit to Print

The Femmes played the newish stage at the Summerfest grounds. It's good it has a roof, since it was raining, but it doesn't have walls, so we had a chilly breeze for a while, and a bit of water drifted through.

Ava Mendoza opened. She opened for the Femmes on last year's tour. Heavy guitar with occasional vocals.

I guess it was a co-headlining tour between the Femmes and Echo, but Echo only played an hour, maybe less. But then the Femmes only played an hour and fifteen minutes, so.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy Echo. I was never really into the 80's British alternative music. In fact, I remembered disliking the band at the time, but I'm probably misremembering that. So they started playing and they weren't bad. Their first few songs had kind of a punk sound. The singer had a raspy voice and he kinda pushed it. Reminded me a bit of early Iggy Pop. So that was kind of odd, since I expected more of a smooth, moody vocal sound. But I really didn't remember them at all, so I was like, whatever. But then the songs turned poppier. I could tell that the music was the kind of music that should have had the kind of voice I expected. I became less enthused. For their encore, they played "Lips Like Sugar," which I definitely recognized. Since 2005, the band has consisted only of founding members, singer Ian McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant. They brought another guitarist, a bassist, a keyboardist and a drummer. McCulloch stood in shadow and behind mirrored shades at the front of the stage. He and the band never really seemed to connect with the audience.

Then they cleared the stage and set up the Femmes equipment from scratch. It took over an hour, and the band went on around 10:30.

They opened as a trio, with "I'm Nothing." Gordon Gano on guitar, Brian Ritchie on acoustic bass, and John Sparrow on drums. It was interesting to hear them open with a song that isn't a big hit. They followed that up with "Memory", which opens their 2016 album, We Can Do Anything. I'm a little embarrassed to say I don't have that one, so I don't know that song. Not that it really matters - their songs are so catchy, you can't help but get into them. Then "Life is an Adventure", another song from a late-period album (Rock!!!!!, 1995) that only the hardcore fans have. At some point in the first few songs. Blaise Garza joined them on saxhophones. The fourth and fifth songs were big hits, "Blister in the Sun" and "Kiss Off". Then a couple new songs, "Good For/At Nothing" and "Love Love Love Love Love" from their 2015 EP, Happy New Year.

For "Country Death Song" Gordon played banjo, and Jeff Hamilton came out to play mandolin. Then "I Could Be Anything" followed by "Jesus Walking on the Water." Gordon played fiddle for that one, and Mendoza joined them on guitar. Mendoza, Hamilton, Gano and Ritchie each had a solo, so that was fun. Then the lighters came out for "Good Feeling." Then the electric bass came out for "Old Mother Reagan", "Gimme the Car" and "Freak Magnet". Then Ritchie handed it off and took over the xylophone for "Gone Daddy Gone". Then we experienced "Black Girls" and the noise jam. They had six or eight guys with horns, plus Mendoza on guitar and Garza with a melodica. I forget what Hamilton was doing. Sparrow had a nice drum solo. Then "I Held Her In My Arms" and they ended up with "American Music." After a short break, the encore was "Dance, Motherfucker, Dance" and the perennial closer, "Add It Up."

The set list comprised almost exactly the same songs as last year's tour, but in a different order. Possibly shorter. The review in the newspaper says they only played for 75 minutes. I've always been a little disappointed that they usually play only about an hour and a half.

The sound was... I'm not sure. I could usually hear all the instruments, but I can't say it was mixed well. The saxophone was usually too loud, as was Ritchie's voice during the second half. Garza usually stood behind his contrabass saxophone where I couldn't see him (I discovered this is a contrabass sax, not a subcontrabass as I previously thought). And Mendoza would stand directly behind him, from my line of vision. Sparrow has a lot of energy. He really goes to town on that little kit (snare, tom, two cymbals and a Weber grill). I noticed how the band's sound is very bottom-heavy. Ritchie's bass takes a prominent position in their music. Garza mostly played either his contrabass or baritone sax. Gano's guitar playing is not melodic. More percussive. Or just noise.

