Last Friday night, I attended a private concert with the Violent Femmes.
While it’s true the big event took place in my home office via watching old YouTube videos of the longtime band known for combining punk, folk and rock music to great effect, it was almost as good being there.
I sang along to “Prove My Love” as founding members Gordon Gano (lead vocals, guitar), Brian Ritchie (acoustic bass guitar, baritone guitar, vocals, percussion) and Victor DeLorenzo (drums, backing vocals) hopped around onstage in 1983 in their origin city of Milwaukee.
I then traveled ahead in time to 2014, where Gano and Ritchie were joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza and drummer Brian Viglione at the Shaky Knees music festival in Atlanta, Georgia. I didn’t realize I knew all the words to the song “Please Do Not Go,” but was able to chime in on every inflection of the phrase “bye, bye, bye … bye-bye.”
From a concert in 2016, I watched Gano, Ritchie and Garza make music with new member John Sparrow, who uses a Weber grill and snare in place of a regular drum kit. As they revived songs from past albums like “Jesus Walking on the Water” and the perennially popular “Add It Up” from their first, self-titled album “Violent Femmes,” it became clear that although the band has changed its lineup over the years — and has even disbanded — Gano and Ritchie have retained the magic that makes their talents impossible to ignore.
By the time my YouTube concert had ended, I’d seen the Violent Femmes perform “Blister in the Sun,” “Gone Daddy Gone,” “Kiss Off,” “American Music” and a haunting rendition of “Country Death Song” — a composition that tells the tale of a man driven to the brink of madness by poverty who pushes one of his daughters to her death (and subsequently hangs himself).
Written by Gano in high school, the divisive song was on the Femmes’ second release, “Hallowed Ground.” Although the compendium of more experimental songs was a departure from their pop- and rock-heavy debut album, many of the works had already been written. In fact, “Country Death Song” was the first song Gano played for Ritchie after the two initially met.
It’s not necessary to know the entire backstory of the Violent Femmes to enjoy their music, but it’s worth noting that Gano and Ritchie have been performing together on and off for nearly 40 years. I’ve been lucky enough to see their creative chemistry in person, once at the Moore Theater in Seattle, and then at Bellingham’s own Mount Baker Theatre — where they’ll be once again on Thursday, June 2.
I purchased two tickets near the front of the stage a couple of hours after finding out that the band, which has cumulatively sold more than 10 million albums, would be coming back to town. I know from experience their live shows are a thing of wonder, and the Mount Baker Theatre is the perfect place to see them. With approximately 1,500 seats, it’s big enough to house big-name bands, but small enough that it still feels like an intimate venue.
I’m hoping many of the aforementioned songs will be on the set list when Gano, Ritchie, Garza and Sparrow perform, but I’m also looking forward to hearing pieces I’ve never listened to before.
A recent press release I was sent noted that the Violent Femmes will also be performing songs from their 10th studio album, “Hotel Last Resort.” Released in 2019, it is said to mingle “front porch folk, post-punk, spiritual jazz, country blues, avant-garde minimalism and golden-age rock ‘n’ roll into something still altogether their own.”
In the release, Ritchie said he thinks it’s the best album they’ve made since “Hallowed Ground,” adding that they were able to sink their teeth into the songs and come up with something as good as anything they’ve done over the years.
Recorded over five days at Mighty Fine Productions in Denver, Colorado, the album comprises a mix of new songs and songs that go back a ways. Expect stylistic departures, new sonic elements and untapped flavors, along with the trademark sounds the Femmes are famous for.
“To me, it’s about the song,”
Gano said. “Absolutely and completely. And now that I’ve said that, it’s also about us doing the song. There are certain things that are a part of our sound that we gravitate towards because that’s what this thing called Violent Femmes has done from the beginning. It includes an acoustic bass guitar; it includes brushes on a non-traditional percussion and drums setup, and a lot of acoustic guitar. These are things that we’ve always had and it’s nice to continue with them.”
The Violent Femmes perform at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 2, at the Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St. Deap Vally opens. Tickets are $34.50–$49.50. Info: mountbakertheatre.com
