Sleater-Kinney Concert Review Archive / 2001-2006

By Rob Palmer

My crew and I drove up from Washington, DC the day of the show. It was an extremely cold day and night in NYC. The war protest was earlier in the day and was a much bigger event than any of us really expected. Nevertheless, we survived the day with anticipation for the evening?s festivities.

Roseland is a pretty cool venue, in my opinion, even though I know a lot of people don?t like it. If you can get past the front door, there?s plenty of room to maneuver, which is very necessary for a crowd that size.

We arrived during the Black Keys set. They?re set was pretty tight, and very blues-influenced. The sound was about as good as it could get.

Blonde Redhead was next. I didn?t really know what to expect, but I could tell that they definitely had a following there. Perhaps their sound is ahead of their time.

Sleater-Kinney arrived to a wave of screams. Corin came to the microphone and exclaimed, “Thank you for protesting the war today and thank you for shaking your asses!”. They blasted right into O2 and the crowd was in full swing. Below is an approximate set-list, I?m not 100% on the order, but the songs are there. The new song was really interesting, with Carrie using a tambourine and explaining “If you?re here to be entertained, go away, go away…”. Janet?s drumming was phenomenal as usual, she really has to be in pretty good shape to play like that. Corin?s voice was incredible, she didn?t shy away from any of the songs, and she was making constant facial expressions. The sound was great, no noticeable problems, I just wish that I had a recording of it. They ended the show with Fortunate Son (big sing-along), Call the Doctor, and Dig Me Out. The crowd was relatively well-behaved, only a few unfortunate souls who thought they could get rough, but they were a non-issue. All in all, getting stuck in the middle of a snowstorm that produced 26 inches was a small inconvenience to see an incredible live performance from Sleater-Kinney.

O2, oh, one beat, turn it on, far away, get up, remainder, new song, you’re no rock and roll fun, light rail coyote, youth decay, combat rock, start together, sympathy, hollywood ending, words and guitar, step aside – fortunate son, call the doctor, dig me out

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By Allen Marine

sometimes a band gives a performance that reminds you why rock and roll
matters. sleater kinney did that tonight.

woody guthrie’s guitar said.” this guitar kills fascists…and tonight sleater kinney played with the passion and emotion that can make rock and roll a weapon.

for those of us who earlier today shouted our voices at the tyrants in the white house, this band tonight provided the amplification.

tonight they were a dangerous band, even when they played the fun stuff likeYNR&RF…but when they launched into songs from one beat, or when they played fortunate son – for at least tonight, they became like was said about the Clash – the only band that matters. Tonight, Combat Rock was Dylan imploring Hawks in Manchester/66 to ‘play loud, play fucking loud’…and it was Neil Young performing, Ohio right after Kent State….and somewhere john lennon was proud of this crowd that sang along with such conviction and danced with such abandon.

tonight nyc was important musically. Even though roseland is a huge joint for an s-k concert, it felt like max’s or cbgb or tier 3 when bands like heartbreakers or television or the gang of 4 played and you went because you knew that on any given night those bands could remind you again why rock and roll matters.

this afternoon, i felt compelled to join thousands of other dissenters in challenging the government’s belief that they’re heinous actions speak for all of us…tonite sleater kinney added the noise of rock and roll to our dissent and the combination for me was positively cathartic.

thank-you janet, corin and carrie.

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Jimmy Mod has a show review up on Empty.org. Excerpt here:

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By Mary Phillips-Sandy

valentine’s day is for suckers but sleater-kinney is for lovers and I
honestly couldn’t think of a better way to spend this hallmark holiday
(yes, by myself). it had been years since I’d been to a show at lupo’s – I
think the last one may have been in ’96 or ’97, whenever small factory
broke up. it’s not a bad venue, but you have to watch out for the big
columns on the floor. they’re nice to lean against, but don’t get caught
behind one, and don’t let the dancing kid next to you push you into one! it
was bitter cold and the thought of waiting outside was agonizing. by the
time I got there at 8-ish, the line was moving briskly and I was only
outside for a few minutes. the staff seemed low-key and there was a big
planned parenthood booth back by the merch table. corin said later on that
planned parenthood ran out of condoms almost immediately, “so I hope the
rest of you are carrying.”

