Violent Femmes, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA

Violent Femmes @ The Observatory (Santa Ana, CA)

The Violent Femmes, photo by Chad Keller

Do you like American Music? Well, you and many others, at least that is what the Violent Femmes proved after playing 3 sold out shows in just 2 days around Los Angeles last weekend. The Femmes have been absent from the scene for over a decade, but with the release of their first studio release in 15 years, We Can Do Anything, The Femmes are out on the road and selling out one venue after another.

A packed crowd amassed at Orange County’s Observatory on Mother’s Day to enjoy America’s favorite folk punks. The band walked out onto a stage littered with every manner of instrumentation and percussion prop including a xylophone, a cajon, a large Weber BBQ, an 8 foot tall baritone saxophone and over 14 different versions guitars, violins, and mandolins. The staged looked more like the best flea market ever than a place for the 5-piece to rock the house.

The Violent Femmes played a career-spanning set for over 2 hours including all the favorites ("Blister In The Sun", "Add It Up", "Kiss Off", "Gone Daddy Gone"), but they also dove into much lesser-known cult favorites such as "Breaking Up", "Dance MF Dance", and even "Color Me Once" from The Crow Soundtrack. Their sound was clean, clear and as tight musically as any fan could ask for. We have seen a growing trend of nostalgic bands from the 80s and 90s reuniting to tour lately, some often doing more harm than good by putting their spurs on and jumping back in the fight (**cough**, Guns N’ Roses, B-52's, **cough**). This was not the case with the Violent Femmes. Not this tour, brother! They sounded no different than they did on their self-titled album released back in 1983 and had energy to burn on stage. They were able to bring a completely mixed room of aging hipsters and crowd-surfing teens to a frenzy and play over 22 songs by the time the night was through. Given their current momentum, their latest album title says it all for The Violent Femmes, We Can Do Anything.

The Violent Femmes Setlist

Blister In The Sun
Kiss Off
Good For At Nothing
Country Death Song
We Can Do Anything
?
Prove My Love
?
Traveling Solves Everything
Breaking Up
Jesus walking on the water
Color Me Once (The Crow)
Freak Magnet
Hallowed Ground
mother o mother of mine (acapella)
Dance MF Dance
I Held Her In My Arms
Gone Daddy Gone
Add It Up

Encore

Memories

American Music

They'll be doing the Lord's work by touring various festivals and headlining gigs this summer:
June 14 Millvale, PA
June 15 Richmond, VA
June 17 Camden, NJ
June 18 Brooklyn, NY
June 19 Ashbury Park, NJ
June 21 Washington, DC
June 23 Norfolk, VA
June 25 Fredrick, MD

VCR + Killed by Health + Hey Lover + Cheese Puff May 5, 2016 The Boreal, Eugene, Oregon

VCR is a Eugene band, and the audience was young and warmed up for VCR's fuzzy bass, catchy guitar riffs, garage rock-pop with creative leads sprinkled throughout the performance. The drummer has great control with heavy sticks, while the bassist knows exactly what 'lay down the groove' means.  They got the younger crowd members to fo-mosh as most of the crowd bobbed their heads and twitched their feet, this band is the first in a while that has proven to me you don't need a pedal board to write a good rock song.  Okay, so you still need distortion, but they kept it down to the basics.  Sometimes leaning to southwest rock influences and sometimes straight to pop, VCR is going to establish themselves as a rock steady band.  Their songwriting style, especially lyrical style, brought back memories of the Pixies live (and not just because the bassist is a girl), but because they interacted well with harmonies and vocal trade-offs.  

Oh, and they do my favorite thing where they all switch instruments . . . although this part of the performance could use some fine-tuning, it was still fun to watch, and I don't think they intended for anyone to take it seriously anyways . . . that's part of their charm.

Hailing from Portland, OR, Killed by Health can only explained as this as eclectic, majestic rock with raw shiny shoes. Who said a band had to be technical to get the room moving anyways. Like Dinosaur Jr., they were willing to turn up the room a bit, untamed and with the presence of lyrically undisguised strong character. There were moments on the cusp of the other side. With the lead voice traveling from guitarist, to bassist, to the other guitarist you are sure to be entertained. Their stage presence is that of a band who's been playing together for years although I think it's only been a few shows for the group.  They are rowdy enough to hop off stage, making them set-up to be a great festival band.

Hey Lover, also from Portland, OR is a garage-punk-pop, melodic with bold intentions would appeal to The White Stripes fans, but with less serious vocals and 60's reminiscent poppy hooks. I have to admit I was immediately jealous of the bands' gold pants. Their lyrics were catchy, and, although maybe too 60's pop for some of the crowd, the song topics were on-point for the current generation. I hope they come back to Eugene again soon!

Cheese Puff  from Eugene, had a young sound although none of the players are all that young. Strong riffs but not leaning too far from standard rock. I'm sure soon you'll be able to catch them at Black Forest or Old Nick's if they stick to it. I hope they continue to embrace the punk and remember that dynamics are not in a direct relationship with tempo while leaving any butt-rock jams at the practice space. I'll go out to see them again to see how this plays out.

Underworld @ The Fox Theater - 4/13/2016

Underworld is royalty in underground electronic music and rave scenes and they don't seem to mind not becoming sensations like recent EDM "superstars" such as Calvin Harris and Avicii. In case you were in a coma during the 1990’s or happened to not be born yet, Underworld formed circa 1980 with principal members Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, and now Darren Price since 2005 after Darren Emerson’s departure in 2001. 

Supporting Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future, and 2 days before they took to the desert for Coachella, lucky Angelinos were able to see the band in full action outside of festival traffic and time constraints for over 2 hours of electronic bliss at the much smaller and much closer 2,000-person venue located in Pomona, CA.

Hyde, Smith and Price took the stage and launched immediately into 2 consecutive tunes off of Barbara, Barbara. The tracks (unfamiliar to most) were immediately well received by the sold out crowd of nostalgic UK ravers and expats all jumping simultaneously to the beat. Barbara, Barbara might be the more somber and emotive of albums, but it still delivers the same personal touch and layered electronic complexities that Underworld fans have grown to love for over 30 years. Almost every song off the new album made an appearance at some point in the night, but the overall set was so well structured that there was never too long a wait for a classic banger or other strong hit from the past including "Juanita", "Push Upstairs", "King of Snake", "Jumbo" and "Two Months Off". Fans were also treated to some rare, off-beat tracks that don’t often make it to the stage in shorter festival performances such as the trip hop-infused "Ring Road", "Eight Ball" from The Beach Soundtrack, and a first-time taste of a new remix of Dirty Epic aptly named “Dirty Club.” As Hyde introduced the track to the crowd, he boasted, “We’ve never played this next track live before. You are the first.”

 

The evening's crescendo was an all DJ display as Smith was left on stage alone and feverishly live-remixed three consecutive tracks live free of vocals. The crowd danced away as the lights dimmed and The Fox Theater seemed to transform into an underground London rave. "Rowla" bent and modulated until it became "Rez". "Rez" climbed and climbed analog staircases until finally Hyde retook the stage and jumped into the vocals of "Cowgirl" and the crowd lost their minds. 

The night was capped off with the signature anthem of "Born Slippy". Hyde’s vocals were simply amazing. Every word clean, crisp, and never at a loss for air for the entire 2-hour marathon of sound, which is amazing since all 3 men are now in their mid to 50’s.  Underworld has not lost a step since 1994.  They brought down the house in Pomona and now head off to back-to-back weekend performances in the 100 degree California desert.

See Underworld at 7:35 pm in the Sahara Tent on Friday both weekends at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.