On May 5th, after three previous tries, I finally got the chance to see Sleater Kinney live. The new album "AHOTBO" had just been released three days prior and I'm sure the crowd was excited to hear how the new songs would translate. There were two opening bands...Gene Defcon and No. 2. Contrary to previous reviews that I've read, I found the first opening band (Gene Defcon) quite fun. They sort of reminded me of the B-52's exhibiting a sixties go-goish sound. The vocals consisted of a male lead with a bowl hair cut and two females (one with torqouise blue hair). The second opening band, No.2, was okay. They were good musicians, in that they could play their instruments, but I found their music terribly boring. A previous review said they reminded him of My Bloody Valentine. How this reviewer came to this conclusion, I'm not sure. However, I hightly suggest that he sober up, go home and listen give "Loveless" another listen (which he probably doesn't even have). No. 2 could be best described as unexciting standard vocals-guitar-drums-rock.
At around 11:15, Sleater Kinney finally came on stage. I believe they started out with "#1 Must Have", one of the best songs off the new album. You could tell the crowd wasn't too familiar with the new songs. There wasn't a whole lot of moving or dancing until Sleater played older songs like "Dig Me out", "LIttle Babies" or "Start Together". However, Carrie did say that the crowd tonight seemed more energetic than the night before. She attributed it to the "alcohol factor". Here's a list of the songs that I remember them playing...#1 Must Have, Ballad of a Lady Man, Start Together, AHOTBO, Iron Clad, Youth Decay, YNTARS, The Professional, Male Model, Milkshake n' Honey, Dig Me out, One More Hour, Turn It on, Heart Factory, Words and Guitar, Little Babies, The End of You, White Rabbit (by Jefferson Airplane) and Fortunate Son (by John Fogerty) for the very last song. They played Fortuante son with all the members of Gene Defcon and No.2 on stage. There may have been more songs played, but these are the ones I remembered. Carrie made a quip about stage banter. She said something like, "Hello Seattle...it's easy to know what to say when you're home, but what do you say when you're in like, Wisconsin?". Janet was amazing on drums. I'd never seen the band live before, and I found myself transfixed by the energy she put into her drumming. If you like Janet's drumming, I suggest listening to her work on Quasi's first album "Featuring Birds". Corin's vocals, though called unintelligible by a previous reviewer (The reason her vocals were unintelligible to you is that you obviously don't know any of their songs) were amazingly strong. It kills me to hear all that vocal power coming from someone as diminutive as she is. The band seemed to be having lots of fun...lots of smiles and energy. The crowd did seem to be dominated by a lot of tall males. Strange. This was the 21 and over show, so I'm sure all the young girls had their fun the night before. The merchandising table was a bargain. 3 stickers for $1, the new 45 for $3, posters for $1, and I believe shirts were around $8 or $10 (plus CDs and LPs). This was a nice change from the $10 for a poster, or $25 for shirt that one usually experiences and "bigger" shows. All in all, here were the nights totals...$8 for the ticket, $5.50 for two beers, $2 for three stickers and a poster...a total of $15.50...what a bargain!
May 5, 2000 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox *record release show*
By: Chris *clcavett@bellatlantic.net*
I went to this show with Tim and his wife Shari. I'd enjoyed being up front so much that I asked them if we could go early to ensure up front spots. Happily, they indulged me. We got there at 7:30, a half hour before the doors opened, and I was the first in line!
A few minutes after we got there Carrie came out the door. I didn't want to hassle her, but she was only two feet in front of me when she opened the door, so I smiled and said "Hey." She smiled back and said "Hi". That was my first brush with greatness Friday night.
When the doors opened, I bee-lined for the stage. This time I secured the spot directly in the middle of the stage, with Tim on one side of me and Shari on the other. Corin, and to a lesser extent, Janet, spent some time walking around and talking to people they seemed to know before the show started.
When Gene Defcon came out, I was disappointed that the dancer wasn't with them. As Otto was only about two or three feet in front of me, I asked "Where's the dancer?" He replied "I told you guys yesterday he's not really part of the band," and then explained the dancer to the people who weren't there the day before.
I enjoyed their set just as much as I had the evening before. I was momentarily freaked out when Otto hit me in the face with his microphone cord as he whirled it about. It stung a little bit, but I wasn't really hurt. I don't think he even noticed, as he had his back to me when it happened. But I did notice the two women singers were looking at me with concern right after it happened. They seemed relieved when I made eye contact with them, and smiled / laughed about it.
I was really disappointed when the guitarist had some sort of problem with his guitar and the set was stopped early. I'd never heard of Gene Defcon before last Thursday night, but I came to like them a lot, and will definitely go see them if they ever come to the East Coast, or if I'm in the Northwest again when they're playing.
The second band was No. 2. I thought the singer / guitarist was really talented, but their music didn't reach out and grab me or anything. I was mostly just in "waiting for Sleater-Kinney" mode at that point. Janet came out off to the edge of the stage for their show. She seemed to really enjoy them, based upon her smiling and dancing.
The band were even better the second night than they had been the evening before. The crowd was more energetic, and they seemed to feed off that energy. Carrie brought up the Jimmy Hendrix rumors, which I hear she had also mentioned at the Oly and Portland shows.
I had promised myself I wasn't going to take as many photos that night, but I got so excited with my even better location and I shot another two rolls worth. I got some really good photos from this show.
The high point for me was when they performed "Sold Out" from the first (self-titled) album. Carrie said they hadn't played it live in years, and made a joke about how it was from a "demo" and that only about ten people have the recording of the song. According to Carrie, Janet had never played it live before, ever. As always, the way Corin conveyed her anger and pain was amazing.
After the show, Carrie came over and was shaking hands with some people just to my left, and was moving my way. I usually hate being "grabby" in situations like that, but I couldn't resist. I stuck out my right hand, which she took it in her left while she was shaking hands with someone else with her right hand. After she let go, she looked right at me and I said "You guys were great tonight." She smiled and said, "Thank you." That was my second and final brush with greatness.