( Set list )

The 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 )

After a five-year hiatus, involving a lawsuit, the Femmes are back together for a handful of reunion shows. Bandmembers say they've buried the hatchet. I'm unsure as to the outcome of the lawsuit.

As per previous headline gigs, the Femmes were tacked onto an existing tour's stop in Milwaukee. It used to be some alternative rock bands. This time it was more of an alt.country thing. The Avett Brothers were the big draw. There was a certain amount of concern that more people were there to see the Avetts than the Femmes. I think this concern was not unfounded.

The show was originally supposed to start at 7:30. Or was it 7:00. Different sources (published at different times) listed different times. What actually happened was that Ivan & Aloysha went onstage at 6:30.

We arrived around 7:30, which was shortly before Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros took the stage. This was a twelve-piece band, including guitars, basses, drumses, percussion, banjo, horns, keyboards. Ten guys, two girls. The lead singer was Alex Ebert. A girl sometimes sang lead or duet with him. The band was countryey, folky, gospely. A bunch of people having fun, making fun, upbeat music. Kinda laid back, kinda earnest.

Then the Avett Brothers. Not exactly what I expected, after having seen a couple of their videos. Mostly acoustic, contryish. Rootsy. To start with, they were nowhere near as mellow as I thought they'd be. The first four songs or so, they were crazy excited. I think the music suffered for it, to be honest. Then they played "Laundry Room," which sounded like I expected them to sound. It sounded really good. I think they hit their stride with that one.

They were Scott Avett (vocals, banjo, guitar), Seth Avett (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Bob Crawford (basses, backing vocals), Joe Kwon (cello), probably Mike Marsh (drums) and possibly Paul DeFiglia (keyboards). After "Laundry Room", they went electric for some songs. The first of those was just plain rock, after that, the electric ones were very rock and roll. Scott, Seth and Bob did an old fashioned gather-'round-the-mic version of "Just a Closer Walk With Me." Their finale, "I and Love and You" came during the finale of the nearby Big Bang fireworks show.

The audience was really into the show. It was hard not to be.

Cyn told me that she heard the Avetts were booked on opening night before the Violent Femmes were added to the bill, but I didn't believe her. I mean, I'd never even heard of them before. But now I see how that could be true. They've probably sold more albums than the Femmes. But we were still wondering how many people would leave after the Avetts were finished. Which brings us to our featured attraction...

The Violent Femmes got back together! Woo woo! Earlier this year, they were approached by Coachella for a reunion show. Summerfest decided to get in on the action and also made them an offer, and they were added to the opening night lineup on the main stage. This year is the 30th anniversary of the release of their debut album, so they decided they'd play it straight through. That's not too exciting, since they normally play most of the songs on it, but hey, it was Violent Femmes!

Victor Delorenzo, Gordon Gano, Brian Ritchie and John Sparrow took the stage. It was kind of odd to see John there, but he keeps time, and also fills in some of the drum sound for the songs where Victor played a full kit on the original album. Victor had a tom, a snare and a high hat. Brian played his acoustic bass, for the most part, the electric once or twice, and xylophone for "Gone Daddy Gone" of course.

So they opened with... "Blister In the Sun," and played almost without stopping until the end of side 1, when Gordon spoke a bit. He apologized for not thanking us for our applause, with the excuse that they were playing the songs as they appear on the album, and there's no talking in between songs on the album.

So, "Blister," "Kiss Off," "Please Do Not Go," "Add It Up," "Confessions," "Prove My Love," "Promise," "To the Kill," "Gone Daddy Gone" and "Good Feeling." "Confessions" included the noise jam by the Horns of Dilemma. This featured Sigmund Snopek, who played various instruments on various songs throughout the show, including keyboards, like on "Good Feeling." Gordon played violin on that song.

