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