The world first heard that iconic guitar riff and kicky drum lick from "Blister in the Sun" forty years ago and tonight, PBS is celebrating the seminal album that that song came from, as well as the band who created it. The music special Violent Femmes: 40th Anniversary with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is making its national debut on PBS stations across the country on Friday, December 13 at 9pm Eastern Time, with an encore broadcast scheduled for 10:15pm ET.
Recorded at the Bradley Symphony Center on October 3, 2023, during the Wisconsin-based band's big 40th anniversary tour, the concert sees founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals) joined by their longtime bandmates—multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza and drummer John Sparrow—as well as the prestigious Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra to tear through hits from the band's 1983 self-titled debut album, including “Blister in the Sun,” “Kiss Off,” “Add It Up” and “Gone Daddy Gone.”
A true Wisconsin-local band, Violent Femmes formed in 1981; legend has is that the acoustic punk band was busking on the streets of Milwaukee, WI, when they were discovered performing outside the city's Oriental Theatre, where The Pretenders would be playing later that evening. That band's lead singer, Chrissy Hynde, reportedly invited Gordon and the gang to open for them that night. Their debut album Violent Femmes dropped two years later, and the rest is history, with the record going on to reach platinum status.
To tune into tonight's special presentation of Violent Femmes: 40th Anniversary with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, you're going to need access to PBS. You can tune into your local PBS station through a traditional pay-TV provider or, if you've cut the cord, via a live TV streaming service (i.e. Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV) and specific channels on streaming services, like the PBS channel on Prime Video. PBS.org website and the PBS app are also options for tuning into PBS programming and are handily free for all.
Check out a preview of the concert before tuning into Violent Femmes' celebratory jam session with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra tonight on PBS.
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