I arrived at the Troc at 5:00 or so and already there was a group of girls sitting in line. Not too long after, Carrie and Janet came out of the club and walked out to a red mini-van. Janet took out a case and went back inside, and then Carrie walked past us. She smiled and said, "Hi" to me and the girls sitting beside me. I was star struck so I just sat there with a blank look on my face. At around 6-ish or so Carrie, Corin, and some guy came out of the club and walked past the large line that was forming. Finally, it was 7, and the doors opened. I went to the merchandise table first and bought "The Bad One" shirt for 12 dollars, and I tried to get stickers and pins, but the guy said he didn't have any left. Next, I went to claim my spot on the floor. There was shifting around throughout the night, but eventually I found my standing spot and stayed there for the entire show.
I didn't know a thing about either opening group. The Gossip came on at 8:00. I thought all of their songs sounded the same. Not to say The Gossip do not have an original sound, they do, but I just couldn't get into them. There was a 20 min. wait before the next band came on, and since I was alone all I did was just stand there listening to other people's conversations. There were these two cute guys next to me, but they probably had girlfriends (or boyfriends) so I didn't say anything. I didn't meet anybody new there. The Butchies came on around 8:50 or so. They were really good. I liked them. The highlight of their set was the drummer getting up and reading that "anyway you want it, that's the way you need it" song by one of those '80s bands. It cracked me up!
While I stood waiting for S-K to come a couple people got sick on the floor. Some girl, I think, threw up. When S-K were setting up another girl was stumbling around and had to be helped off of the floor. Finally...Sleater-Kinney started. They opened with 'Ballad of a Ladyman'. At the end of the song, somebody shouted, "Sleater-Kinney rox!!," and Carrie responded with a taken aback, "uh, thanks." She joked about how before every show, they hold hands and chant, "Sleater-Kinney rox, Sleater-Kinney rox..." The next song they did was 'Start Together' then 'Ironclad', and after that my memory is lost. They performed these songs, but not necessarily in this order: 'You're No Rock n' Roll Fun', 'The End of You','The Drama You've Been Craving', 'All Hand on the Bad One', 'One Song for You' (The Butchies came out wearing very little at the "Jump in! Jump out!" part. They ran across the stage and then ran back off. ), 'Pompeii', 'Milkshake n' Honey', 'Words+Guitar', '#1 Must Have', 'Anonymous', 'Was It a Lie?', 'Male Model', 'The Professional', and 'Acid Tooth'. They did two encores. Someone was shouting, "I came all the way from New York to hear 'Joey Ramone'!" Carrie said they had also just came from NY, and then some idiot shouted, "Well, that's your job!" Corin replied, "I quit then. If this is a job, I don't want to do it anymore" or something like that. The first encore S-K did the cover, 'Fortunate Son', 'Sold Out' and 'God is a Number'. The second consisted of 'I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone' and 'Dig Me Out'. This was by far my favorite concert. I was dancing and singing the whole time and was having the best time. Corin's voice was so passionate and fun, and Carrie talked to the audience a lot as did Corin. Janet was beating the drums to death. The show was all about energy. They're all stunning to watch. I cannot wait to see them again.
May 20, 2000 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
By: Lindsay *Zepchick10@aol.com*
I can add a few comments to the review about the May 20th show in Philly...I had a much better view of the girl who puked, as my friends and I were the ones she puked on. It was o so pleasant, and the floor was a wee bit sticky (and my friend had holes in her shoes) but hey, it was Sleater-Kinney! We put up with the chunks on the floor (and on us) and had a damn good time!! I agree that most of The Gossip's stuff sounded the same, but also I had never heard them before, so maybe if I knew their songs...They had a dancer. A dancer, named Kelly, and it was the randomest thing I have ever seen. Just thought I'd comment on that one...
I, however, HAD heard the Butchies before, and love them to pieces! Kaia was as adorable as always, and Melissa was the cutest thing I've ever seen. She did an amazing drum solo, during which she fell off the drum stool, then found a very long hair on her ride cymbal...somehow that was a lot funnier at the concert than it sounds now, but trust me, it was hilarious. The song that she read, in the style of a beat poet, was Journey's Any Way You Want It, That's The Way You Need It. Ahh...I love them!!
