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Sleater-Kinney |
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Roxy
Boston, Massachusetts
09.22.00 |
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review
Punk conversations these days begin and end with Sleater-Kinney. Touring in support of All Hands on the Bad One, the girls knocked the dust off the old chandeliers in Boston's historic Roxy. They put on a damn good show, playing songs from all five of their albums.
Slowly and cautiously, the band walked onto the stage as if each member was heading to a desk job. First, Janet Weiss meticulously re-arranged her drum kit for ten minutes; later, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker tuned their axes and checked the set list. Sleater-Kinney was totally professional, coming to the stage on time and performing the strength of its repertoire.
The trio played all the sing-a-long hits, including "Little Babies," with its catchy chorus. Many of the songs from the new album were surprisingly easy to sing with as well, especially "All Hands on the Bad One" and "You're No Rock and Roll Fun." Sleater-Kinney continues to hone its songwriting skills, crafting with more emphasis on melody and rhythm. In the '90s, the Olympia, Washington-based rockers amateurishly tried to cram strong feminist messages into three-chord packages. Now, the writers are experienced, and are able to get their message across with stronger pop melodies. For example, the simplicity of "Words and Guitar," from 1997's Dig Me Out, was fun to shout along out of key, but was jarring and disjointed in comparison to "# 1 Must Have," from the latest release.
This is not to say that the old songs weren't fun to sing with: "The Hot Rock," "Dig Me Out," "Little Babies," and "Words and Guitar" were highlights of the show, and kept the audience interested. Singing with Tucker on "One More Hour," the audience chanted, "Oh you've got the darkest eyes." It was one of the most memorable choruses of the night.
During a short break, Corin discussed the new Madonna album, Music. "I don't particularly like Madonna all that much," she said, "but she fascinates me. Does she fascinate you?" After brief applause from the audience, Tucker tore into " #1 Must Have," about being an icon for change in popular culture. The song asks, "And will there always be concerts where women are raped?"
Stylistically, the threesome was reminiscent of ZZ Top. Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein sporadically waved their guitars in time, mimicking each other's movements. Sleater-Kinney's stage was sparsely decorated, much like the little old band from Texas, containing two old amps and Janet's drum kit, which rested on a piece of carpet (in true punk style) to keep the bass drum from sliding across the wooden stage.
S-K got the crowd with a final set of songs that included "Words and Guitar" and "Dig Me Out." And then, just as they had carefully picked up their instruments coming on stage, the frontwomen rested their guitars against their amps and walked through the back curtain, leaving the sold-out Roxy shouting for more.
by Alan Haworth
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