Sleater-Kinney Concert Review Archive / 2001-2006

Steven Rubio has a review of Fillmore’s night two. A taste here:

For me, the band was on fire to such an astounding extent that I didn’t notice they weren’t chatty until I was already won over. They barely stopped between songs … they were very much like an early punk band tonight, just buzzsawing their way through one great song after another with barely a moment to breathe.

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Setlist:

O2
W&G
new song
turn it on
one beat
end of you
all hands
new song
call the doctor
sympathy
oh
new song into an extended jam session
far away
step aside
new song?

encore
get up
YNRRF
Little Mouth

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49531 posted some photos and a short review at The Hot Rock Livejournal.

I wasn’t expecting much from the Sacramento crowd because, well, it’s Sacramento (I’m a native, so I can say that) and their last show here wasn’t the greatest, but I’m so glad this city proved me wrong! Maybe it’s because I was up in front, but everyone around me was dancing and singing along to every song.

I know they played one beat, oxygen, words and guitar, turn it on, little babies, little mouth, step aside, youth decay, sympathy, get up, far away, oh!, you’re no rock ‘n roll fun, and some new songs, but I’m not sure what else… (i’m not waiting comes to mind, but i have a really bad memory). Did anyone get a setlist?

And was it just me, or did Corin fuck up during Turn It On? There was also one moment after a song where Janet just kept on drumming and Corin sorta had a “What the fuck?” look on her face. It was cute. There wasn’t much talk between songs, either. I think Sam and Janet mentioned the Kings and that was pretty much it.

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Reprinted from my Donewaiting column, part two for night two
by me, Han Q Duong:

The second night was reasonably similar to the first. Instead of Davies vs. Dresch, the warmup duty belonged to the local band Radio Vago. The last time I saw Radio Vago they were opening for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and they put in a similar performance here, despite changing out lead singers during that time. They play mostly downbeat, keyboard oriented dance tunes with fits and bursts of guitar noise crashing through. I think the noise element needs to be toned down because it has the tendency to overpower the rest of the band.

Quasi’s second night set started off with a drum solo and Sam Coomes humping his keyboard. Why build up to the humping? Just get it out of the way, they say. The set was decidely more song oriented and a lot more effective than the first night. Songs like “Good Times” and “It’s Raining” really popped, and Weiss beat her snare like it stole her wallet. The drums were mixed really loudly, so her blast beats damn near took my head off. There were even moments where Janet was going off so much that it put her partner in a daze, as if he was wondering “how can she hit drums faster than I can hit my keys?” Coomes seemed a little bit confused and out of sorts all night, which is just about perfect for the manic carnival feel of his keyboard work. Unfortunately, he didn’t do any head stands on it, which is the only thing I’ve never seen Sam Coomes do to his keyboard.

Like Quasi, Sleater-Kinney’s second night set also featured a lot less improvisation and was generally tighter all-around. The set started off with an inspired run of quick hitting songs, but a guitar cable fried during “Sympathy” and put a downer on everything. This is the third or fourth time I’ve seen this happen to Carrie Brownstein, and at this point I am willing to pony up my own personal cash to buy her a cordless radio unit for her guitar, because this constant technical difficulty thing is bullshit. I understand this is probably more frustrating for her than me, but COME ON! Uh, I’ll also reserve the right to be a total indian-giver on this if those wireless systems cost thousands of dollars.

If pressed, I’d have to pick the first show as the superior one. It was a little looser and a little sloppier, but I love all the instrumental stuff, and at this point I’ve seen Sleater-Kinney so many times that hearing “Turn It On” or “Dig Me Out” doesn’t have quite the impact that they used to. The crowd was considerably hotter for the second night though, plus they did a cover of the MC5’s “American Ruse,” so there’s also that.

The best thing about both nights was getting to hear the new songs. “I Don’t Care” is bratty and the poppiest of the new batch. “Everything” is based on a heavy, grinding riff and features a harsh clipped vocal from Brownstein and some top notch wailing from Tucker. I was standing pretty close to the speaker stack and the during the bridge of “Everything” I felt like Corin’s voice was going through my eardrum and coming out the other side. “Bomp” is the down and dirtiest of the new material and and Tucker brings back the scratchy, blood-curdling screams that have been mostly forgotten since Call The Doctor.

Of all the new songs, “Entertain” is the strongest, and could end up being one of the very best songs Sleater-Kinney’s ever done. It’s structurally exquisite, with separate elements being introduced over the course of the song before being brought back together during the second iteration of the bridge. The building tension and explosive dynamics are so perfectly rendered that it will almost certainly be one of the bands trademark anthems by the time it’s done.

Like One Beat, the new material looks to feature more of Carrie Brownstein on vocals, and she’s raising her game by leaps and bounds. She’s extending her range and power and she’s got much more interesting phrasing going on so far. If One Beat was their post 9-11 record, then musically there are some hints that this may be their wartime record. “Bomp” starts with guitars that buzz like a fighter squadron and Weiss’ drums echo the militaristic feel with its measured cadences and occassional volleys of artillery fire in the toms and snares.

