Violent Femmes, Barenaked Ladies and the memory of cool, on a night at the Greek Theatre

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Violent Femmes at the Greek
Violent Femmes at the Greek Theatre, July 21, 2015 (Photo by Daiana Feuer)

The audience trickled into the Greek Theatre on Tuesday night as Colin Hay strummed the fourth biggest song of 1983 (according to Billboard), Men At Work’s hit “Land Down Under.” Some mumbled the words from their seats, sipping wine, and a few enthusiastic women stood at the foot of the stage, clapping nostalgically for memories of their younger selves.

||| Photos by Daiana Feuer

This pretty much set the evening’s tone for what would follow, sets from Violent Femmes (new EP just out, in case you slept on it) and Barenaked Ladies (new album just out, in case you slept on it). It wasn’t a stand on your chair and flip your wig type of show. It was more of a remember-when-I-used-to-have-hair, when this song came out 30 years ago atmosphere. That’s not to say people didn’t enjoy themselves.

When Violent Femmes played “Blister In The Sun” right out the gate, the audience cheered. Whether the band felt the same enthusiasm is questionable. A few years ago the song was licensed to Wendy’s and it led to bassist Brian Ritchie suing Gordon Gano, more or less morally pissed that Gano sold-out to a fast food chain and all it represents. A lot can happen over the life of a song, especially when you’re just trying to keep it, and your career, alive. While the core band members themselves may or may not like each other anymore, they still delivered a lot of favorites with gusto, bringing out a nice big band to flesh out their most subversive songs. Three horn players and three percussionists brought “Black Girls” to life in all its flirtation with naughty lyrical and harmonic taboos. Ritchie made a good joke: “Drummers are like martinis, one is good, two is too many, and three is just right.”

Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, Violent Femmes might have been the main draw in the lineup, and Barenaked Ladies kept making jokes about their own relevance once they came out on stage. They poked fun at themselves, saying perhaps we were here because someone made us come — despite the now-drunker ladies dancing happily at their feet.

Honestly, don’t say stuff like that! When you’re on stage, with a bright fancy LED display illuminating your every move, and all your stuffed animals decorating the keyboard, and you’re still writing new songs, and you can still get people to stay out past bedtime to hear you transport them to better days, you should own the moment. Don’t remind them that they used to be cooler a few decades ago.