When it comes to rock ‘n’ roll Sleater-Kinney are national treasures, indie and punk icons akin to royalty. And if you don’t agree with that statement then, to quote the song, you’re no rock ‘n’ roll fun.
While the group has transitioned from riot grrrl royalty to elder stateswomen of indie rock, Sleater-Kinney proved they’re still a force to be reckoned with nearly 30 years into their career Wednesday night at the Showbox. The all-ages concert was the second of two sold-out shows at the venue and the adoring capacity crowd ate up every second of the 90-minute set.
Touring behind this year’s excellent “Little Rope,” the band’s second album without longtime drummer Janet Weiss, the group blazed through 25 songs that spanned their catalog. The set started with “Little Rope” lead single “Hell” and touched on almost every album from its career (no songs from “Path to Wellness” or the band’s self-titled debut were performed) ending with a raucous “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone.”
Even though the group’s principal players Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker call Portland home nowadays, the show was a bit of a homecoming for the pair. Throughout the night they acknowledged their Seattle roots and even shared a few anecdotes from their time in the Emerald City.
Tucker reminded the crowd they went to college “near here,” a nod to Olympia, the city where they band started. And Brownstein shared a story about being worried over a review for “All Hands on the Bad One,” which turns 25 this year, in local alt weekly rag The Stranger before telling the crowd the album release party for that album was also held at the Showbox.
Along with being a homecoming of sorts, it was also a generational show. The all-ages crowd consisted of former riot grrrls who are now grandparents, fathers with teenage daughters and mothers with babes in arms wearing massive headphones. It was a nice reminder of how much the band means to its fans and the impact they’ve had on the lives of thousands of people through their music.
The set was perfectly paced with high-energy songs and new material meshing well with the classics and Tucker’s voice remains a force of nature. Her signature wails sailed through the storied Showbox while Brownstein’s angular guitar licks provided the perfect accompaniment.
The excellent main set was nearly overshadowed by the encore, which included live rarity “Buy Her Candy,” a song Brownstein said had only been performed live four times previously. The encore also included “Dig Me Out,” which received the biggest applause of the night, and “Entertain” from 2005’s near swan song album “The Woods.”
Thankfully, Sleater-Kinney decided against calling it a career and reunited in 2013 (with a little help from Pearl Jam). So now we not only have excellent albums like the reunion record “No Cities to Love,” off which the title track and “A New Wave” made the set list, we also get great shows like Wednesday night’s which provided everyone with enough rock ‘n’ roll fun to last a generation.
Photos by Brittney Bush Bollay
Editor’s note: A previous version of this review had incorrectly stated that the Showbox was the location of the release party for “The Hot Rock.”
minor PU. They thought initial Hot Rock show was at the Showbox, then realized that was AHOTBO.
First Seattle Hot Rock show was at the RCKCNDY with the CD release a few days earlier in Olympia. I was lucky to be at both.
Link to RCKCNDY show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fi2BLKBJdY
Blistering show last night. Thanks for the review