All photos by Francis Chung. Words by Valerie Paschall.
One of the fun discoveries of going to shows is the realization that “sold out” is a looser term than one might think. There may be a number placed on venues by the fire department dictating the building’s capacity, but there are “sold out” shows wherein everyone still has a sizable personal bubble and easy access to the bar (Foo Fighters’ Black Cat show, anyone?).
Then there are shows like last night’s, wherein every square inch of the club wasn’t just occupied, but downright cramped full of sweaty bodies transfixed at the spectacle in front of them. It was clear that Sleater-Kinney wouldn’t have had it any other way, based on the small smile that crossed guitarist/singer Corin Tucker’s lips as she sang, “It’s not the weather, it’s the people we love.”
The people in the crowd loved Sleater-Kinney too, although their displays of affection wasn’t always obvious. The tame crowd saved their pogoing energy for older but well-loved deep cuts like All Hands On The Bad One‘s “Youth Decay” and Dig Me Out‘s “Words and Guitar.” The display of musicianship and chemistry onstage was so incredibly tight that sometimes it was just easier to stand and stare than snap a photo (cell phone wielding was at an all-time low, by the way). That appreciation was clearly noted and Tucker commented early in the show that we were the best singers she had seen so far.
That’s impressive partially because the bulk of their set came from an album that’s only been out for one month. Eight of the songs in their set were culled from No Cities to Love and not all of those songs have accompanying music videos that feature the Bob’s Burgers cast. It’s also impressive because singing along to Sleater-Kinney songs is really, obscenely, ridiculously difficult.
Everything about the band, from Janet Weiss’ polyrhythms to Carrie Brownstein’s stage presence, is difficult to emulate and Tucker’s vocal cocktail of raw, animalistic power and shockingly large range was the only ingredient of the Sleater-Kinney mix that could have potentially grown less potent over time. Although some of her greatest vocal moments like “Little Mouth” and “The Fox” were notably absent from last night’s setlist, she had no problem knocking the audience back with her presence on songs like “Sympathy” and “What’s Mine is Yours.”
Tucker also had a moment where she put down the guitar during the first encore, letting touring member Katie Harkin (of Sky Larkin) and Brownstein take the lead as she writhed around the stage following an impassioned speech about their support for Planned Parenthood. Despite a few moments of levity, mostly provided by Brownstein’s dry one-liners, (“We’ll play 65 songs, but we only practiced 25”) nearly everything about this show was brutally intense. Brownstein, in particular had no problem lifting her guitar in power, or writhing on the ground by her amp.
It was as if the band knew that every person in the city that had ever loved the band had packed themselves in like sardines and anything short of that level of power simply wouldn’t be enough.
