Violent Femmes to showcase old, new tunes at Saturday Riverfest concert
About five years ago, Kansas guitarist Rich Williams said his band would never make another album.
“Fans of bands who have been around for years don’t want new music,” Williams said. “So why should we make new music? We’re not going to do it. Established bands don’t need to do it. The fans want to hear the old hits.”
Well, many long-in-the-tooth recording artists feel differently. The Posies is touring behind its first album in six years. Nine Days, which hasn’t recorded a new album in 16 years, is about to release a new record. The same can be said for the Violent Femmes, which is touring behind “We Can Do Anything,” the quirky trio’s first full-length album since “Freak Magnet” was released in 2000.
The new Femmes songs sound familiar. Vocalist-guitarist Gordon Gano still sounds as if he’s on edge. The songs are still urgent, spare and warm. However, bassist Brian Ritchie has a new rhythm section mate, drummer John Sparrow.
“It’s fun playing music together,” Gano said. “We’re good together, and I’m just glad we’re working with each other.”
The Femmes, who will showcase the new tunes and old favorites Saturday at the Wichita Riverfest, broke up in 2009.
“There were no plans to play again,” Gano said. “But then we had the opportunity to play Coachella, and we decided to give it a shot.”
The California mega-music festival has reunited a bunch of bands over recent years, such as The Jesus and Mary Chain, Rage Against the Machine and Iggy and the Stooges.
“Add us to that list,” Gano said.
The original lineup of Gano, Ritchie and drummer Victor DeLorenzo played Coachella and a few other dates in 2013, but the troika was short-lived.
“We knew that we were only going to play a couple of shows with Victor. But we wanted to keep going, and I’m glad we did,” Gano said. “We love playing the old songs.”
Such classic tunes as “Blister in the Sun,” “Add It Up” and “Gone Daddy Gone” still hold up. The band’s old hits sound relevant since the songs still sound edgy and powerful.
“When you write a really good song, it’s timeless,” Gano said. “I think we have written our share of really good songs.”
It took a few years for the Femmes, who formed in 1980, but the group found an audience.
“When we were playing early on, most people in Milwaukee didn’t think we were anything special, but we believed in our music, and we’re still standing,” Gano said. “We never thought it would last this long. Who knows how many times we’ve played certain songs?”
Such as the aforementioned “Blister in the Sun,” which is the band’s biggest hit.
“If we never played ‘Blister in the Sun’ again, it would be fine with us,” Gano said. “But our fans want to hear it, so we play it. There’s always this energy in the room when we play it. How can we not play ‘Blister in the Sun’? People love it. I have no problem giving the people what they want. I’m just glad they still want to come out to see us and we can continue to do this for a living. It’s been great.”
The Violent Femmes appear Saturday at the Wichita Riverfest.
Violent Femmes
Opening acts: Saturday: Kill Vargas at 3:15 p.m., Divorce Corpse at 4:45 p.m., Radkey at 6:15 p.m. and Meat Puppets at 7:45 p.m.
When: Violent Femmes performs at 9:15 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Kennedy Plaza Stage, on the north side of Century II, 225 W. Douglas.
Admission: Free with a Riverfest button. Buttons are $10 for adults and $3 for ages 6-12. Buttons are available at the gate and are good for all nine days.
This story was originally published June 1, 2016 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Violent Femmes to showcase old, new tunes at Saturday Riverfest concert."