After the album was over, they did a few more early songs. First, was "Jesus Walking On the Water," followed by perennial favorite "Country Death Song," for which Gordon played banjo. "I Held Her In My Arms," "Gimme The Car." "Black Girls" and "American Music." The encore (the word, which Brian reminded us, means "again") was "Blister In the Sun." I was guessing (or just hoping) it would be "Add It Up." "Black Girls" included Snopek on alpenhorn. Peter Balestrieri on baritone sax, for "I Held Her In My Arms." Jeff Hamilton played guitar or mandolin on most of the later songs. For "Jesus Walking," Gordon played violin, and his sister Cynthia came onstage for vocals. They didn't introduce her, but she sounded exactly like the voice on the record, so I have to assume it was her.

After the Avetts were finished, a lot of people left, but the place still looked pretty full (but there were few bleacher seats sold). My friend Steve mentioned that the age of the crowd had gone up. That's probably true, but there were still a lot of kids there. The two teenage girls behind us were singing along with every song. After the Femmes started, the remaining audience went wild. But since three of the first four songs were their biggest hits, and the fifth song was kindof obnoxious, that's when people started filtering out.

So... musicianship. As mentioned earlier, Sparrow was onstage to provide the beat. Enough said. Gordon's guitar playing actually sounded pretty album-like, at least early in the show. He hasn't exactly done a lot to advance his practice over the years, though. Ritchie has. His bass guitar solos are always changing and improving. He must be out of practice, though, after the five-year hiatus. He seemed to be off his game. A couple of solos just didn't have the magic.

The show let out shortly before midnight. They started somewhere around 10:30, so they played for barely over an hour and a half. Too short. (I think the Avett's played for over two hours.) It was so much fun!

It was a late show, starting at 11:00. I guess that was because of the fireworks show at 10:30. Opening day of the fest.

My memory is pretty bad. I'd forgotten half the stuff by the time it happened. I'll see what I can remember.

They started out as the trio plus John Sparrow on cajon. They did a song off their debut album. Umm... "Promise." For the second song, "Out the Window" a guy joined them on washboard (didn't catch his name). The next song was also from Why do Birds Sing?. "Hey Nonny Nonny." To continue with the country flavor, the next song was "Country Death Song." A little bit into the song, Jeff Hamilton came on stage, quickly trying to plug in his mandolin. Ritchie seemed amused.

They did "Jesus Walking on the Water," with a country sounding bass solo, a mandolin solo and a violin solo. They did "Color Me Once," "Freak Magnet," "Hallowed Ground," and "Children of the Revolution." Hamilton played a lot of guitar, often taking solos, and sometimes duetting with Gano. Gano often sounds irrelevant with his guitar, but he stood out in a couple of spots, showing that he still knows how to play. The first song of the encore was "Kiss Off," and he and DeLorenzo played it by themselves. Gano was able to fill in the high and the low parts.

It was the smallest Horns of Dilemma I've seen in many years. Aside from Sparrow, Hamilton and the washboard player, there were only Darren Brown (tour manager and "big man on a little horn"), somebody Kaminski on trombone and Silas Ritchie on harmonica. They did "Black Girls," as usual, and followed that up with a different song than usual (can't remember what).

Ritchie started with his acoustic, then switched back and forth between electric and one-string basses. He had some kind of heavy distortion unit on the electric. Huge fuzz, and a high pitch. He used it mostly for noise, and often in places I thought inappropriate. Didn't seem quite in tune, either. His washtub bass was on stage, but he didn't play it. He did the conch during "Black Girls." His xylophone sounded really weird, for "Gone Daddy Gone." It sounded really... squeaky, and not quite in tune. He had some technical issues early in the show.

Victor was his usual zany self.

There didn't seem to be any animosity between the guys, but they didn't seem as close as they used to be.

The Femmes played the Miller Oasis at Summerfest in Milwaukee. It was a good show.
Earlier in the day, Cyn and I took my niece and nephew to the zoo. That was fun. In the evening, I went to see the Violent Femmes at Summerfest. I didn't get to bed until well after 1:00. And my throat was a bit scratchy from singing along. I was just dead the next day, at work. The show was really good. The weather was good. The crowd was not overly obnoxious (I kinda got a kick out of the drunk kids next to me).