ahh, valentine’s day.

there was a long-ish wait before the bands came on but the lupo’s team kept
cranking out everyone’s favorite songs on the loudspeakers. “love will tear
us apart” seemed especially apropos.

finally v for vendetta came on. I wish I could say I liked them but I
didn’t. they’re talented, yes, and I realize there’s some kind of artistic
merit to what they do but I just wanted them to hurry up and finish
already. I was b-o-r-e-d.

black keys were next and I was pleasantly surprised. I can understand why
they get compared to the white stripes (two-piece, rock via blues) but the
singer’s voice is totally unlike jack white’s; they’re also less pop and
more rock. I would recommend checking them out.

and then at long last, s-k arrived! janet had ‘love’ and ‘kisses’ written
on her arms in magic marker and corin had a heart painted on her cheek. I’d
heard that corin had been getting sick but she seemed spot-on to me. I
agree with an earlier review that noted the singing style of some of the
songs has changed; it never detracted, though, and it felt like the band
was having fun playing with their own material. (picky note: why didn’t
carrie sing her parts on “little babies”? that’s not a change I like!)

I didn’t write down the set list, sorry. it was the usual
something-off-every-album thing they do, which I love, because it’s still
good to hear the earlier stuff. I think it will ALWAYS be good to hear the
earlier stuff.

apparently the northampton crowd set some kind of new standard, because we
were told that they were dancing and singing just the way the band likes… “they didn’t care what they looked like, they were just gettin’ freaky!”
there was some dancing going on towards the front, where I was, but from
what I could see there was just a lot of indie-rock head-bobbing ™ going
on in the back.

there was a slow-dance contest for valentine’s day. four couples were
invited on stage to dance during an especially souped-up version of
“milkshake ‘n’ honey.” oh, the grinding! the bumping! the gyrating! it
could’ve been really lame but it worked well and people were into it; at
the end we were going to judge by applause and corin said “wait, you know,
I think everyone’s a winner just for dancing” and janet shot back “corin!
you’re too nice! this is a contest!” congratulations to couple #4, who won
by a good margin.

the instrumental bits and janet’s drum solo work were amazing – I like that
they do this now. it livens up the usual “play a song stop play a song stop
okay no more songs” formula of most bands, and it shows off their skills.
especially for someone who relates to their music primarily through its
messages, politics, and lyrical content, it’s good to remember that these
are three versatile and talented musicians.

the only blemish on the evening (aside from the usual complaints that it
was too crowded, I could hardly move let alone dance, people were pushy,
etc.) was this incredibly creepy dude who seemed to want to, ahh, rub up
against the ladies in the audience. at first I thought he was a little too
close to me because of the packed floor, but after several minutes I
realized he had plenty of room just to his left, if he wanted to gyrate. I
managed to, as they say, step aside. five minutes later he was up against
some other girl’s back. I think this happened two more times during the
show; no one wanted to let this idiot distract us from our purpose (to keep
our eyes on the show and to dance as best we could in the tight space). I
think one girl told him to back off, though he didn’t listen. by the end I
was feeling awful that I hadn’t done anything. one girl, right before the
encore, left her spot at the front and went to the back after he was
“dancing” “with” her.

I followed her and apologized for not punching the creep, which is what I’d
sorely wanted to do. she shrugged and said it was okay. “it’s
sleater-kinney!” I wasn’t sure what she meant by that (it’s sleater-kinney
so nothing will disrupt my good time? it’s sleater-kinney so the crowd is
expected to be like that [I hope not!]?). wow, sorry about that awkward
punctuation, there. anyway, if I had it to do over I would’ve definitely
spoken up (in a way, I can’t believe I didn’t. it seems so obvious now). at
the very least I’d have thrown a well-placed elbow or two.

nevertheless, the band was great, the rock was there and also the roll, in
spades. take THAT, cupid!

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Cayce sent in pics for the NoHo show. The onstage dancer has a Quails shirt that looks autographed from the whole band. Neat!

