Sleater-Kinney Concert Review Archive / 2001-2006

Modnar has pics in this Flickr set.

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By Modnar via Words+Guitar

Was anyone else on the list at the show in Cleveland? I managed to snag Corin’s setlist (as I was standing right in front of her). Here’s what it says:

FOX
WILDERNESS
FAR AWAY
ONE MORE HOUR
ROLLERCOASTER

MODERN GIRL
SYMPATHY
EVERYTHING
STEEP AIR
WHAT’S MINE IS YOURS
LET’S CALL IT LOVE
NIGHTLIGHT
ENTERTAIN
JUMPERS

And then they did one encore which I’ve somewhat forgotten at this point. I rocked out waay too hard. My neck is still somewhat hurting and the show was last Friday.

I remember Carrie mentioning at one point during the show that they like playing the midwest because that’s where the best crowds are, and that she had the Beachland Ballroom listed as her favorite venue somewhere.

I have to agree, it’s a pretty nice venue, especially when you get to hang out w/ the band at the back bar after the show. They all were nice enough to sign my set list (Janet drew a horse on it) and pose for pictures. I meant to ask how they liked traveling in a real tour bus instead of having to drive themselves around in a rented mini van like on previous tours but I forgot in all the euphoria.

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Photos by Dan

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by Tom

Dead Meadow opened and played amid a very sparse crowd, a Spinal Tap-esque smoke machine, and three green floods at their feet. They rocked, even if they weren’t always crisp, and they left amid tepid applause (I felt they deserved a bit more than the reaction they got). Basically they are a poor man’s Zeppelin on Ritalin and crank up the Tolkein level by about three notches.

Strange–or I should say–different crowd, not the type of crowd I remember from the One Beat shows at the Metro; perhaps a new element attracted by the anti-Bush stance of the band and previous album? In any event, more than one gray haired loner-dude who tried to align his body with that of Corin Tucker’s, and a few sharp, mid-thirties ladies dressed cute, wearing make up, and looking all pretty with their drink-buying dates at their side. It was a near sell-out eventually, practically all walk-up, practically all in by the second song of S-K’s set. An enthusiastic crowd–especially those near the stage who gave as much as they got (and they got a lot).

As is expected based on previous shows, the ladies played The Woods in its entirety with the exception of “Steep Air”; they were at their very best doing the new material (and at their worst when they weren’t). Besides the new stuff, (in no particular order) they played: “Burn Don’t Freeze,” (it was a kinda blah rendition) which was the third song after the now customary opening of “The Fox” and “Wilderness”; “Was it a Lie,” (Not my favorite song, but played at near studio quality); “Light Rail Coyote,” (crummy and unrecognizable; Brownstein off key?); “Oh” (Tucker was very lazy on this one); “Little Babies,” (OK); “Step Aside” (They rocked it). And I believe during the first encore (yes, there were two) there was a cover in which Janet Weiss sang (such a pretty voice, who knew?), but I don’t know the name of the song. They closed with “Get Up” (a harried, loose version that didn’t do the song justice), and Words and Guitar (ditto). I’m told they also played “End of You” and “02″ during the set, but I can’t remember either, so they couldn’t have been all that life-affirming. They waited a long time before coming out for the second encore, and Brownstein said something to the effect of “you are so energetic we will do a few more.” She reportedly said something about beginning to eat when the crowd response was too much to deny (this according to skrws912, a poster at Sleater-Kinney.net)

Corin Tucker seemed a little low on juice at times; on songs where she could get away with it, she practically spoke the words instead of singing them (maybe it just seemed that way based on her normal standard of all-out performance); don’t get me wrong, her feral, tortured warble was there, just not always there as at past shows. Carrie Brownstein played loose at times (messy), but kicked ass all night practically without exception. She absolutely brought down the house during the “Let’s Call it Love” free for all, which was the clear highlight of the show. I have never been so excited by guitar playing in my life; it was spectacular, and when I think about it (even though I can’t remember the specific sounds), I get a little bit of that juice back in the middle of my chest. The same can be said for Janet Weiss, who may be the most talented of the bunch – her drumming during the latter part of the 12 minute version of “Let’s Call it Love” was stellar (it defied the laws of physics and it too still lives with me).

The show seemed to fail when it was on the back of Corin Tucker’we all know she is the least talented musically, but at the same time she is the very heart and soul of the band; she makes the band. The band goes as her energy goes, and when it wavered, the band wavered. On songs like “Entertain” where the weight was on Brownstein and Weiss, the show hit its highest heights. She didn’t blow the show, but she didn’t make the show the way she did during the Metro concerts in ’02-’03. Having said all that, it was perhaps the best show I’ve ever seen; with a touch more it could have been orgasmic.

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Sent in by Andrew

The Fox
Wilderness
Burn Don’t Freeze
Light-Rail Coyote
Rollercoaster
Modern Girl
O2
What’s Mine Is Yours

Was It A Lie?
Oh!
Let’s Call It Love
Night Light
Jumpers
Entertain

1st Encore

Little Babies

I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
End Of You

2nd Encore

Words + Guitar
Get Up
Step Aside

The show was amazing, as usual. My ears are still ringing, but I think that was from the crowd. We went wild after the first encore, and the band came back surprisingly for a second encore. Carrie said she had a plate of food and everything, but they had to come back and play a few more. Lots of fan favorites, including Burn Don’t Freeze. Words + Guitar was a bit different, Corin sang the “oh give me pretty song” part louder and closer to the album version, as opposed to getting really quiet, and encouraging sing along. I really hope they come back in the fall.

Chicago loves S-K!

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andypdc via Sleater-Kinney.net

Agreed. Dead Meadow is forgetable. Luckily they only played about 30-35 mins. Sleater Kinney ROCKED the house though. Including encore they went about 90 mins. I got a copy of the set list (minus encore) and it went:

Fox
Wilderness
Not What You Want
Combat Rock

Rollercoaster
Modern Girl
Sympathy
Everything
What’s Mine Is Yours
Steep Air
Step Aside
Let’s Call It Love
Entertain

Jumpers

Then they started the encore with Get Up. They played I Wanna be Your Joey Ramone and I think one other. Then Mother into Dig Me Out for the big finish.

Man, what a night. I dreamed of the concert all night. I want to be Carrie. She rules. All of them played their asses off. Janet beats the drums like she’s playing for her life. Corin’s voice is unmatched by anyone or anything. They are the best band that is playing music today, maybe ever.

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Drew_Quin has pics up at Sleater-Kinney.net. Click here for all of them.

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Short set for Live 105′s BFD, a big festival type deal:

The Fox
Rollercoaster
Jumpers
What’s Mine Is Yours
Let’s Call It Love / Entertain
Step Aside

Oh! / Dig Me Out

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Photos by Dyanne Cano

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Sent in by Danny T:

The Fox
The Wilderness
O2
One More Hour
Modern Girl
Rollercoaster

Light Rail Coyote
Everything
Get Up
What’s Mine Is Yours
Let’s Call It Love
Nightlight
Jumpers
Entertain

—

Sympathy
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone
You’re No Rock N Roll Fun
Mother
Dig Me Out

Notes: I’m a recent Portland transplant to LA and have been following S-K since their inception. This is the first time I’ve seen them in LA, and I’d have to say that they were in top form, I’d even go so far as to say it was probably the best performance I’ve ever seen from them. The crowd was also amazing; there entire downstairs crowd was dancing the whole show, much more lively than the crowds seem to get in Portland, or I should say much more crowd participation than I’m used to.

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