VIOLENT FEMMES: LIVE AND OTHERWISE

[Fincave]

First a little about the band, a three piece band from Milwaukee, formed in 1980. Gordon Gano plays guitar and sings, Brian Ritchie plays bass, Victor DeLorenzo plays drums. Quoting from the band's site 'The Grandfathers of Folk-Punk', 'Calcified fossils of teen angst', The sonic personification of anxiety' are all terms which describe the Femmes well, were one to try and sum up the Femmes and their music 'DIFFERENT' could well be appropriate. Of the members it has been said that Gordon Gano's voice is capable of clearing a room quicker than a methane gas explosion and that DeLorenzo is the worst drummer to play for any professional band, obviously not every body likes the Femmes.

On to the review, this DVD consists of two parts, a live gig recorded in Norfolk, VA on July 21 1991 and then several music videos. The audio for the gig is only available in stereo but it does work for me and the sound is good, the music videos are available in stereo and 5.1, the latter being a bit of a waste of time IMO as I do not think that the Femmes ever intended their music to be listened to in surround sound. A bonus track is also on the disc and to be honest I think you have to be the bands biggest fan to enjoy it, horrendous audio quality of a street performance of one their most popular songs 'Kiss off'.

PQ 6/10 I have definitely seen better, watching using a regular sized tv is ok but with a large projected image the quality does leave quite a lot to be desired.

SQ 7/10 The stereo as mentioned previously works for me, drums, bass, guitar, vocals are all pretty well defined and can be heard clearly, obviously some people would prefer 5.1 but I do not really miss it.

The gig itself was recorded at a place called the Boathouse, what appears to be a very small venue, basically a bar with a stage, no idea what the attendance would have been but at a guess only a few hundred very lucky people.

The songlist basically covers songs from the band's first four albums and I really enjoyed watching and hearing some of their 'big hits'. First up is 'Look like that' which has some really nice bass playing by Ritchie and the sound is good right off the bat. 'Fat' is up next and I challenge anyone to listen to the song and not laugh, well smile at least, it is just amusing lyrically. 'Blister in the sun' is a great song and it really works well live, the crowd are absolutely loving it as well as the next offering 'Prove my love'. One of my favourite Femmes' songs is up next, 'Country death song' a pleasant little ditty about country life, Gano does an amazing job conveying the narrators angst and torment and the emotion in his voice is palpable. Lightening the mood is 'Old mother Reagan' a short song of less than a minute, kind of a 'tribute' to Nancy Reagan. On 'Confessions' even the sound man makes an appearance playing the saxophone, Ritchie also plays a conch shell and a didgeridoo. 'Girl trouble' is a light hearted song and is followed up by the song that most of the crowd were waiting for, 'Add it up'. This song for me defines the Femmes, great lyrics, voice, tempo changes and some nice bass playing again. The crowd really love this song and there is quite a bit of body surfing going on. To digress a little, I have fond memories of being in my home from home, an alternative night club at age 19 moshing to this song, it was a major achievement to stay on your feet for the duration of this song, great times! Encore time and the band do three more songs, 'Kiss off' which is one of those songs that I suppose they could just not leave out, 'Good feeling' which slows things down. The set ends with 'More money tonight' a song about being teased at school and then becoming rich and famous.

If you are a fan of the band then this is definitely a must buy, some great songs well performed. The biggest negative is that the gig is short, only about 50 mins so you do not get much. If you are open to hearing something different and appreciate original lyrics with a twist then this band and disc could well be up your alley.

Included are seven music videos which I will admit I am not mad about, good songs but nothing to really write home about regarding the videos themselves.