By Han Q Duong
I’ve probably written far too many words on Sleater-Kinney… probably more than anyone not named Greil Marcus should. Plus, everyone reading this will be somewhat familiar with the band, so I’ll keep it brief and to the point this time.
The Henry Fonda Theater is a pretty nice venue, with an open floor and a balcony. I was a little late to the party, so instead of going up front, I staked out some ground on the balcony instead. It’s a different sort of concert experience than being down in front, not really better or worse, just different. The acoustics and view from up top were really nice, and if you don’t feel like getting banged around up close, it’s a nice alternative. That said, you end up a bit far from the band and you don’t really get to dance and jump around and be a nut.
The Black Keys opened with a good set of old school blues, even if they did seem a bit out of place with the S-K crowd. The Black Keys are a two person blues duo, with a drummer and guitarist. Both Dan Auerbach (guitarist) and Patrick Carney (drums) have serious chops, and are able to create a much bigger sound than their minimal personnel. Auerbach plays clawhammer style on his pick hand, walking the bassnotes with his thumb to create rhythm and stabbing out the melodies with his other fingers. Auerbach has a low growly voice that fits the raw, unfiltered blues rock well. The performance seemed a bit samey after about half an hour, but they still rocked it pretty good.
There were a multitude of cameras floating around tonight, all under the watchful eye of Lance Bangs, who could be seen running on and off stage and up to the balcony repeatedly. I don’t know if they’re putting together a music video or possibly some kind of concert video, but it’s something to look out for. I meant to try and talk to him after the show, but he seemed really stressed out and harried.
By the time Sleater-Kinney stage, everyone had been tittering around for quite a while. They kicked it right off with One Beat, which surprised me. People had been mentioning that Corin was a bit under the weather with her voice, and I remember Janet mentioning she rarely constructed the setlists to start with One Beat because it was really hard on Corin. I think the off day served Corin well, because she sounded great. The audience found it a bit hard to bounce to One Beat, but then they kicked into O2 and Oh! and everything started rolling. They had to escort a girl that passed out up front, so Carrie had to remind everyone not to squish too hard.
As earlier on tour, they played mostly material from One Beat, with a smattering of older material. There’s a great new song where Carrie starts up with a tambourine and gets to sing her verse one handed, as the riff is just droning open notes on the guitar. This lets Carrie ham it up with her free hand. It’s a really complex number, with seemingly four or five distinct sections that all have memorable hooks in them. I can’t wait for a recording of it to show up. Random lyrics I could make out: “If you’re here to be entertained, go away, go away!” During the bridge Carrie’s guitar had an outage, but it didn’t really kill the momentum of the song or the show (Corin filled in time by talking about the weather… you know, small talk).
They played Drama, Dance Song, Milkshake and Honey and Fortunate Son, as well as the regular numbers from Dig Me Out. All three ladies were in great playing shape tonight, and their instrumental improvisational breakdowns were better than ever. The segue from Little Babies to Dig Me Out brought the house down, as the long section closed with Janet’s drumsticks raised in an X and Carrie on one knee knocking out the opening riff to Dig Me Out. Someone get that on a poster for me!
The only thing left to mention really is the merch, which is pretty much the same as the first part of tour. The main difference is the availability of a new brown koala T-Shirt and koala buttons. I bought a set of the koala buttons, which are really adorable. Each button has one member of the band posing with a koala (I’m assuming these were taken at a zoo in Australia). I dig em because they look less like professional band merch as much as a bunch of pins my friends made with their vacation pictures.
Hmm, that was a lot less brief and to the point than I expected. Here’s the setlist, as best as I can remember. The order is jumbled up, but the songs should be right. Corrections are welcome. Also, my camera broke tonight, so anyone with pics they want posted from tonight should send them in to me.
Main Set
One Beat
Oxygen
Oh!
The Remainder
Dance Song ’97
Far Away
Fall Song (The Drama You’ve Been Craving)
Combat Rock
Turn It On
Light-Rail Coyote
End of You
Milkshake and Honey
New Song
Sympathy
Hollywood Ending
(Drum Solo/Instrumental Segue)
Words & Guitar
Step Aside
Encore
Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Little Babies
(Instrumental Segue)
Dig Me Out