#blaise garza

officialviolentfemmes: A big thank you to @mychemicalromance for having us on their show at @tmobilepark this past Friday.

📷: Mike Kasprzak

Punk-folk legends Violent Femmes are touring North America in celebration of the 40th anniversary of their seminal self-titled debut album — featuring the likes of “Blister in the Sun.” And last night at a sold-out Webster Hall they had everyone happily signing along.

(Violent Femmes play Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, N.J., today.)

(Violent Femmes play Rams Head Live! in Baltimore on Friday.)

(Violent Femmes play The NorVa in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday.)

(Violent Femmes play The National in Richmond, Va., on Sunday.)

Violent Femmes with Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Commons, June 22, 2024

“You must be very proud of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra,” Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie said from the stage after the merged entities played “American Music.”

“They are kicking ass right here in the public square. Not every orchestra can do that.”

There were three true statements in that one statement. And like the CSO, not every band does what the Femmes do - and did June 22 when a sold-out crowd packed the lawn at Columbus Commons to see the group blend its twitchy brand of acoustic punkabilly music with orchestral accompaniment. Not only that - it worked. “American Music” had seen guitarist Gordon Gano swap his main instrument for a banjo, lead an impromptu Banjo power! chant and charge into the song, which found the CSO’s woodwind section positively swinging.

It was one of 16 tracks the band got to over the course of its high-energy, 70-minute set which took place in 90-degrees-after-dark heat that had the folks who attended CSO’s Picnic with the Pops dancing to such numbers as “Add it Up” and “Color Me Once” as the orchestra, formal in white, accompanied songs about fucking and sucking as delivered by the four Femmes in black.

Such incongruity notwithstanding, the orchestra was fully integrated with Gano, Ritchie, John Sparrow on brushed drums and percussion that included a Weber grill and Blaise Garza on a variety of woodwinds that were often lost in the swirl of sound. “All I Want” was the peak of the partnership with conductor Stuart Chafetz leading an arrangement that sounded like it’d always been a part of the song - to call it perfection is not to hyperbolize.

Ritchie played vibes on “Gone Daddy Gone” and the Femmes worked sans orchestra on such tracks as “Kiss Off” and “Please Do Not Go” as Chafetz looked on with satisfaction and his players watched in a combination of amazement and horror before the collaborative encore of “Blister in the Sun” and “Good Feeling.”

The symphony opened the evening with a short performance that opened Rossini’s “Overture to L’Italiana in Algeri.” Its soothing sounds blunted the heat and reminded listeners of Bugs Bunny cartoons before CSO moved on to Smetana’s more-sophisticated but less-Femme-fitting “Three Dances from the Bartered Bride.”

Grade card: Violent Femmes with Columbus Symphony Orchestra - 6/22/24 - B+

See more photos on Sound Bites’ Facebook page.