“Decades of disorganized music” is the Violent Femmes’ motto. For the past 26 years, the Violent Femmes have been known as innovators and the fathers of folk rock. “There’s a genuine dynamism to this music – a raw, gutsy power that is as enlivening as the best garage rock,” according to a review in Rolling Stones Magazine.
Discovered in the early 1980s by the Pretenders, the Violent Femmes have been performing with an inventive sound for decades, a sound that captured the souls of thousands at Get-Down-Town Greensboro on Sept. 9.
From 7 p.m. to 12 p.m., downtown Greensboro closed its streets and opened up its shops, bars, restaurants and more for the event. “I thought the turn-out was great,” said junior Garrett FitzGerald. “I was excited that so many Guilfordians decided to participate.”
Like most people who attended the event, FitzGerald waited to hear the Violent Femmes play. At 10:30 p.m., the band stepped on stage to begin their performance. “I was prepared to be under-whelmed, but I was actually quite impressed,” FitzGerald said. “They were fun and goofy with kind of a middle-aged awkwardness.”
“I liked it because there were so many people,” said sophomore Martha Assefa. “I didn’t really like the beginning half but when they started getting more bluegrassy and dancing, then I was excited.”
“There (were) a lot of crazy people,” Assefa continued. “It was like madness; it was total madness. It was a good night. It was just a good event.”
The Violent Femmes play music that everyone can relate to. Their lyrics are painfully true and speak to their own personal experience, which in turn allows everyone to connect with their message on an individual level. “They were young once too,” said sophomore Dan Burke. “I’m sure that they can relate to our generation.”
“We don’t care what they get from our music,” said Violent Femme Brian Ritchie in an interview for Pulse of the Twin Cities. “The music is vast enough that it can be interpreted many different ways, and people are free to find their own meaning.”
“We are more concerned with what we get from the audience, which is singing along, dancing, going nuts and releasing their tension,” Ritchie said. People danced, screamed, and laughed. For those few hours, students and Greensboro residents forgot about their worries and had an excellent time as a community.