The anticipation level was downright incredible when the members of the Pacific Northwest's Sleater-Kinney walked on stage at Sunday night's SOMA Live concert. There they were, the women of one of the most influential riot-grrl punk bands, setting up the instruments themselves as if they were getting ready to play at a neighbor's garage party. Drummer Janet Weiss and guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein chatted nonchalantly in front of the predominantly teen-aged female audience as they tinkered with the equipment. The crowd began to push forward before any guitar chords had been plucked. The tension steadily built until vocalist/guitarist Corin Tucker sang her first vibrato note on "Start Together," from the new album "The Hot Rock." But before the trio was even warmed up, the unexpected struck. Just when the band began to play "One More Hour," a song filled with desperate emotion, the stage lights went out. And when it was clear that they weren't coming back on, Tucker stopped playing altogether. Brownstein giggled. They told the crowd of about 400 they couldn't play their guitars in the dark -- unless they had practiced more, perhaps. Once the light situation was taken care of, there was still another problem facing the audience, and a major one at that -- the obstacle of trying to actually see the band on the low, small stage. Sleater-Kinney played on SOMA's side stage instead of in the main, giant hall, something that gave the concert a close, clublike ambience. But because the floor was all one level, because the stage was so low, and because many of the attendees measured in at under 5-feet-6, it was almost impossible to see anything besides the top of the musicians'heads. Oh, when audience members were jumping during songs like "Dig Me Out" and "Turn It On," they were able to see that Brownstein was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that could have been green or black. You could see that Weiss had red barrettes in her hair, too. While fans kept bumping and pushing to get closer to the stage, the best response was to not get angry. Instead, it was better just to listen to the music that brought people to the hot, sweaty room in the firstplace. The trio mixed new songs with classics like "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" and delivered them with pure punk energy and sass. Although Tucker usually leads the band with her sometimes-harsh vocals, it was the playful Brownstein who carried the show. Her exaggerated arm movements, the constant eye contact she made and her smooth vocals caused the crowd's attention to focus on her. In fact, Tucker seemed a little down, as if she actually felt the pain that's written all over the lyrics. At one point someone yelled "Smile,Corin!" But she didn't. And it was OK, because the music of Sleater-Kinney isn't always happy. There's a lot of loss and desperation in the lyrics, something that is evoked in the guitar chords themselves. At the concert's close, the trio played "Good Things," a song that had been requested over and over again. They also played "Words and Guitar," even though Brownstein said they'd stopped playing it after an incident in San Francisco when Tucker was hit in the head with a guitar. They told the crowd that they were allowed to throw words during the song, just not guitars. New Yorkers Versus opened the show with an uneven collection of punk-pop songs. The unassuming quartet, wearing T-shirts and chinos, looked more like UCSD students who'd strapped on instruments than a touringalternative act. And while the music was accessible enough, the noise was turned up so loud that the vibration could be felt through all the fans' Dr. Martensshoes.