The Gen X Sing Along
Posted by HeyHeyHiFi@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 82 comments

Saw Violent Femmes last night. They played their entire first two albums in order. When they played their classic self-titled album everyone sang along at the top of our lungs and it was a blast to have that communal experience. Gen X rules!
Zwomann@reddit
I saw them with my GenX husband this past summer; one of the best shows I’ve been to and the crowd was beautiful ❤️
ssquirt1@reddit
When I’m a-walkin I strut my stuff and I’m so strung out
RichR11511@reddit
I'm high as a kite and I just might Stop to check you out
RealYessicaHaircut@reddit
Let me go on, like I blister in the sun
Ok-Rock2345@reddit
Big hands, I know you're the one.
spoink74@reddit
Best concert I ever attended in my life was these guys. It was almost 30 years ago but I'm sure they'd be just as fun today.
I can't do Country Death Song anymore though. I can't even consider being that guy for a second.
vankirk@reddit
Saw TMBG open for them in 95(?). Great show.
Ok-Rock2345@reddit
Just saw TMBG a couple months back. Took my firstborn with me, since she is a fan too :)
another_day_in@reddit
Do you like American music?
Bsizzle18@reddit
Im gonna add it up!
Bsizzle18@reddit
I’m gonna add it up!
Jomolungma@reddit
I saw the Femmes open for Echo just before the pandemic. They were great and the crowd was actually not that old. There were some hip younger folks there too!
tommyalanson@reddit
Do you like American Music?
HeyHeyHiFi@reddit (OP)
That was the encore!
tommyalanson@reddit
Sweet!!
OppositeDish9086@reddit
Craziest thing: I saw the Femmes open for the Grateful Dead back in 1991. Completely unannounced show, too. It was wild how quickly a Dead show turned into an alt-rock show then back to a Dead show. Femmes were a lot of fun.
HeyHeyHiFi@reddit (OP)
Wow what a combo! That would have been right up my alley!
OppositeDish9086@reddit
It was super cool. A saving grace since my girlfriend wasn't into the Dead at all, but she was a trooper for braving the awful heat that day, so it was something of a consolation. Everyone sang along to the Femmes back then, too. Not a story I get to tell very often.
throwpayrollaway@reddit
From England, it's 1990... I fucking loved how they were like a secret band that no one had heard and never on the radio or TV and you got introduced to them in some kind of word of mouth way by friends if they thought you were on the right wavelength to appreciate them because they knew you were done with the disposable shitty pop music or the ridiculous heavy metal screeching about kissing motorbikes or riding girls or whatever. It felt like an illicit thrill to be invited into this exclusive little club.
Going to see them in Manchester one weeknight in 1994 suddenly there's 2500 other people in this little club who knows every word of ever song. It was a big moment.
HeyHeyHiFi@reddit (OP)
That’s exactly it. They were this underground band that never went mainstream, yet we all knew every word and every note. To this day, they bring us such joy!
analogpursuits@reddit
That first paragraph is like a funeral procession of words. And I like it.
MightyTick01@reddit
Come on, Dad, give me the car tonight.
Plastic-Sentence9429@reddit
Saw this show on my birthday last week (I was as close as you were there), and it was so great!
unclejohnnydanger@reddit
I take one, one, one ‘cause you left me.
Guilty-Pen1152@reddit
And 2, 2, 2 for my family
DMX8@reddit
And three, three, three for my heartache
gerryv3000@reddit
I forgot what 8 was for!
Electrical-Echo8770@reddit
Hey I see a bunch of people like my gf and . Cool I love going to shows when the crowd is a bunch of grey haired party going people from back in the day. Hell yeah .
deflorist@reddit
My kids have been properly indoctrinated
uninspired@reddit
Old mother Reagan went to heaven at the pearly gates she was stopped
theoctagon06@reddit
I saw these guys in a small venue in the mid 90s and it's still one of the best shows I've ever seen.
uninspired@reddit
Did they ever graduate beyond small venues?
Significant-Spite-72@reddit
Yep, I did, too. In Australia. Weezer opened
vankirk@reddit
Same. TMBG opened
ltmikestone@reddit
Saw this show last year and your post could t be more accurate. Felt like a mass high school reunion with only the cool people.
tommyalanson@reddit
What do I have to do!?