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By Cyndi Adamo

i dont have a very detailed review for you all, but the show last night at northampton was amazing. there seemed to be some “minor” mishaps with the band (i think corin mixed up words on “one beat”, but it might just be i remember the song wrong?).

corin seems to have changed the singing style on some songs, and for the better, i might add; though in some spots, it seemed like her throat might still be giving her trouble? but, the way she sang “words and guitar – wegot it!” blew me away. fabulous! she seemed to be having a great time. also, i didnt get a good look, but was she wearing JEANS? last time i saw corin in pants, it was 1996…

carrie did all sorts of crazy new guitar licks, most memorably at the end of “youre no rock and roll fun”. as someone else noticed at another show, she was smiling an awful lot, which was good to see. carrie also thanked the audience for dancing. when they were about to start “step aside”, carrie intro-ed the song by saying “well this is where we normally ask the audience to dance, but you all have been dancing all night!” or something like that.

janet, well, i think anyone who has seen her play knows there is no way to get any better at the drums than she already is. awesome timing, great improv skills, and she does it all looking like she is dancing, not drumming.

the audience was way better than i have ever seen them be, whenever sk have played in MA. i think that really encouraged sk to give all they’ve got, which was plenty and then some.

so, BIG THANKS to the audience for being “the best one so far of their tour” (did carrie really say that? or did i hear here wrong?) and VERY BIG THANKS to sk for the best show ive ever been at, by any band, ever.

these are some songs that they played. i’m trying to remember them all – they must have played over an hour’s worth of songs. this is NOT in the order they played them, im sure, except they did start with oxygen and o2.

oxygen
o2
far away
one beat
the remainder
light rail coyote
step aside
combat rock
hollywood ending
sympathy
new song (with tambourine and hand flourishes)
youth decay
youre no rock and roll fun
get up
start together
dig me out
turn it on (!!!! love this song!)
words and guitar
call the doctor
joey ramone

i think thats all, but i might have forgotten one or more? i still have yet to see funeral song live. i would really, really like to;)

the black keys: i liked the drums. a real lot. i was moving to almost every song, because of the drums. the guitar was all-right, technically probably great, but i dont know much about that… i was very amazed at the low end sound that the guy got out of his guitar. i kept thinking there was a bassist, but no, there wasnt….

over all i liked their set. not something i would listen to all that much. most of the songs, to me, sounded pretty similar to each other. but there were at least two ones that stood out as being pretty neat songs.

the venue: sooo much better than the friggin ROXY. pearl street cafe seemed to be a good atmosphere. there were nice people working there, and a good audience (maybe that part doesnt have anything to do with the venue, though). and, no stinking idiotic platform in the middle of the room. pearl street, using basic logic skills, knew to have the raised sections on the sides and back of the room. doesnt that just make so much more sense? i was very pleased with this venue;)

so that’s my thoughts on the show. im still giddy from it, 12 hours later…. amazing.

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By Maria Lambert

i went to the northampton s-k show at pearl street on thursday night – because my gf and i were headed to london (where i am now) for vacation on friday afternoon, we could not make the nyc roseland show, so we drove from brooklyn to northampton for the pearl st. show. thankfully, no snow.

in any case: pearl street is quite a decent venue – the sound is above average, the vibe is friendly, and the staff is helpful. we got to noho around 5:30, walked around for a bit (my gf is a smith alum, so she got the chance to re-visit the old college town again). we went into the club ’round 7PM, when the doors opened.

the show was supposed to start at 8, but didn’t get up until about 8:45-9:00. black keys opened up – they were good at what they did, for the most part – i just found what they did kind of boring. lots of mostly uninspired blues licks – and the drummer could not get his fills down, and kept falling behind his own beat. overall, they were okay, but not great.

s-k came on, and immediately, the crowd got jumpin’. you’d think that nyc would have the market on show dancing, but there’s too much
of the “i’m trying to look extra-cool” set there, so northampton really blew nyc away in that respect. although the people behind us
definitely had the hands-stuffed-in-pockets, no-smile look. i for one cannot understand why one would come to a show if they were trying so hard to look bored and uninterested, but i don’t know their stories, so whatever.

the show was fantastic. the new song was the most adrenalin i’ve heard from them since the dig me out era – but they’ve progressed so much musically since then that this song reflects. carrie was both singer and actor for the song – i can’t really describe it too well, but she was gesturing toward janet and corin and saying “are they there to entertain?” really got the crowd going.

