Live Shows: Throwing Muses, Met Cafe, Pawtucket, RI 4/29/17

Photo by Ken Sears

When I first saw that Throwing Muses were being inducted into the RI Music Hall of Fame, I had two thoughts:

1. There's an RI Music Hall of Fame?
2. Who else is in it besides Throwing Muses?

Wandering the hallway in the building that houses the new Met Cafe (my last time at the Met Cafe was the old Providence location in 2003 for an Evan Dando show), I saw the other previous inductees into the RI Music Hall of Fame. Looking at those names, I still didn't know why it took a few years to get Throwing Muses inducted. George Wein, founder of the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals? Sure. John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band? Ok....

Photo by Ken Sears

With their performance at this year's induction concert, Throwing Muses solidified their place as Rhode Island rock royalty. The first few songs were a bit rough, but Throwing Muses haven't played since a tour in 2014. After that, Kristin Hersh, who was joined by longtime drummer David Narcizo and bassist Fred Abong (who was originally in the band from 1990-1991), settled in with her normal intensity. For their eleven song set, Throwing Muses dusted off nothing but the classics. I didn't hear a single song from anything after 1996's Limbo. This was pure vintage Throwing Muses designed for die hard fans. They played three songs off 1991's The Real Ramona ("Red Shoes," "Counting Backwards," and "Two Step"), and while they did play "Snakeface" off University, they didn't play what is most likely their biggest hit, "Bright Yellow Gun," also off University. Their fans didn't care. Guessing on the ages of those around me, of which I was one of the youngest that wasn't there to see a grandparent play, these fans probably think that anything after Tanya Donelly left as their new stuff. (Tanya was playing a benefit show in Boston that night and wasn't present for this reunion.) The band closed with the deceptively intense "Pearl" off Red Heaven. Let's hope this inspires Kristin to dust off Throwing Muses sooner than later.