OK, Peoria 1980’s and 1990’s music fans, ready for something special?? We’re excited to announce that the legendary band, The Violent Femmes, will be playing Peoria for a special night, Wednesday May 15th, at the Peoria Civic Center Theater at 7:30pm! The band will be playing their entire first album in it’s entirety, and the album ‘Hallowed Ground’ as well! Do not miss this once in a lifetime show here in Peoria! Big thanks to True Endeavors and the Peoria Civic Center!
PEORIA – Seminal Alt Rockers Violent Femmes will be giving fans a one-two punch this Spring when they perform BOTH their ground-breaking, debut, self-titled album and their sophomore release, Hallowed Ground, on May 15 at the Peoria Civic Center Theater. Tickets go onsale Friday, March 15 at 10 a.m. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or in person at the Toyota Box Office, open Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
During these unprecedented performances, the Femmes will start the show by playing their second album, Hallowed Ground, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024, in its entirety. Following a brief intermission, the band will retake the stage and play their debut record, Violent Femmes, from cover to cover, as well as a few fan- and band-favorites to finish the show. Serving as a sonic time capsule for the soul, these special shows will capture a pivotal moment in music as Femmes’ Lead Vocalist and Guitarist Gordon Gano wrote the songs for both albums while he was still in high school. In fact, the tracks for Hallowed Ground were penned long before the release of Violent Femmes, but the band wanted to focus on upbeat songs for the debut album and wanted to “confuse people” with the more experimental songs that ended up as Hallowed Ground.
The result was two unique releases that showcased very different sides of the Violent Femmes. Their eponymous record, once hailed as the “soundtrack to male puberty,” amplified teenage angst and alienation in the 1980s with such songs as “Kiss Off,” “Add It Up,” and “Gone Daddy Gone.” The album, which was mostly autobiographical, would later prove to embody some of the most relatable and enduring anthems of a disenchanted youth that the world has ever known. And while it took the album 10 years to go Platinum and hit the Billboard Top 200, it has now sold three million copies worldwide and is still in rotation on today’s top rock stations, cementing it as more than a simple battle cry for misunderstood adolescence. Today, it stands as a pillar of an American underground movement, and one of the best early examples of alternative rock.
The Violent Femmes formed in 1981 as an acoustic punk band playing on the streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their main influences at that time were Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps and The Velvet Underground. Their goal was to rock harder than any other acoustic act on the planet. After being rejected for an audition by a local nightclub, the Femmes set up outside a Pretenders gig and began to play. Pretenders’ lead singer Chrissie Hynde asked them to open that night’s show, which gave the young band a publicity boost and caught the attention of Richard Hell, who invited the Femmes to open for him in NYC. A review in the New York Times eventually led to a record deal, which in turn spawned worldwide touring. Violent Femmes eponymous debut album became the first and only album in Billboard history to enter the charts with a platinum certification-eight years after its release. Over the ensuing three decades, the Femmes became a mainstay of festivals, clubs, and theaters in more than 20 countries worldwide. MTV’s “Unplugged” show was inspired by the Femmes, although they never actually appeared on it. Their raw sound and honest lyrical perspective has been cited as an influence by artists as diverse as Pink, Keith Urban, The Smiths, The Pixies, John Cusack, Mark Morris, and Wim Wenders. More than 40years into their careers, Violent Femmes continue to attract young audiences on tour, create lasting music, and inspire people of all ages!
Photo Credit: Mike Benson