GeoHog713@reddit
Bunch of assholes
Boxofbikeparts@reddit
Don't shoot shoot shoot that thing at me...
barredowl123@reddit
Let me go on!
77765876543@reddit
Maybe it's got something to do with luck....
socgrandinq@reddit
Day after day…
socgrandinq@reddit
Was just playing them today!
WonderTwonk@reddit
Saw them a week ago in Dallas.
First concert of my life that the entire 2nd set was a sing-along. AMAZING SHOW.
Sorry it took so long for me to see them live.
ZooterOne@reddit
Holy cow - I didn't know they were touring!
I would have been singing their second album at the top of my lungs too!
KissMyAlien@reddit
Due to dementia, neither do they lol.
SojuSeed@reddit
Why can’t I get just one kiss?
mtrawn@reddit
I saw them with X a couple of years ago. It was a really good show.
Will_McLean@reddit
Crowd checks out lol
mightyschooner@reddit
I just rediscovered the 1981-1993 compilation. Probably hadn't heard it in 20 years. Brings back good memories of youth.
stavago@reddit
When I’m walking I strut my stuff
pnut8888@reddit
I forget what 8 was for. Saw them in Boston last year....great show!
Gen_Ecks@reddit
I hate them more now than I did in 1986. Having to hear that song 1M times will do that.
twick2010@reddit
Seeing them this Friday night!!
Equivalent_Look8646@reddit
Saw them 10/2024 and they were awesome! Currently wearing my “I forget what 8 was for” t-shirt.
_Brandobaris_@reddit
From the Raleigh NC show in October. #11 between 84/85 and 2024. Always awesome.
dobermansteve@reddit
I saw them last summer and took my two 20 something kiddos. Was a great show.
Desperate_County_680@reddit
I forget what 8 was for
But honestly, I forget a lot of things.
Aroundapole@reddit
Saw them headline over Nirvana here in Australia in '92 which was weird. They were better though.
jaw-shoe-uhhh@reddit
Awesome show! I'm sure everyone wants to know... Did they look strung out when they were strutting their stuff?
jvlpdillon@reddit
I hope you know this will go down on your permanent record.
I_Am_Exaybachay@reddit
Oh, yeah?
Well, don’t get so distressed.
Guilty-Pen1152@reddit
Did I mention that I’m impressed?
fiddlegirl@reddit
That was MY high school song. IDK what stupid pop song my class chose to be the class song for the year, but Kiss Off was mine.
najing_ftw@reddit
The best debut album
InternationalBear321@reddit
Day after day...
Guilty-Pen1152@reddit
I get angry…
HiddenUser1248@reddit
They bring all their equipment on the bus.
MooPig48@reddit
And they’re still standing on the corner waiting on it
Aggressive-Camp1674@reddit
You can't fuck with the violent femmes...
tonna33@reddit
I'm so upset that I couldn't go when they came through my area.
souvenirsuitcase@reddit
I sang "Jesus Walking On The Water" several times last week. It's such a fun song to sing.
Mordaz01@reddit
My first "concert". It was inside a gym.
92 or 93 in upstate ny
janyva@reddit
Won tickets to the DC HFStival last year and our GenX crowd may not have been very lively but at least we showed up.
Balrog71@reddit
I saw them last Wednesday night in a cave! Took my bestie from ‘77 on with me. So much fun
thenletskeepdancing@reddit
EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING!
mourningsunrises@reddit
Good grief, that crowd looks like the line for free Geritol at the nursing home. How did they get so old?!?
looks in mirror
Oh.....
Material-Ambition-18@reddit
Where was this holy shit!!
DasEnergi@reddit
Heck, that was even a GenX sing-along when we were all back in high school. Happy memories with friends.
Upper-Affect5971@reddit
my first concert 1991
Kind-Dog504@reddit
This was the record the preps and jocks bought to try and look edgy and cool. You can always find the lame-o’s because they yell “f*ck” the loudest 🙄
originalmosh@reddit
They put on an awesome live show.
Ferrindel@reddit
They’re performing at the Mariners’ ballpark this summer. May have to check that out…