"Gordon Gano (born on June 7, 1963) is the lead singer and guitarist from the band Violent Femmes.During a Violent Femmes hiatus in the late 1980s, Gano formed a gospel group called The Mercy Seat (band) with vocalist Zena Von Heppinstall, bassist Patrice Moran, and drummer Fernando Menendez. The group released one album in 1987 on Slash Records. Gano released his first solo album in 2002, titled Hitting the Ground. He shared vocal duties (singing in Portuguese) with Manuel Cruz, the lead singer of the famous Portuguese rock band Ornatos Violeta in the song Capitão Romance for the last album released before their break-up, O Monstro Precisa de Amigos in 1999. Gano also played violin[3] on Ben Vaughn's 1990 album Dressed in Black. Currently, Gano is writing, recording and performing with ex-members of The Bogmen, Billy and Brendan Ryan, under the name GanoRyan." [Wikipedia]

That Wiki entry probably needs to be updated because actually the band playing the Bell House in Brooklyn tonight (1/29) is billed at Gordon Gano and The Ryan Brothers. Last time they played a show, that I remember, was March 10th at Mercury Lounge under the name "Hired Gun". They may have also played Knitting Factory in Manhattan since then too.

Tonight's (their first Brooklyn?) show is also chock full of interesting local openers. They are Corn Mo, The Lisps, and Drink Up Buttercup.

Gordon Gano and The Ryan Brothers also have a show coming up February 7th at The Strand Theatre in Lakewood, NJ.

Chromeo crowd @ Bowery Ballroom, January 2008 (more by Bao)

"When Chromeo played, their crowd drank house vodka and Budweiser. Didn't tip. Some of them did what I'll call the slide-backs. They put a dollar down on the bar, wait until you turn your back, then palm their buck and walk away. Classy. When your night starts out with "What's your cheapest drink?" that's also not good."

I felt like my line of questioning was making things worse, so I asked who was most likely to tip.

"Hard rockers, the bourbon drinkers. Priestess and Bogmen fans are in a league of their own. The Priestess crowd are here to see the show, not to hook up. They go hard on bourbon and Irish whiskey, usually Jameson, Jack, and Maker's Mark with beer. I won't get stiffed and will often get two dollars a drink.
[Sasha Frere Jones / New Yorker]