Violent Femmes peacefully stormed into Port Chester on Saturday (10/04) on their second gig of their Grasp and Reach for a Leg of Hope Tour, a quirky no-openers set that made their four-decade legacy feel as fresh ever.
At the Capitol Theatre, the Milwaukee trio-turned-quartet were up to their old tricks of turning folk, punk, and Midwest awkwardness into something endearing and communal.
The current lineup features Gordon Gano on vocals, guitar, mandolin, and violin; Brian Ritchie slappin the bass; Blaise Garza on baritone and contrabass sax, keyboards, and percussion; and John Sparrow on drums and barbecue-grill percussion.
The Capitol Theatre sits in downtown Port Chester, New York, just north of the boogie down Bronx and minutes from Greenwich, Connecticut.
Designed by Thomas W. Lamb and opened 99 years ago, it spent decades as a movie palace and rock hall before its 2012 restoration by promoter Peter Shapiro. The 1,800-seat venue has hosted everyone from Janis Joplin to Pink Floyd to the Grateful Dead.
To start the show every night, each of the members of the group march through the crowd to the stage playing flutes, drums, and later guitar during an unknown song that Robin Hood and his merry thieves might have heard.
Is this David Byrne's influence? Something Arcade Fire likes to do, but near the end of their shows? Regardless, breaking that fourth wall, especially at the top of a show, is delightful.
It's perfectly on brand for the band that has been together for over 40 years after making a huge splash with their self-titled debut, that remains so popular nearly half of the 20-song set is from that 1983 classic.
What would you do if your first record produced such hits like "Add It Up," "Blister in the Sun," "Gone Daddy Gone," "Kiss Off," and "Prove My Love"?
If you're the Femmes you also add "Confessions," "Good Feeling," "Promise," and "Waiting for the Bus" from that debut to the set, which seems odd since it's not like they don't have other albums to pull from.
Despite not having any new material since 2019, Gano et al have given us a bunch of music over the years: Hallowed Ground (1984), The Blind Leading the Naked (1986), 3 (1989), Why Do Birds Sing? (1991), New Times (1994), Rock!!!!! (1995), Freak Magnet (2000), We Can Do Anything (2016), and most recently Hotel Last Resort (2019).
It's reminiscent of another quirky band, Weezer, who's songwriter is even more prolific yet 40% of most of their shows are off their debut, too.
The Femmes also incorporate two fascinating instruments: Sparrow’s grill-drum kit and Garza’s fretless Ernie Ball bass.
The “barbecue-grill percussion” that Sparrow plays has become one of the band’s head-scratching visuals in concert.
It is literally a charcoal grill top fitted with snares, wires, and microphones, that he strikes with sticks and brushes like a typical snare drum.
Then there's his rhythm section partner, Ritchie, with his acoustic fretless Earthwood bass guitar. Originally crafted by Ernie Ball in the 1970s, and later customized, the large-bodied hollow instrument creates a deep, resonant, almost upright-bass tone.
The instrument is super rare with only a few hundred produced since they stopped making them in the '80s. If you can find one for under $4k, you should snatch it up.
Recently Ritchie has also been playing the Big Johnson acoustic bass that will also run you several thousand dollars, but how often do bass players have something that people can't take their eyes off of?
There's still some time to catch the Violent Femmes for this tour.
Tonight they play in Rhode Island, next week the head to the midwest where they'll wrap up the tour with two nights in their hometown at the Riverside Theater.
Get your tix on their website.
Grasp and Reach for a Leg of Hope Tour remaining dates
Oct 10 - The Strand Ballroom & Theatre, Providence, RI
Oct 11 - Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, VT
Oct 14 - Santander Performing Arts Center, Reading, PA
Oct 15 - Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA
Oct 16 - Embassy Theatre, Fort Wayne, IN
Oct 17 - The Salt Shed (Indoors), Chicago, IL
Oct 18-19 - The Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI
