Milwaukee folk-punks the Violent Femmes are 45 years old. That fact alone makes this writer feel ancient, memories of the fresh-faced Wisconsin lads blurring genre-lines still relatively intact in the old noggin. At L.A.'s the Bellwether at the end of July, the band performed for four nights, allowing SoCal fans to wallow in all of their eclectic, unpredictable brilliance.
Talking of eclectic, unpredictable brilliance, Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads joined the Femmes for two of those shows and, naturally, it was one of those that pulled MC in. We saw them perform the 1986 third album The Blind Leading the Naked, which Harrison produced, and it was a night of glorious, odd alt-rock.
The show was split into two halves and The Blind Leading the Naked came first, although it was just select songs and they were not played in order. So we started with "Candlelight Song" and "Old Mother Reagan," before Harrison took his place at a keyboard for the remainder of that half of the set. The cover of T-Rex's "Children of the Revolution" was a highlight, just because it's so beautifully deconstructed. Not quite to Devo's "Satisfaction" level, but still, enough to make it fun.
The second half of the set saw the Violent Femmes, sans Harrison, perform the beloved debut album. So of course that meant "Blister in the Sun," "Add it Up" and "Gone Daddy Gone." The band was into it, as was the crowd.
The highlight of the entire night, however, came during the encores when Harrison reappeared to play (and sing) the Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime." This night may have been about celebrating the legacy of the Violent Femmes, but it's hard to top that tune.
Still, we wanted a celebration and we got one.
