Violent Femmes
Aug. 15, 2026
Evans Amphitheater at Cain Park, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
By Robert McCune
Violent Femmes played their arguably biggest hit seventh – about a third of the way through their setlist – in a show on their “45 Years” tour.
A lot of legacy bands – those who are marking 30 to 40 years of making music and touring – will wait until the end, or even the encore, to play the song that most people are waiting to hear them play.
The song that you can’t leave until you hear.
But the Femmes, a Milwaukee-founded folk punk band with the theatrical, incomparable Gordon Gano as frontman, have never been conventional.
And its paid off with a faithful fan base who were outwardly unfazed by “Blister in the Sun” coming so early in the set list.
There was no opening band. No warmup. The show started about 15 minutes after the announced 8 p.m. start, featured 21 songs, including an encore of “American Music,” and ended before 10.
And the crowd was all for it, every step of the way.
Most songs were audibly sung along to, which warms the hearts of every singer-songwriter, even Gano.
Founding member Brian Ritchie wielded a bass that looked like something out of Mad Max; drummer John Sparrow whisked out a rhythm on a variety of percussive instruments; and the youngest member of the troop, Blaise Garza, filled in on saxophone, keys and guitar.
The finesse with which this group keeps a crowd captivated, and engaged, is what has kept them going for 45 years, and will keep them going a while longer, surely.
Follow Robert McCune on Instagram (@Every_Thing_After_Photo) and listen to the “Every.Thing.After Podcast” on Spotify.
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