The Platinum–Selling Folk-Punk Band Will Play Their Pivotal, Self-Titled, Debut From Cover To Cover

After enjoying an entirely sold out Spring 2023 Tour, Iconic Alt Rockers Violent Femmes have announced that that they are adding more dates in the Fall to continue the 40th anniversary celebration of their ground-breaking self-titled, debut album. The Platinum-selling group will, once again, perform the record from cover to cover, during the month-long routing that kicks off October 3 in Milwaukee, WI and culminates October 22 in Richmond, VA at The National. Select dates will feature symphony accompaniments, including the esteemed Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra at the Bradley Center at the start of the tour on October 3 and two nights with the iconic, 90-year-old Grand Rapids Symphony at the DeVos Performance Hall on October 6 and 7. 

Once hailed as the “soundtrack to male puberty,” Violent Femmes’ first record amplified teenage angst and alienation in the 1980s with such songs as “Kiss Off,” “Add It Up,” and “Gone Daddy Gone,” written by Lead Vocalist and Guitarist Gordon Gano before he’d even gotten his driver’s license. The album, which was mostly autobiographical, would later prove to embody some of the most powerful anthems of a disenchanted youth that the world has ever known. And while it took 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, substantiating it as more than a simple battle cry for a misunderstood youth. Today, it stands as a pillar of an American underground movement, and one of the best early examples of alternative rock. 

For the remainder of the ’90s, Violent Femmes continued to record new material, while their earliest songs remained in the zeitgeist, thanks to popular shows and films like “My So-Called Life,” Reality Bites, and Grosse Pointe Blank. Since that time, the band has released 10 studio albums including their most recent Hotel Last Resort (2019). Today, Violent Femmes continues to resonate with audiences of all ages. Upon the band’s 40th anniversary, Pitchfork wrote that “The Femmes don’t signify an era so much as a time of life,” adding that “for young people growing up in the internet age” their music “is part of a shared language.”

The official tour dates are as follows: 

Dates subject to change. 

Oct 3                Milwaukee, WI             Bradley Symphony Center*

Oct 4                Madison, WI                 The Sylvee

Oct 5                Chicago, IL                  Riviera Theatre 

Oct 6                Grand Rapids, MI         DeVos Performance Hall*

Oct 7                Grand Rapids, MI         DeVos Performance Hall*

Oct 9                Cleveland, OH             TempleLive at Cleveland Masonic 

Oct 11              Toronto, ON                 Queen Elizabeth Theatre 

Oct 12              Montreal QC                 MTELUS

Oct 13              Boston, MA                  MGM Music Hall

Oct 14              Kingston, NY               Ulster Performing Arts Center

Oct 15              New Haven, CT            College St Music Hall

Oct 17              New York, NY               Webster Hall

Oct 18              Sayreville, NJ              Starland Ballroom 

Oct 20              Baltimore, MD              Rams Head Live!

Oct 21              Norfolk, VA                  The NorVa

Oct 22              Richmond, VA              The National 

*Symphony performances. 

For more information, visit https://vfemmes.com. 

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