The Femmes Go to College

          I had worked the summer of 1992 moving furniture with a cool guy named Eric Anderson, a guitarist and an artist now living in New York. Eric had introduced me to the Violent Femmes. He had their first album, “Blister in the Sun” on tape and while I wasn’t used to Gordon Gano’s voice at the time, the music was what got me. The combination of Gano’s acoustic guitar, a fat bass, played by Brian Ritchie and the slithering, chatting sounds of a snare drum by Victor DeLorenzo, encompassed for me the world of teenage angst. Wanton phrases perfectly sung (“Come on Dad, Gimme the Car”)with  Gordon Gano’s convincing voice made the whole deal worth running out and buying the album as soon as I could.

         ;  I was in college, a Freshman at the University of Wisonsin-Oshkosh, and fast making friends. My roommate and I found out that the Femmes would play in DePere, WI. There just happened to be a guy from DePere living a few doors away from us! We asked him, and he happened to be a big fan of the group himself. We bought tickets for the show, which would be at St. Norbert’s College. The seats were $15, which was a lot of money for us, but they were never used. Instead, we stood the whole time using the seats only for our coats. Looking around at all the people, kids and adults alike, I remember feeling like the event was like a big pep rally in high school. This was due to the concert being held in the St. Norbert fieldhouse. Energy and life oozed from every single person’s pores.

         ;  I remember looking at a guy adjusting the large speakers in the back.

           “Look at that old guy!” I said to my roommate. An old, lanky man with a black rock and roll t-shirt was doing something with the speakers, moving them to a different angle toward the stage. He looked to be at least 50 or more years old to me. We laughed.
          A group called The String Beans, from Green Bay opened, and they were really good. But we came to see The Violent Femmes! Of course, I wanted to take off my glasses to look better. I never was comfortable wearing them when the possibility of meeting women was there, but I couldn’t see the stage. It also wasn’t too smart to be blind and walk into a girl by accident, so hence, the glasses returned to my face.
         After the String Beans left the stage, Gordon Gano came out, then the drummer(who was not Victor DeLorenzo, since he had just left the group) and that “old guy!” That “old guy” happened to be Brian Ritchie, the bass player. I should have been wearing my glasses earlier!
         And we danced and stood on our seats, listening to the Violent Femmes rock the house. Their first song? “Blister in the Sun.”