I was down front on the benches. Steve and Michelle hung out with me. They found me just in time to still have a place to sit. Then some acqaintances of Steve's showed up. There wasn't room, but they stayed anyway. Then Joe and Alicia found us. There wasn't room for them so they left. One person really can't save enough room for four other people.

Modern Day Zero opened up for them. A run-of-the-mill metal band. they seem like they're on the verge of stardom. They also seem like they won't make it over the edge.

The best thing about the show is that the sound was good. The sound can really make or break a concert, and it certainly helped make this one. The other thing was that the guys were really on their game. They played well and had good chemistry.

They did the two songs with violin, that they've been doing lately, but they had a second violinist alongside Gordon.

There was quite a lot of sax that night. Their special guest was Steve MacKay of the Stooges (legendary Detroit punk band... Iggy Pop ring a bell?). He joined them for a few songs early in the night, and then joined the Horns of Dilemma for a few. The horns made two appearances. The earlier one was seven guys - one on maracas, one on trumpet, and the rest with saxophones. Later, for "Black Girls," There were thirteen, on various instruments, but still mostly saxes. They had a guy on harmonica for "Waiting for the Bus," which was cool.

Brian used his washtub bass once, his one-string once, his acoustic a few times, but mostly an electric. And a conch shell.

Victor's drum solo during "Black Girls" was shorter than usual.

They sounded very smooth during "Color Me Once." I kinda wish they'd drop "I Held her in My Arms" - it never sounds as good as it does on the records. "Freak Magnet" is always fun.

It was New Rock 102.1's Mistletoe Jam at The Rave, in Milwaukee. The Rave has a big ballroom upstairs, a theater in the basement, a bar, and the place on the ground level where this show was. It's kind of a small ballroom, I guess. It was packed. It was the first time I had ever seen the balcony level open. Very smoky. The opening act was a band called The Oprahs. It was a local band made up of what looked like teenagers. They weren't bad. Then were The Donnas. They were okay. A hard rock chick band.

The Femmes went on at about 10:30 and played for an hour and a half. The sound sucks at The Rave. The beams in the ceiling reverberate the bass, so the high end gets lost. It was all drums and bass, with Gordon's vocals. I had trouble hearing the guitar. They also had a few technical difficulties. And you wouldn't think it would matter, but the Horns of Dilemma were badly mixed.

Most of the songs were from their first two albums. They opened with "Country Death Song." I think the second song was "I Hear the Rain." I love that one. A little bit into the show, Gordon came on stage with a violin. Ritchie said something about not playing it in many years, or maybe since they recorded Hallowed Ground (I'm not sure). First, Gordon sang a little hymn, a capella - "O Come Emmanuel". Then they went into "Jesus Walking on the Water." Gordon started out strumming the violin like a mandolin, but then did the violin solos. I had never seen him play the violin. Very cool. Then he played it again on the next song, which I can't remember. They did the usual selection of songs from the first album, but fewer because of the somewhat short show. Peter Balestrieri played sax on several songs, including "I Held Her in My Arms," but he's not really that good. They had a guy on keyboards for quite a few songs, but I was only able to pick out the sound of it for a few seconds during one song. Gordon sang "Merry Christmas Brother", from his solo record (his sister sings it on the record).

Ritchie had quite a variety of basses. In addition to his usual acoustic and electric basses, he had the one-string stick (which he used for "Dance Motherfucker, Dance"), and two that I've never seen him play. One was an old fashioned washtub bass, where you push the stick to change the pitch. The other was an electric "washtub" bass - just a stick on a stand. Other than that, I think he only played the xylophone and conch shell.

Victor was as goofy as ever. He was really wild for a few songs. Arms flailing...

It had its highlights, but the sound was bad, and the floor was packed. overall I was disappointed. Add to that the smoke, dehydration, close quarters and the hoarse throat - I was sick the next day.

The Femmes did a 20th anniversary show at the Oriental Theater for its own 75th anniversary.. That theater just blows me away every time I see it. Just beautiful. I think it was my first time there for a concert. We had front row seats, but I didn't realize seats seven and eight (counting from the center aisle) would be right in front of the speakers. My left ear was not too good the next day. Other than that, it was a great show. Lots of fun. We didn't dance much, being in the front row, but that's okay.

