By Kate Rose
granted, the houston show was fantastic - it is sleater-kinney, after all. if only it had been a more intimate setting….
they came out and went straight into “02″ even while radiohead was still playing on the radio over the speakers. afterwards, corin announced, “we’re sleater-kinney and we’re from portland, oregon.”
carrie wore a sleeveless black and white striped shirt and jeans, corin wore a pink ruffly top and a jean skirt. unfortunately, i could not see what janet was wearing, i just know that it was black - big surprise there! corin and carrie were dancing their asses off. most of the audience didn’t know who they were, but they got lots of cheers and i heard lots of kinney virgins around me comment on how good carrie’s guitar playing was.
the show appears to be similar to the oklahoma show, (like w/ matt cameron joining them and all) but with variations in the set. i wish i could remember the exact order, but i know these songs were played:
02, oh!, one beat, faraway, the remainder, sympathy (dedicated to moms), step aside, ynrnrf (v. fast), a new song, words + guitar leading to an incredible jam and ending with dig me out - - i think i’m missing a song or two.
but what made the houston show so awesome and unique was that for pearl jam’s second encore, s-k joined them. (eddie vedder called s-k “one of the great bands” earlier in the show) janet and matt cameron played drums next to each other, carrie jammed out next to stone gossard, and corin and eddie vedder took turns singing every other verse and they did the choruses together. corin jumped up and down and danced like crazy, and after awhile, eddie started dancing the same way along with her.
they played “fortunate son” and then “rockin in the free world.” at the woodlands pavilion, all shows are supposed to end at 11, due to restrictions in the nearby residential area, but they kept playing “rockin in the free world” until 11:15 or so, even when the all lights were turned on.
amazing, amazing show - my only complaint is how far away i was. my first time to see the kinney was completely inspiring and made me feel like i had fallen in love with music all over again.
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