This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A few weeks ago, Utah made national headlines for declaring pornography to be a "public health crisis."

The problem with having a political reporter (me) cover concerts arises when the first person I meet at the Violent Femmes first visit to Salt Lake City in years happens to be Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, the sponsor of the aforementioned resolution eschewing pornography.

I guess there was a time we were all younger, cooler and edgier. Today, some of us are anti-porn-crusading state senators.

But, oh, baby, remember how great we were?

It's why the crowd went mental when the Violent Femmes hit the stage Monday and opened up their set announcing, "Let's just pick up like nothing ever happened and we're starting right back where we left off," before laying into a scorching version of "Blister In The Sun."

It hasn't been smooth sailing for the Femmes. The band broke up in 2009 after frontman Gordon Gano sold the rights for "Blister In The Sun" for a Wendy's ad, infuriating bassist Brian Ritchie and prompting a lawsuit.

Now more than three decades after they originally formed, the reunited Femmes are opening up their North American tour — Salt Lake City was their third show in the states — and promoting their first album in 15 years, We Can Do Anything. But they're still bringing the same angsty whine and attitude and, just as they promised, picking up "like nothing ever happened."

Opening Song • Oh, you came for the hits. Maybe you remember this one? The Femmes just threw it all out there from the opening gun, playing "Blister In The Sun" right out of the gate. Oh, like you thought they weren't going to play it? But it sent a clear signal that these guys knew what the crowd wanted and they were willing to oblige. And naturally it drew cheers and hoots from the audience who sang along with every word.

Crowd Favorite • Blazing from "Blister In The Sun" into "Kiss Off," the Femmes made absolutely clear they weren't there to tease the crowd with the hits. They were not messing around, and the crowd was eager to count it off — "One, one, one cuz you left me and two, two, two for my family …" Yes, there was considerably less menace when singer Gano belted out, "I hope you know this will go down on your permanent record," to an audience more concerned with credit scores than permanent school records. But he drew rousing cheers and hollers from a truly enthralled audience. I also got a kick out of Gano's smirking, dark take on "Country Death Song," a little ditty about a father throwing his children in a well.

Lowlight • The Femmes may have peaked just a wee bit early and midway through the show were left playing songs that only the most violent of Femmes fans were clamoring to hear — songs from later in the catalog, like "I Hope You Get Fat," and the klezmer-inspired "Mirror Mirror (I See A Damsel)." They meandered through some of this lesser-known work, and an acoustic infused portion, turning out quality renditions, but seeming to lose a good portion of the audience.

Highlight • The trio book-ended the night with the hits, finishing the set with two more crowd favorites, "Gone Daddy Gone" before belting out "Add It Up," an obvious bouncy crowd-pleaser that had everyone in the audience joining in. "I guess it's got something to do with luck," Gano sang with a sly grin and hoots of approval from the crowd. The tunes provided a nice cap for the evening and turned up the energy before the band took their bows and headed offstage.

Encore • The Femmes came back out to a enthusiastic ovation and played "Memory," the first single off We Can Do Anything, still as jangly and angsty as their original tracks back in 1983. "Come back so I can tell you that I'm annoyed," Gano whined. The finished the night with perhaps the band's biggest hit, "American Music," the upbeat, bouncy tune that got fans moving their feet, before sending them to the exits satisfied after burning through 23 songs in a 90-minute set of music.

In The Crowd • You haven't aged a bit. Swear. But the rest of us, who grew up on Violent Femmes, like the Femmes themselves, have crept into middle-age. The traffic at the restroom was fairly telling. And standing at the urinal in the bathroom I heard one gentleman say, "Get me a colostomy bag so I don't have to climb the stairs" to the restroom. Ignoring for the moment how colostomy bags and urinals actually work, it speaks volumes about the age of audience. But the crowd was adoring, singing along with the choruses that everyone knows and cheering at the end of each song.

Best Banter • "We have an album," said Gano. "It was maybe 50 years ago we had one, but we have one now." (They only played a few cuts off "We Can Do Anything.") Brian Ritchie, who plays a really gorgeous acoustic bass guitar, mostly kept quiet and let Gano drive the show, answered the album plug by announcing that, "perhaps 33 1/3 years ago" they had released another album, and the band launched into "What Do I Have To Do?" to cheers from the audience for another old-school hit. Earlier, Gano had warned the audience that the upcoming song would incorporate a 7-foot-tall saxophone and those with questionable bowels should stand back on account of the booming vibrations.