The Violent Femmes and Bill Hoover at Stir

So, I finally got to scratch off another seminal band from my to see list. Friday night I saw the Violent Femmes, and with them, I got see my good friend Bill Hoover play. I had to sit about as far from the stage as is possible at the outdoor venue, since the grass was still so wet from the rain that my shoes squished with every step. The hill was dry enough that the blanket didn't even soak through so Victoria and I managed to stay dry. I brought my camera, but didn't figure out the manual settings until the Femmes came out. Even so, I'll include some crappily artistic photos of Bill and Lincoln Dickinson playing.
Bill's set was quite good, reminding me of all those years ago at Kilgore's acoustic nights where you would get to see Bill, Simon Joyner, Conor Oberst, Alex McManus and a host of other Omaha's developing talents. He even pulled out the musical description he used so often in the Darktown House Band... "This is a song about heartbreak and loss." All in all, a strong opening for the Femmes.

The Violent Femmes, masters of youthful angst on their first album. A distinctive mixture of punk and folk. How could you not love them? Anyway, they played a great set, they had fun reinterpreting some of their staples and they managed to confuse a lot of people who were only there to hear "Add it Up" and "Blister in the Sun". The Femmes were in great voice and great form. Stir managed to impress me with their sound once again, and I sincerely hope Stir will be as adventurous next summer as they were this one. Here are a couple of shots of the Femmes set... as you can see I got better with the shots, even as far as you can get from the stage and still be a paying customer.

All photos © 2006 Matt Griffith, Omaha NE