Sleater-Kinney Concert Review Archive / 2001-2006

Scott’s got a lot of photos from both nights at the Henry Fonda Theater up at his webpage.

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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

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Skip wrote up a review on The Hot Rock livejournal. His highlights:

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Peter’s got pictures from the show here.

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Here’s the setlist for the second night in SF at the Great American Music Hall:

Little Babies
O2
the End of You
Combat Rock
Drama You’ve Been Craving
Light-Rail Coyote
Dance Song ’97
Far Away
One Beat
Turn it On
Was it a Lie?
new song
Oh
Sympathy
Hollywood Ending
Step Aside
Words and Guitar

encore:
Cover (not Fortunate Son, but I don’t know what it is)
You’re No Rock n Roll fun
jam into
Be Yr Mama

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Steven Rubio has a full concert review on his website. His chance encounter with Janet Weiss at the merch table excerpted here:

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These pics sent in by Jason Quigley. Genius photo of Corin, don’t you think?

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Massive photo entry sent in by Vivi:

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By Benjamin Hopper

Portland?s own Sleater-Kinney rocked a packed house at the Crystal Ballroom in grand fashion on Feb. 1 in the second of back-to-back shows in their hometown. In the middle of the trio?s stellar set, singer/guitarist Corin Tucker thanked the crowd for their high energy and cheerfully observed that on the second show ?the crowd is better and the band is better.? The night before S-K played to a 21-and-over crowd at the same venue.

Things got rolling at 9 p.m. with The Black Keys, a duo from Akron, Ohio that play a bluesy, stripped-down rock and roll reminiscent of Detroit?s The White Stripes. Singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach wailed and crooned through an impressive hour-long set while drummer Patrick Carney thrilled the crowd with his seemingly endless pile-driving beats.

The Black Keys were followed by Quasi, another rock duo consisting of Sleater-Kinney?s own Janet Weiss on drums and her ex-husband Sam Coomes on vocals, keyboards and drums. Coomes sported a ragged white t-shirt that had the words ?anti-war? scribbled across it in permanent marker, but it was his brilliant, albeit slightly deranged handling of the keys that made the biggest statement during Quasi?s set as he poured over the instrument with his feet and eventually his entire tall, lanky frame. He often times achieved a splendid, distorted guitar-like sound with the keys, yet he still picked up both acoustic and electric guitars midway through the set and continued rocking out without missing a beat. Coomes? vocals however came across as somewhat timid, and he even forgot the lyrics during one song, which resulted in a humorous, if not somewhat awkward pause during the band?s otherwise rock-solid set. Weiss however, always magnificent with Sleater-Kinney, was positively commanding on drums during Quasi?s considerable time on stage. Her band?s bare-bones nature allowed her to truly cut loose, and she even contributed bravely on keyboards during several songs.

Sleater-Kinney took the stage shortly before 11:30 p.m. and wasted no time in igniting the anxious crowd appropriately with a blistering rendition of ?Start Together? from 1998?s astonishing The Hot Rock. For the next hour, S-K triumphantly roared through a choice selection of songs, most of them from their newest release, the 2002 rock manifesto One Beat. The band was in prime form during fresh cuts like ?O2,? ?Combat Rock,? and ?Light Rail Coyote,? while their gut-wrenching performance of ?Far Away? ? a tribute to the tragic events of September 11, 2001 ? proved especially poignant.

Janet Weiss put in a heroic effort on drums considering she was playing her forth set in two nights, but she was noticeably shaky toward the beginning of the set. The fans rightly gave her a hearty applause for pulling double-duty two nights in a row. All night long Corin Tucker unleashed her ferocious guitar on the crowd, not to mention her terrific lungs, as she demonstrated her trademark high leg kicks while tearing through the set. In between songs, she got a great laugh from the crowd when she pointed out Weiss? misreading of a sign in the crowd that read, ?books not bombs? as ?boobs not bombs.?

Singer/guitarist Carrie Brownstein has always been Sleater-Kinney?s heart and soul, and though she complained of her voice being ?shot,? she put forth a typically tremendous performance, especially during such crowd pleasers as ?Turn It On? and ?Words And Guitar? from the band?s 1997 release Dig Me Out. It was during the encore however that Brownstein truly sparkled when she belted out a delightful cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival?s ?Fortunate Son? and the Sleater-Kinney staple ?I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone? from 1995?s Call The Doctor.

It was nearly 1 a.m. when Sleater-Kinney left the stage of the Crystal Ballroom, leaving a thoroughly drained crowd sucking air. They had spent the last four hours leaping up and down on the room?s springy wooden floor and screaming their favorite lyrics, but no matter how tired they were, Sleater-Kinney?s raucous performance that night surely left an impression that won?t soon be forgotten.

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By Bullvaultr

hi all,

i know other people will probably post more detailed reviews of the two shows, but here’re the songs they played at the crystal. these are sort of in order but not really (sorry) but i think i have everything:

friday:

instrumental jammy-thing segue-ing into dmo
oh
drama
ironclad
o2
one beat
be yr mama (!)
get up
memorize your lines
faraway
light rail coyote
dance song 97 (!!)
combat rock
sympathy
i’m not waiting
fortunate son (“dedicated to that fucker, george w. bush”)
and one or two new songs and instrumentals.

encore:
ynrnrf
little mouth (!!!)
w+g

saturday:

start together
oh
drama
remainder
light rail coyote
one beat
faraway
o2
step aside
w+g
combat rock
hollywood ending (sadly–though understandably–without gratuitous drum
solo)
turn it on
fortunate son
sympathy
new song(?)
milkshake&honey
youth decay

encore:
get up
joey
ynrnrf

they played a song both nights that i didn’t know, but i feel as though i heard them doing it last tour (or it’s a cover i’m just oblivious to). the only lyrics i remember were carrie singing “if you’re here to be entertained you can go away” and corin singing “don’t tie me down i’m not falling down.”

quasi was great both nights, and i also liked both thanksgiving (though the guy really sounded to me like steve malkmus playing acoustic) and the black keys (mad props for covering “she said she said”). i’m not sure what other people think, but i agreed with carrie’s statement that tonight was much better than last night; it was phenomenal either way, and janet is amazing for having played four sets in two days.

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