October 6, 2025 – Count Basie Center for the Arts, Red Bank NJ
Review by Chris Yates // Photography by Estelle Massry
Red Bank NJ is my hometown, a place full of music, art and creative history. It’s the home of the historic Count Basie Theater. For those unaware, Count Basie was a famed American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader and composer who formed the Count Basie Orchestra in 1936 and rode them to fame for almost 50 years creating many innovations in music, where countless musicians came to prominence under his influence. It’s a beautiful, old venue. If you haven’t been, it’s a must visit/experience. “The Basie” has a certain intimacy with its beautiful, ornate architecture, seats close to the stage, and a decor that sets the vibe appropriately for any event under the iconic roof and tonight with THE Violent Femmes in house, was no exception. The entire place is a full “seated” venue (more on that vibe later) with the orchestra having approximately 26 rows – below many other rows above on the balcony. I mention this as once the highly anticipated wait was over, with instruments in hand, the Violent Femmes descended from the top of the orchestra, parading down the aisle through waves of applause, carving a path toward the stage and into the spotlight.
I have been a fan since the early 90’s and as I migrated to the grunge scene at the time, they were the one band that kept me glued and holding on to the folk, punk and alternative rock scene they dominated. Right from the first chords of “Prove My Love” the Femmes showed they still have a crackling energy. Gordon Gano’s vocal delivery—sometimes gravelly, sometimes quivering—anchored much of the emotional excitement in the room. He switched between electric and acoustic guitars, sometimes slipping in banjo or more minimal textures like the mandolin, giving the sound a dynamic ebb and flow throughout the evening.
Brian Ritchie held down the low end with his unique and signature bass (and its occasional thumps and slide textures), while percussionist John Sparrow (and another supporting percussionist) offered a kind of polyrhythmic backbone with wooden blocks, and other unconventional surfaces—keeping the set tactile and grounded. Multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garcia rounded out the band to delightful, eclectic precision.
At moments, the band leaned into hushed tension (e.g. slower songs or ballads) and then plunged into full-throated explosion of fan favorites. This set up combined with the venue being filled with seats for each audience member led to a church like experience with audience members sitting, then standing, then sitting again, then standing. Gano even joked at one point as he brought out his mandolin and said. “Oh… so the mandolin comes out and everyone sits?… I see.. well don’t hold on to your arm rests too tightly”. Meaning we will all be back on our feet in no time.
Sound-wise, for the most part, the mix was solid. Vocals sat well in the mix and the acoustic elements maintained clarity. The theater’s acoustics, which many praise, mostly held up.
The audience was active, not passive. During the punchier songs, people stood (where seating allowed), swayed, shouted lines back, and applauded with fervor. Many used phones sparingly, preferring to live in the moment. You could see a visible arc: early songs drawing folks in, then a growing collective energy mid-set, and catharsis by the end.
Interestingly, generations mixed—older fans singing every line, younger fans discovering songs on the fly, sometimes pulling up verses to catch up. The sense was that the Femmes’ reach still spans ages.
There were also moments of spontaneity—Gano occasionally paused mid-song to comment, banter with the crowd, or adjust dynamics. These interludes made it feel less like a strictly scripted show and more like a communal gathering of living music.
The band leaned heavily on their classic canon, which was smart—they know what the crowd came to hear. “Blister in the Sun” brought the crowd to its feet. The familiar riff, the insistence in Gano’s voice, and the buoyant bounce in Ritchie’s bass invited singalongs and shared reminiscence. “Kiss Off” had a sharp edge which cut through the room, even more so live. “Gone Daddy Gone” got a fierce, gutsy spin; this felt like a moment when the band remembered their punk roots, even amid the folk textures. Deep cuts like “Jesus Walking on the Water” and “Country Death Song” offered moments of darkness and reflection that balanced the high-energy hits. In the encore with “Betrayal” and “American Music” the band leaned into community: inviting the audience in, letting us sing and letting the performance breathe.
Seeing Violent Femmes live tonight was a reminder of why their music endures: it lives in the gaps between vulnerability and bravado, in the interplay of folk sensibility and punk urgency. They remain rough around the edges—in the best way—and their songs still carry emotional weight. In Red Bank’s theater setting, they managed to keep that rawness intact without letting polish smother the spirit. The performance was alive, intentional, and emotionally resonant.
For more info please visit http://www.vfemmes.com