Then came the puker, and her wonderful friends who kept walking back and forth through the crowd (and yes, they were her friends...but did they stand in the puke??? nooooo. The poor girls who got puked on got to stand in it..grrrrr), and a very tall guy in an orange shirt who would not move no matter how much the poor short girl behind him complained about only being able to see orange. *note to self: wear stilts to concerts* SK were AMAZING, and played the most fantastic and energetic show I think I've ever seen. During One Song For You, not only did the Butchies run across the stage, but they ran in their underwear, and Melissa mooned us all :o) After that lovely display of Melissa's ass, Corin said "OK, that's it, the shows over. Not much we can do after that one!"
My friend and I got matching Show Me Your Riffs shirts, which we wore to school on Monday (everyone kept asking "what's a riff?" assuming it was something obscene), and after the show, we hung around and Corin came out and signed our tickets. Its taped to my wall now, my pants and my shoes have been washed, and I have found a new love for One Song For You. After a show like that, I doubt if any concert will seem half decent again.
May 20, 2000 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
By: Chris *clcavett@bellatlantic.net*
I arrived with my friend Pat about 45 minutes before the doors were supposed to open. Arriving about the same amount of time early in Seattle two weeks earlier, I had been the first in line for the 21+ record release show. But in Philly, the line was already stretched several blocks down the street.
While we were in line, Mikey came by handing out his flyers for his web site. I guess I've been living on the East Coast too long, because my first reaction when a stranger tries to offer me anything is not to take it. So I refused Mikey's flyer. Only after he had gone by and I got a better look at him did I realize who he was. I wanted to yell "Hey Mikey" at him and apologize, but he was moving quickly and was already too far away. Fortunately, I got that opportunity later, in Chapel Hill.
After the doors opened and we had been patted down by the notoriously overzealous Troc security guys we made it into the club, only to discover that people were already lined up about four rows deep in front of the stage. Pat pointed out that most people in line had looked pretty young, and suggested we could probably get prime spots in the 21+ balcony area upstairs. So we went upstairs, and were the second and third people up there. We did grab prime spots, right in front of the railing and close to the center. We knew from when we'd seen The Fall at the Troc in 98 that we'd have a great view from there, which we did. My first experience with The Gossip was not a good one, though I did come to appreciate them more during subsequent shows. I didn't expect an Olympia band to have such southern roots, and was a little put off by that. Though their guitar player was great and I found the lead singer and Sassy Lassy the dancer amusing.
I liked The Butchies even less. I could tell that they all were enormously talented, and I certainly respect them for that. But their music reminded me a little too much of music I didn't like from the 1970's, with Kaia's guitar solos and the long drum solo. It's cool that women are rocking like that, too, and I hope they help open lots of doors for young women. But I didn't like that type of music 20+ years ago when guys were playing it, so I don't like it any more now when The Butchies play it. The drummer (Melissa?) was funny with her (Journey) poetry reading, and Kaia has an incredible stage presence. But that's not really enough for me to like a band. Sleater-Kinney were great, as always. The highlight for me was that Corin was more animated than I'd ever seen her before. She was talking and moving around a lot more during the show than I'd ever seen. I was surprised to see such a big difference in her between this show and the two I'd seen in Seattle only two weeks earlier.
One of the low points for me was a fairly dead audience. The selections of "old stuff" they played has been more to my liking at other shows, too. I was also amused yet puzzled by the already discussed "Butchies coming on stage in their underwear and the drummer mooning the audience" incident. It was kind of funny, but I also thought it was most ironic that there were semi-clad women running around on stage during a performance of the band who just gave us "Ballad of a Ladyman", "The Professional", "#1 Must Have", and especially the "Show Me Your Riffs" t-shirt. I'm a guy, but I'm very sympathetic with Sleater-Kinney's message about the plight of women in the music world which is conveyed so movingly in the songs on the new album. I'm sure The Butchies meant no harm and were just seeking to relieve the boredom of the endless road. But in light of Sleater-Kinney's message on the new album, I found the Butchies' display to be in somewhat poor taste. I wonder if anyone else thought so, too.
In Seattle, I was excited to see S-K perform covers of both White Rabbit and Fortunate Son at both shows. I'd noted from the list that since then, on the tour, they've been playing only one or the other, and mostly Fortunate Son. I was curious what they would play in Philadelphia. They played Fortunate Son, and it was the only time I saw them in May that they did not invite the other bands on stage with them for it. Perhaps they figured we'd seen enough (pun intended) of the Butchies for one evening.
