The announcement that Violent Femmes were scheduled to play at the Coachella Festival left many a mouth agape. Had Brian Ritchie and Gordon Gano buried the hatchet? Was it the real Coachella poster or the hoax?
It's fairly certain that fans experienced elation, concern, consternation, and fantasies about singing every lyric of every song with a chorus of thousands. Favorite songs and dream playlists filled their daydreams for days. And now there's more to make their hearts burst with wicked joy.
March 6, 2013 Violent Femmes posted a charity auction to meet Gordon Gano and Brian Ritchie of Violent Femmes on April 20 and get two VIP tickets for the sold out 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival during weekend 2 from April 19-21, 2013 in Indio, California. This is definitely a great opportunity to not only meet interesting people from one of your all-time favorite bands, but to give back.
The proceeds of the auction assist the Sweet Relief Musician's Fund which provides financial assistance to career musicians as they face disability, illness, or age-related difficulties. As you may know, not all career musicians are swimming in huge wads of cash at the end of their lives. A music career doesn't come with a pension or a guarantee of anything.
To learn more about Sweet Relief, please visit www.sweetrelief.org where you can donate by region, genre, and artist if they are currently sponsored. You loved their music, it's time to think about giving back to the people who made your life more livable through their music.
If you would like to enjoy a trip down memory lane circa 1985, an entire Violent Femmes concert from the Spanish series Edad de Oro can be found online on Youtube. In the off years, bassist Ritchie formed a surf rock band called The Break featured below:
Violent Femmes’ Brian Ritchie plus Midnight Oil equals surf rock
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