It was about halfway through the first set, when I noticed that Victor's tranceophone was not on the sound system. We were close enough that I could hear it anyway.

Ritchie, wearing a kilt this outing, is the bandleader. At one point, he let the guys wander aimlessly, waiting for him to tell them the next song. He had added cajon box to the long list of instruments he has played at Femmes shows.

Gordon, then living in New York City, was wearing two shirts, and mentioned that this layered look was a Milwaukee trademark.

The concert was preceded by the fourth annual Milwaukee Wearable Sculpture Fashion Show.

Ritchie was really into it. He loves it all. He's the one that's always in the interviews, and who keeps the website updated. He was dressed rather ordinarily, except for the pointy, pink Far Side glasses. Gordon looked like he'd finally grown up. He was dressed in casual wear with glasses - clean cut. He seemed to have the air of detached amusement. Like he was standing back watching the whole Violent Femmes experience. He seemed to have a good time too. Hoffman didn't seem to notice anything that was going on around him, except as it affected him directly.

Their set list was (in no particular order):
Freak Magnet
All I Want
Rejoice and Be Happy
Don't Talk About My Music
Dahmer is Dead
Dance Motherfucker Dance
American Music
Old Mother Reagan
Children of the Revolution
Country Death Song
Jesus Walking on the Water
Hallowed Ground
Black Girls
Blister in the Sun
Kiss Off
Add it Up
Gimme the Car
Gone Daddy Gone
Prove My Love
Confessions
Bridge Over Troubled Water

They finally have enough songs that they don't feel obligated to play their entire first album, but that also means they don't play as many songs from their second record (Hallowed Ground is my personal favorite).


I wish they'd do a real tour and play a theater, because the Summerfest situation is horrendous.

The band who opened for them was called Mount Olive. They're a cover band. They were never very exciting, but they did do a fun version of "I Wanna Be Sedated." They did the verse in English, then Spanish, then French, then Japanese, and then German. (I kept expecting to hear Czechoslovakian.) That was pretty cool.

The Femmes did an acoustic mini tour of Wisconsin. It was five or six dates around the state. They ended it up in Milwaukee on Halloween at the Pabst Theater. I had heard it was going to be an acoustic tour, and wondered how that would be. Would it rock less? How different would it sound? Which songs wouldn't they be able to do? Well... no, not very and few.

I'm sure there were a few songs they decided that wouldn't work very well as acoustic, but they normally vary their set enough that you wouldn't notice an absences. And they played their songs with the same vigor as any other show. They did play one song that I would not have expected to hear - "Gimme the Car". That one has a very electric feel, on record.

I don't know the exact setlist, but the live album has the following songs:
1. "Prove My Love"
2. "I'm Nothing"
3. "Country Death Song"
4. "Blister in the Sun"
5. "Gimme the Car"
6. "Don't Talk About My Music"
7. "Confessions"
8. "Hallowed Ground"
9. "Life Is an Adventure"
10. "Old Mother Reagan"
11. "Ugly"
12. "Good Feeling"
13. "Dahmer Is Dead"
14. "American Music"
15. "Special"
16. "Sweet Worlds of Angels"
17. "Black Girls"
18. "Gone Daddy Gone"
19. "Add It Up"
20. "Kiss Off"

They didn't play all these songs at our show, and we (Phil and I, among a couple thousand others) heard a few others. They played Michael Hurley's song, "The Werewolf", and it was the first time I'd heard the Femmes do "Positively 4th Street". I was very happy to hear "Sweet Worlds of Angels". It may have been the only time I ever heard them do it. It's one of my favorites, and (along with "Dahmer is Dead") is from their relatively obscure Rock!!!!!.

Brian Ritchie opened the show under pseudonym and mask (basket), as shakuhachi player, Tairaku.

( an aside )

I seem to recall that Ritchie told a story about riding the ferris wheel. He's full of all kinds of BS stories.