My adopted hometown has seen some ups and downs as far as bands coming through. It will always fall second to neighboring cities like Kansas City and Minneapolis, even failing in comparison to Omaha. The one thing that makes up for it is that the concerts are usually more intimate affairs. I worry Des Moines doesn’t draw, though. In any case the last couple of years, two venues really did the hard lifting. There is an arena football stadium for the big names, of course. Also a 1200 person theater that usually focuses on songwriters.
But Des Moines losing a cool 200 capacity venue felt awful - one has finally sprung up in its place. Now, a new spot has been built and is being sponsored by Live Nation will bring in some large names. Bands like The Black Crowes, Pixies, Chicago and Gladys Knight have been some of the first to play here. But somewhere in here, the downside and upside is also augmented by the remodeling of the Val Air Ballroom. I had only been there to see Wilco, pro wrestling and MMA. A history that goes back over a century. The image draws forth images of 40s and 50s big bands but the renovation caused it to close for a year and a half. Anyone who is anyone has come through and I just don’t get to too many concerts anymore but I am glad I got out to see the Violent Femmes.
The Femmes are touring behind the 40th anniversary of their second album Hallowed Ground. They had been touring last year on the 40th of their first album, so this tour is featuring both played in their entirety. That doesn’t leave much for a Greatest Hits but they have been doing two song encores and we got American Music and I Held Her in my Arms. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with Hallowed Ground but I of course knew the first song which is a great opener. Country Death Song In retrospect, I am not sure that the Femmes get their dues as the roots of Americana. Released in 1984, I know Nick Cave and others were doing Goth country in Australia, it’s really kind of a late 90s/early 00s thing with Johnny Cash’s Rick Rubin albums kind of opening the genre and bands like BR549, the Handsome Family, Th’ Legendary Shakeshackers, Slim Cessna and 16 Horsepower bringing old school country death ballads to a rock audience.
The Femmes were doing it before that with this album, of course. Like 16 Horsepower, audiences weren’t sure that Gordon Gano was mining from Christian lore or an actual Christian. Famously, he was the latter. (Brian Ritchie, however is an atheist and has always been a tense counterpoint to Gano. An 2018 interview with Gano in Magnet suggested the two’s interactions with each other are completely limited to band performances) Hallowed Ground is not quite the album the debut is but it is an interesting album with a lot of highlights like “I Hear the Rain”. Gano played expertly on guitar and fiddle, Ritchie on his unique bass and drummer John Sparrow on two snares and a charcoal grill. Gano’s voice is exactly as it sounds on record.
The insecure frustrated teenager who wrote this album. I always think Modern Lovers-era Jonathan Richman is the prototype and dozens of 90s indie frontmen the progeny but Gano might be the best to ever portray that angst correctly. The band as always was accompanied by the Horns of Dilemma. Gano came out for the second set with his long hair down and the kind of colorful bathrobe looking outfit that he used to wear. The Violent Femmes debut a-side is probably as good as any five songs recorded in a batch. It makes for a definite crowd favorite. The B side isn’t half bad either and also has the strong anchor near the end of Gone Daddy Gone. The band hardly said anything to the audience. Gano before going into American Music- a perfect peak for the bands talent said “This place was good enough for Sinatra so it’s good enough for us” (referencing the Ballroom’s history). But without any interaction, there was just something in Gano’s presentation to communicate to the crowd (There’s also a noise ordinance so maybe there wasn’t time to fool around).
I was glad I got to see the band. I was a bit worried that I arrived at door open and that place wasn’t packed (NuMetal band the Disturbed were playing the same night at the Arena) but that only guaranteed a good view as the place did seem to fill the 2000 person vicinity by show start.
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