Riot-grrrl icon Kathleen Hanna made a triumphant return to D.C. on Saturday night, as her band, The Julie Ruin, played a rousing show at a Black Cat that was jam-packed with fans of all ages. Relatively inactive in recent years, largely due to illness, Hanna has just released a new record, Run Fast, as part of a quintet that includes her former Bikini Kill bandmate, bassist Kathi Wilcox. Saturday’s performance was declaration of resurgence, delivering over an hour’s worth of the pop-infused, retro-leaning, politicized punk rock that made her one of the biggest names in independent music during the 1990s.
Delirious cheers erupted from the crowd as Hanna took the stage, waving to fans before launching into “V.G.I. (Valley Girl Intelligentsia)” from her 1998 solo album, The Julie Ruin. Kenny Mellman’s jaunty keyboard work and Carmine Covelli’s backbeat anchored the song’s infectious garage-rock shuffle, with Wilcox and guitarist Sara Landeau trading lines with Hanna during the call-and-response chorus: “V.G.I. (My philosophy) / V.G.I. (is I’m a masterpiece) / V.G.I. (I wear a fucking scrunchie)!!!”
Though Hanna revisited a few other older compositions such as “Radical or Pro-Parental” and “Apt. #5,” the majority of the 15-song set list focused on material from the band’s current album. New songs like “Kids in NY” and “Goodnight Goodbye” satisfyingly traversed a range of aesthetic territory well-known to fans who have followed Hanna’s career. Her singing alternately displayed a bubblegum sheen and an acerbic sneer, Landeau and Wilcox often adding 60s-girl-group backing-vocal embellishments. Mellman’s voice provided dynamic counterpoints, and he took his own turn on lead vocals during the rollicking “South Coast Plaza.”
Hanna was in upbeat, loquacious spirits, bantering freely at several points during the evening. She candidly discussed her struggles with late-stage Lyme disease, and the yoga routine (and copious water consumption) that has helped her combat it. She also gave several nods to her D.C. roots, reminiscing about growing up in various suburbs in Maryland, and noting that Run Fast‘s “Girls Like Us” was written when she lived in Mount Pleasant during the 1990s. Holding forth on the District’s vibrant feminist scene of that era, she remembered that “everyone was doing different shit, there were female promoters and band-t makers, there’s all different kinds of women involved, and many of them are here tonight.” Espousing an anti-essentialist take on feminism, she added that “this song is about how it’s totally awesome to disagree with each other because that’s what makes us stronger.”
“There is no ‘girl like us,'” she stated for emphasis.
Indeed, Hanna’s trademark gender politics simmered at or near the surface throughout what, at its heart, was just a good old-fashioned (and really fun) rock show. The band capped their main set with an electrifying rendition of “Oh Come On,” the irresistibly catchy lead single from Run Fast. While Hanna yelped with supercharged verve, the cadent tune proved a showcase for Landeau, who unleashed snarling, propulsive riffs with an effortless nonchalance and gorgeously fuzzed-out tone that most ax-slingers would envy. “She is SUCH a fucking great guitar player,” Hanna gushed afterwards.
After that highlight, The Julie Ruin returned for a two-song encore that started with “Eau D’Bedroom Dancing” from Hanna’s electro-punk project, Le Tigre, Landeau again stealing the show with her mesmeric rendering of the song’s creamy lead-guitar melodies. Finally, the show ended with Run Fast‘s title track, an earnest anthem which Hanna earnestly dedicated to an unnamed audience member whom she had apparently punched out during fifth grade. Whoever this person was, there was ample opportunity to take up Hanna’s offer of a post-concert apology and handshake, as the frontwoman stuck around for a while to meet-and-greet her adoring fans at the merch table after the show.