the set was a good deal of one beat (02, far away, one beat – yes, i do think corin flubbed the lyrics as well – but it didn’t slow it down at all, hollywood ending, oh!, sympathy), and not too many surprises from other albums (no first album, a couple off each of the others). sorry no set list – it’s been several days since the show, and i didn’t have pen/paper with me.

toward the end of the show and during the encore, some crowd members jumped up on stage to dance – uninvited by the band. the band seemed a little nervous about it; carrie sort of ushered them to one side of the stage after (i think accidentally) kicking one girl in the bum. but overall, that seemed fine, and it was good to see people really enjoying the band. made me feel kinda old though. =)

lots of new licks and drum solos as little treats throughout the show, and they all looked great and really excited about playing. i was a bit sad to miss them playing in my hometown, as there are lots of folks that i like to see at shows, but overall, a good time, and well worth the drive back to brooklyn (made it home just barely by 3AM – woohoo!).

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Omer has a review up on his page, and submitted the setlist as well.

oxygen
oh
one beat
turn it on
far away
get up
remainder
new song
you’re no rock and roll fun
light rail
youth decay
combat rock
start together
sympathy
hollywood ending
words and guitar
step aside
-
fortunate son
joey ramone
call the doctor
dig me out

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Jorge has a few pics up on his site. You can get a good look at Janet’s wacky furball shoulder pads in this one.

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By Han Q Duong

There’s not a lot to say about Saturday night that wasn’t really covered in my bits about yesterday’s show.

The theater was packed, a lot moreso than yesterday. The crowd itself seemed slightly less active though, which is probably for the best, as everyone was squeezed in pretty tight from my vantage point on the balcony. Sleater-Kinney featured more of a midtempo setlist than last night, so the crowd didn’t really get crazy fired up until towards the end of the main set when favorites like Words and Guitar and Joey Ramone made appearances. I think my favorite song was actually the new untitled number, which rocks more and more with each listening.

On a musical level, I thought the band was much better tonight. Their instrumental breaks were far more cohesive and interesting, and kept the audience in rapt attention. In general, the playing was tighter and Corin pushed her voice a lot more. She hit one note during Sympathy that tore the house down. Janet was really on fire tonight, working over the drums with unbelievable stamina. She also told her Pope joke (has everyone heard this one by now?). She kinda fudged the punchline, but everyone laughed anyway. And Carrie? She was the Carrie that everyone has grown to know and love: charismatic, constantly active and utterly unstoppable.

The cover tonight was Tommy Gun, by the Clash. Corin asked the crowd to sing along, as “you’ll figure out the main part by the end of the song.” OK, I’ll admit it right now… I’ve listened to Tommy Gun tons of times, and I still have NO IDEA what the lyrics are. If you’ve ever heard the original, Joe Strummer pretty much sings “TOMMY GUN! mumblemumblemumblemumble” for a little while. So when the cover came around, that’s pretty much what I sang… with a little fake British accent.

As always, it was a really good show. I think the first night was a lot more “fun,” but tonight was far more musically rewarding. Yesterday was more of a greatest hits party and tonight presented the band at their technical peak, and gave a better glimpse at where they’re headed and what they’re still capable of achieving.

Random gear note: Corin has what looks to be a Fender Jazzmaster sitting behind her Danelectro on stage… she didn’t even touch it on either night. Does anyone know what this guitar is for?

Random celeb note: While leaving the theater, a van stopped in front of me as I was crossing the crosswalk… the driver? Mike Watt (!!!), driving his big white Econoline van. I hope he enjoyed the show, although I’m pretty sure he did, as he’s a HUGE Sleater-Kinney fan.

Set List According to My Swiss Cheese Memory:

Main Set
Start Together
Oh!
Far Away
One Beat
Get Up
Oxygen
The Remainder
Light Rail Coyote
Youth Decay
New Song
Combat Rock
Hollywood Ending
(Instrumental Segue)
Words and Guitar
Sympathy
Turn It On
Joey Ramone
Step Aside

Encore
Tommy Gun (The Clash)
YNRNRF
Call the Doctor
(Instrumental Segue)
Dig Me Out

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