First off, Club Rubber which is in Seven (on the strip in Las Vegas) is a cool club. It's not very big, it has great sound, and cool people working there. (I hear they are moving to a cool location in downtown, though)

So I was in Vegas and I find out the Violent Femmes are playing. Of course, I have to go even though, I already had tickets to go see the new Cirque Du Soleil knockoff at the Wynn Hotel called La Reve. On a side note, that show (which I did make) is pretty good - very dark and disturbing at times, but worth seeing!

There are two opening bands, Mardo and Dumb Luck. Both were pretty decent and show some potential. I ended up buying Mardo's CD and would have gotten one from Dumb Luck, but as luck would have it they were out. Both bands say they will send CD's to me. Get money, address etc and I NEVER get the CD. (And Dumb Luck has the balls to put me on their spam list.)

The Femmes finally come on and they seem a bit hesitant as they begin their first  couple of songs. That totally melts away as they realize that the crowd is singing along with everything they're playing. There were time when they would just look at each other and laugh as the audience took over vocals.

I was glad they played the Country Death song, It's Gonna Rain and several other "non-hits" that I have always liked. These guys were playing hard, with the emphasis on playing. Brian told a story about how some dude in the bar the day before asked him if he liked 80's rock and Brian replied "Dude, I AM 80's rock!"

I was only able to stay for the first hour and a quarter, so I missed Add It Up, but, oh well, hopefully I'll be able to see them again, and again. I just wish they'd put out some more current music. I like their old songs, especially the first and second albums, but it sure seems like they have the old fire back. I'd like to hear what they could come up with in the studio today. I'll have to look and see what they're doing now.

http://www.vfemmes.com

So, Helena and I went to the Palo Alto Philharmonic yesterday and got to hear their latest presentation. The program included a guest conductor, although we would never have known who the regular conductor was and a special guest soloist. Anyway, they played an overture from Beethoven (Leonore no.3), had a small move around the orchestra break and then they played Respighi's Fountain's of Rome.  After an intermission they also played Dvorak's cello concerto

I'm not that much of an orchestra fan, but I already had heard Respighi's Fountains on CD so I had a bit of a reference point. It was Helena's first time to see just an orchestra, so I had that reaction, too.

First off the conductor came out and explained some background on the first two pieces - which was really interesting and gave us something to listen for during the concert. They were good. Even though it was a bit warm in the Cubberly Theatre and consequently we felt a bit sleepy eyed during parts, it was pretty cool to hear all the combinations of instruments. At some places it was even very exciting. Helena, noticed that there was what seemed to be a teenager harpist and she could identify with that quite a bit, especially since she looked a bit "hip"

The soloist seemed like he was good, but what do I know about cello playing? It definitely seemed like they were all into it. The story behind the concerto was interesting as well.

The sound in the Cubberly Theater was pretty good. All in all, we'd both recommend coming out to hear them play. It was inexpensive to come out and they played well. We still think that plays and operas offer more with the visual and audio, but it was cool to go to.

BTW, we didn't get all dressed up, but there were a few people that were dressed very fine. Also the next performance will be their last for this season (May 22) - It's their annual Youth/Family Concert. They'll present a whole afternoon of overtures - a sort of historical survey of them.

http://www.paphil.org

My ride bailed. It was raining. I'm kind of still sick. It was late and it was a Sunday night. I went anyway.

I had never seen Death In June in concert before. I have a bunch of their CD's and what I've heard was pretty good. I consider myself a fan, but other than a few favorite tracks, I probably couldn't name any others.

So that being said, I made my way to the Glas Kat in SF. I'd never been there, but it's the old Trocadero. They changed the inside a bit and you can't go upstairs now. I got there just as they were finishing their first track. Not too crowded.

There's two guys on stage both with their faces covered. Douglas P with this hat that looked like yarn hair over his face and friend (John Murphy?) with a Cirque du Soleil Allegria-type face mask.

They played a bunch of tracks I recognized including "Giddy Giddy Carousel" "To Drown a Rose" and "Heaven Street" (one of my favorite older ones) and several I didn't recognize. Someone asked me to describe Death In June and I guess the category I would put them in is gothic-neo folk (is that a category?) I mean they aren't the happiest bunch of songs, but how goth can you be with a twelve string acoustic guitar?

Anyway, the show was pretty good. I'd see them again, but also it didn't "knock my socks off". They played for just over an hour, asking for requests (they didn't play "All Alone In Her Nirvana" although I yelled). For the encore the boys came back up maskless.

The audience was as you would expect with guys and gals mostly dressed in black (funny, I was too) and some in army uniforms. They had a table with some cool merchandise and anyplace I can buy their CD's for less than $20 a pop, I'll do it.

If you haven't listened to them before, I suggest "Burial" if you can find it or "The Guilty Have No Past" as a good starting point. Douglas P also has a double CD of his choices called oddly enough "Discriminate - A Compilation Of Personal Choice"

I stayed til late at the show and was rewarded with a quick chat with Douglas. He signed a couple of my LP's (including my red vinyl "Burial") and told me the album covers were produced at a wallpaper company. Interesting. I'll post them on my autograph wall.

Want more DIJ info? Here's a couple of web sites:

http://www.deathinjune.net/

http://www.brainwashed.com/dij/