Violent Femmes

 A few months ago, I saw that the Violent Femmes were going to be at the AB in Brussels.  I was tempted to get tickets, but then I wondered if it wouldn't be disappointing seeing them again after a very memorable show in Milwaukee in 1983, or perhaps they wouldn't even play material from the old albums, the ones I loved way back when (yeah, I think I've mentioned I'm old).  So I put it out of my mind.

Until my sister saw them at the Shaky Knees music festival in Atlanta in May and raved about how great they were, and how they played the entire first album from beginning to end, and how awesome that was.  The only thing I could do at this point was GET TICKETS, right away, and pray, pray, pray pray pray pray, that they were going to do the same kind of show in Brussels.

So with great anticipation I headed into Brussels by train yesterday evening, met my husband, and walked to the AB.  The opening act, surprisingly enough, was the Belgian group Rhythm Junks, whose lead singer and harmonica player, Steven De Bruyn, happens to be the uncle of a boy and girl my kids went to grade school with.  I had never heard the group play before, and they were actually really good, with a unique sound. There were also quite a few people I recognized as fellow parents from our neighborhood.  It sure is a small world sometimes (especially in Belgium).

At 9 pm sharp, Gordon Gano (guitar), Brian Ritchie (bass), Brian Viglione (drums) and John Sparrow (cajon box) simply walked out onto the stage and started right in on the first song  ("Blister in the Sun") off the first album as the crowd went wild and we all sang along loudly to every verse...which continued as they proceeded to play through the entire album, obviously enjoying themselves, and making a crowd of mature fans go wild, including a midlife mosh-pit!    After the ten songs from album one, the show continued with a bunch of songs from their second and third albums and more recent work ("Freak Magnet").  Every song was a blast to hear (as we all continued to sing along, loudly).  And it reminded me of how many hits they actually had, and how many of those songs were an integral part of the soundtrack of my life through high school and college.

The band also included a horn section called Horns of Dilemma for some of the songs like "Black Girls" or "Confessions", where the musicians create a free-form noise jam. Apparently, the line of up of the Horns of Dilemma changes every show, adding local musicians or friends as circumstances allow.  It was neat to see that Steven De Bruyn on harmonica was included in the group, and even got a bit of a solo when the entire band came out to play a wildly arranged version of "Blister in the Sun" as their encore number.

And then, at 10:30 sharp, it was over.  Time to head back to the train station, passing through throngs of people who had just finished watching the end of the England-Uruguay match, seeing proud Uruguayans celebrating in front of the Brussels stock market building, and making our way through crowds of tourists taking selfies on the Grand' Place.  But with the music of the Violent Femmes still reverberating through my mind.  And so happy I took my sister's advice.