VIOLENT FEMMES – PALAIS THEATRE – MELBOURNE – 05.12.2024
Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: David Harris Photography
Holy guacamole, what an amazing evening! It’s taken me 40-years to see and experience the Violent Femmes live and tonight at The Palais Theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne it was well worth the wait.
In town for the Good Things Festival, Violent Femmes formed back in 1981 and are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their music spans over many music genres from folk rock, indie rock, grunge, pop punk, emo and alt rock and attracts a broad bunch of listeners of all ages.
They released their self-titled first album 41 years ago in 1983 which featured some of their best-known songs: Blister in the Sun, Kiss Off, Add It Up and Gone Daddy Gone. Then in 1984 they released their sophomore album Hallowed Ground with its Country/Folk influence and songs like Country Death Song and Jesus Walking on the Water.
The band –
Gordon Gano – Lead vocals, lead guitar, banjo, vioilin
Brian Ritchie – Acoustic bass guitar, backing baritone vocals (also plays shakuhachi)
John Sparrow – Drums, Percussion, backing vocals (singular snare, tom, cymbal & even plays a Weber grill in some songs)
Blaise Garza – multi-instrumentalist (keys, horns, saxophone), baritone, xylophone, contrabass, backing vocals, theremin, sopranino saxophones, keyboards
*Tonight the band were also accompanied by a box drum player and Horn section, which included Jack Howard (Hunters & Collectors, Long Lost Brothers).
Femmes played a 2-hour, 2 set gig showcasing their first two albums. SET 1 was a country/folk rock almost gospel set celebrating the 40 year anniversary of Hallowed Ground. The stage back drop was a picture of the front cover of this iconic album and they also wore matching t-shirts of this album cover too. The crowd remained seated for the first set as it was quite a chilled laidback set. The Femmes performed the entire album in the order as it was released. They opened with lead singer Gano playing the banjo on COUNTRY DEATH SONG. Gano’s voice is so distinctive and he’s such a storyteller. Sparrows singular snare drumming and Ritchie on a unique double bass make for some wonderful emotive country/folk rock. Next was I HEAR THE RAIN with all of them singing harmoniously together created a beautiful ambience in the theatre. Gano switched to lead guitar as they launched into the more up-tempo NEVER TELL. The gospel JESUS WALKING ON THE WATER with Garza reaching the high notes on backing vocals followed. Gano is a multi-instrumentalist and played fiddle on this song. Next was the beautiful I KNOW IT’S TRUE BUT I’M SORRY TO SAY with Garza playing xylophone. An atmospheric song with lots of emotion and harmony.
The intro to HALLOWED GROUND has Gano talking like a preacher to his devoted followers.
“The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.”
The band then launch into the song. Gano’s voice is showcased here with its strong powerful emotion and he performed a mini guitar solo highlighting just how incredibly talented a musician he is. Brian Ritchie’s thumping acoustic bass and Sparrow’s snare drumming together create great music.
One of my favourite songs on this album SWEET MISERY BLUES was next. It’s a raw song with the crowd singing along like a gospel choir. Sparrow did a wonderful drum intro on BLACK GIRLS which featured the horn section. This is more of a rockabilly tune that has an abundance of instruments in the song from punky horns, guitar, sopranino saxophone, contrabass, theremin and a guy playing the box drum in unison with Sparrow’s snare drumming. An absolute killer song! They finished the set with IT’S GONNA RAIN.
There was a decent 20-minute interval as the crowd grabbed a drink, purchased some merch and talked amongst themselves about the first set and how much this band had an impact on their lives.
SET 2 was a celebration of their debut self-titled Violent Femmes album that was released in 1983, an album that still remains as strong today as it did 41 years ago. Femmes play such a unique brand and style of music that transcends across multi-generations. Seeing a mix of both the older and younger fans connecting and singing along together created a wonderful joyous vibe in the theatre. I noticed that security let those that wanted to dance leave their seats and dance in the aisles and head down the front to sing and dance along. The young fans seemed to know the song lyrics to many of their songs too and sang along throughout the show.
On the side of the stage, Femmes had Celeste doing sign language for the hearing impaired. Her emphatic gestures, facial expression and body language, playing air guitar and horns and the manner in which Celeste described their music was incredibly fascinating to watch.
Femmes also played this album in its entirety and in album order. They launched straight into crowd favourite and anthem BLISTER IN THE SUN with everyone up out of their seats and chanting:
“Let me go on, like I blister in the sun, let me go on, big hands, I know you’re the one.”
Gano’s intro to KISS OFF had the audience erupt with punters jumping about and singing along:
“I take one, one, one ‘cause you left me. And two, two, two for my family. And three, three, three for my heartache. And four, four, four for my headaches. And five, five for my lonely. And six, six, six for my sorrow. And seven, seven, seven for no tomorrow. And eight, eight, eight I forget what eight was for. But nine, nine, nine for the lost gods. Ten, ten, ten, ten for everything, everything, everything, everything.” This was definitely one of the most popular songs of the evening.
Nobody sounds like Gano with his distinctive, twangy folk-punk sound. Gano’s whiny portrayal, absurdity and weirdness of adolescent lust and transition from teen to adult is classic, delivering almost cult-like anthems with fans totally resonating to their music and this album. Sparrow is mesmerising with his expressive, raw drumming, alternating between quiet parts to sudden fast, frantic and loud verses of their songs. Ritchie is incredible too, playing his acoustic bass guitar vertically which appears to be a variation of a harp guitar.
Next was PLEASE DO NOT GO. A mellow, harmonious crowd sing-along. Gano then delivered a raw and powerful solo intro leading into another fan favourite ADD IT UP. CONFESSIONS followed which is a storytelling song and has a bit of everything. It is so raw and beautiful. Sparrow led into a rockabilly drum intro with PROVE MY LOVE with PROMISE and TO THE KILL following. Another big hit from the album was GONE DADDY GONE. A fun song with wonderful xylophone and solo as the feature in this song. GOOD FEELING was the final song on the album and is a heartbreaking song:
“Good feeling, won’t you stay with me just a little longer? It always seems like you’re leaving.”
They came out for an encore and played a cover of Spencer P Jones’ RUN WITH IT. Ritchie then said a fan had requested DANCE MOTHER FUCKER DANCE. Ritchie laughed and said he will be interested to see how Celeste will perform sign language for this song to the audience. Hilarious! The show concluded with AMERICAN MUSIC. The crowd sang at their loudest to this song and it was the perfect tune to end the night.
Thank you Violent Femmes for making our lives that little bit more quirky and fun over the past four decades. I look forward to seeing you at Good Things festival.
SET LIST:
Set 1: Hallowed Ground (1984 album)
Country Death Song
I Hear the Rain
Never Tell
Jesus Walking on the Water
I Know It’s True but I’m Sorry to Say
Hallowed Ground
Sweet Misery Blues
Black Girls
It’s Gonna Rain
Set 2: Violent Femmes (1983 album)
Blister in the Sun
Kiss Off
Please Do Not Go
Add It Up
Confessions
Prove My Love
Promise
To the Kill
Gone Daddy Gone
Good Feeling
Encore:
Run With It (Spencer P Jones cover)
Dance Motherfucker Dance
American Music
