Riot Grrl spirit was alive and frisky this Saturday as
Sleater-Kinney took the stage at the Henry Fonda Music Box
Theater.
After playing two L.A. shows only five months ago, the trio
played to a nearly packed house at the newly re-opened theater.
While Sleater Kinney’s September performance showcased the
tunes off of its newest album, “One Beat,”
Saturday’s show featured a more varied set list, offering a
taste of all five of the band’s albums.
The crowd was sufficiently warmed up by opener The Black
Keys. The two-man group ““ guitar/vocalist and drummer
““ hailing from Akron, Ohio played a blues-rock set
reminiscent of The White Stripes’ debut album. Fun to
watch, but a little boring sonically, the Black Keyes left the
stage and, ten minutes later, a torrent of energy greeted Carrie
Brownstein, Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss.
Sleater-Kinney started the evening with “Start
Together,” from the album “The Hot Rock.” Tucker,
whose guitar strap had the words “peace” and
“love” painted on it, told audiences to stick together
in protest to the war with Iraq. Then the trio broke into
three songs off “One Beat” including
“Sympathy” ““ a mind-blowing combination of sound
and feeling.
Weiss, the drummer, laid down her sticks long enough to tell a
joke about pop and then it was back to the music.
Though the audience showed Sleater-Kinney love and respect (one
fan even had a bouquet of flowers for rocker/mom Tucker) the middle
of the floor got fairly brutal as elbows flew and hair was
pulled. The high ceiling of the theater compromised the sound
of the show, but ultimately, Sleater-Kinney’s genius made
itself known.
After playing for about an hour, the women said good-bye but the
roar of the crowd brought them back on stage for an encore as
memorable and impressive as the rest of their show.
Corin told the audience to listen closely, saying they would
recognize the first song of the encore. As promised, the crowd made
out “Tommy Gun,” a Clash song from the group’s
often passed-over second album which Sleater-Kinney covered with
finesse. The group went on to play the title track from
“Call the Doctor,” which culminated in an all-out jam
session with Brownstein and Tucker’s guitar playing matching
the intensity on the women’s faces. Just when it seemed
like the music had reached its breaking point, the jamming morphed
into “Dig Me Out,” from the album of the same name.
After the band had left the stage for the final time and huge
security men had taken its place, the audience went out into the
cold Hollywood night bruised, sweaty and thoroughly rocked Pacific
Northwest style.