Acoustic Alt-Rock Legends Violent Femmes Return to Northeast Florida

Before “Black Hole Sun,” there was “Blister in the Sun.” No offense to the 1994 Soundgarden grunge classic, but prior to the Seattle rock explosion and subsequent alternative rock shrapnel of the ‘90s, an all-acoustic band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin had a 1983 college-radio hit with “Blister in the Sun,” an evergreen favorite that seems to only grow in popularity due to its eccentric, minimalistic delights. (Read about the reissue of the Violent Femmes’ seminal 1983 self-titled album here.)

That very same band, the Violent Femmes, return to the area with a performance on Sunday, September 29 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. No strangers to Northeast Florida, some three decades ago, the band notably performed an intimate and raucous concert at Einstein A Go-Go to a crazed and devoted crowd. 

Formed in 1981 by Gordon Gano (guitar, vocals), Brian Ritchie (acoustic bass guitar) and Victor DeLorenzo (drums), the band took the primitive innocence of Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers and injected it with a kind of gleeful nihilism. Fellow musicians including the Smiths and the Pixies have sung the Femmes’ praises. The band has survived lawsuits and lineup changes (Gano and Ritchie are the current founding Femmes still plucking away) and seem comfortable to exist in their cozy space in the history of catchy and eccentric rock music. 

Violet Femmes perform at 7 p.m. on Sunday, September 29 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, 1340C A1A S. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. this Friday, May 24  and are available here.