Thematic speculations aside, there’s one message that’s coming in loud and clear from “Entertain” : “If you’re here to be entertained, please go away, please go away. I’ve got something to say, I’ve got something to say.” We get used to artists becoming progressively softer as the albums go by, as their lives get cushier and their worries lessen. With Sleater-Kinney I’m expecting them to get even harder and heavier musically, more stridently defiant lyrically as the world gets uglier and uglier. Trust ‘em, they’ll have something to say.

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Lorraine Jong has a series of photos from the first night here.

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Reprinted from my Donewaiting column, part one for night one
by me, Han Q Duong:

I love Sleater-Kinney.

It’s not a big secret, but I figured I’d get that out of the way in case anyone thought this would be an unbiased review of their recent L.A. shows. I’ve seen them in concert countless times and in my off time I maintain the Sleater-Kinney Concert Review Archive, which stockpiles fan reviews and photos. Between reading all the press clippings and moderating the archive, it wouldn’t surprise me if I’ve read more words about the band than anyone on earth aside from the band’s publicist and parents.

If you are somehow unfamiliar with the band… I dunno, go to a record store or something! They are Corin Tucker (guitar/vocals), Carrie Brownstein (guitar/vocals) and Janet Weiss (drums) and they rock me out of my head with disturbing regularity. The rest you can read on Allmusic.

The band’s currently inbetween records, so this tour was primarily set up to test out new material and keep the band warm before they head to studio later this year. I was doubly excited about the shows because the opening band was another favorite, Quasi. It also meant that Weiss was pulling a double-shift with Quasi and S-K, essentially performing as her own opening act.

The first night actually started with Davies vs. Dresch playing a short set of six songs before anything else. This was only their 4th show or so, and certainly the first before a crowd this of this size, but don’t confuse them for amateurs. This is the latest band for Donna Dresch, who’s work with Team Dresch is considered one of the landmarks of the Riot Grrl movement in the early nineties. Kristina Davies shares vocal and guitar duties with Dresch and their guitar interplay is the crux of the band, just as the band name implies.

Quasi followed with a bizarre opening set that saw a lot of improvisation and a freewheeling, jazzy session of fuzzed up pop. Even though Janet Weiss played twice, she didn’t half-ass it while playing with Quasi. Locked in against Sam Coomes and his pinebox coffin keyboard, Weiss’s drumming for Quasi was actually even more impressive than her S-K work. Her style is so much wilder with Quasi, and with the sparer songs she gets to user her drums with more melodic effect. The set was hard to focus on, with Coomes and Weiss playing a lot of musical games inbetween the actual songs, but Quasi’s so good at that stuff that I could watch it all day.

Sleater-Kinney hit the stage at about 11:00pm and played for a little over an hour. The setlist varied wildly across their catalogue, starting off with “The End of You” from The Hot Rock and ending with “Be Yr Mama” from their self-titled debut. Inbetween was a smattering of everything else, including four new songs that are being prepped for the new record. The set was humming right along until a fight broke out during “Oh!,” and the band cut their song short to restore order. It was a necessary stop, but it slowed the momentum a bit.

Lately, the strongest elements of the Sleater-Kinney live show have been the instrumental segues they’ve been using to string together songs. The main set closed with a continuous chain of “Bomp,” “Hollywood Ending” and then finally “Words and Guitar.” Tucker and Brownstein will turn away from the audience and just concentrate on the improv, and for three or four minutes at a time they’ll play like there’s no one else in the room. There’s something beautifully intimate about it all, and when they hit it right, the segues crescendo right into the starting chords of the next song. They weren’t dead on with it tonight, and doing three songs in a row seemed to sap the energy out of the audience a bit. The band’s talked about doing a whole set non-stop, and while it would be a sight to see, I think they’d outlast the crowd by a far margin.

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here’s the set-list for the may 18th show at the glasshouse in pomona, ca.( it’s home now is on my computer ).

i hope everyone who attended had fun at the show!

i was lucky enough to have gotten the set-list from corin. she was oh so wonderfully nice and genuine. i told her how much i loved the grrrls and she seemed sincerely grateful.

- eileen

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Automatic posted some pics at the Show Me Yr Riffs Livejournal.

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Setlist sent in by Jeff.

O2
The End Of You
All Hands On The Bad One
Everything
One Beat
Get Up
Turn It On
Oh!
Not What You Want
Bomp ->
Hollywood Ending ->
Words and Guitar
?? title [I Don't Care What the People Say...]
Sympathy ->
Step Aside ->
Entertain

encores:
Far Away ->
Call The Doctor
You?re No Rock ‘n Roll Fun

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Setlist sent in by Matt Bogdanowicz:

O2
faraway
everything
one beat
oh!
turn it on
bomp
hollywood ending
words + guitar
you’re no rock n roll fun
sympathy
step aside
entertain
call the doctor
i wanna be your joey ramone

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