Setlist in no order:
Start, Good Things, Turn, Ladyman, W&G, Ironclad, AHOTBO, Anon, YNRNRF, Banned, Prof, One Hr., Youth Decay, MM, Babies, M&H, Joey, DMO, End of You
Sleater-Kinney are the best band in the world. I travelled up to Leeds from Cardiff (Wales) to see them, and it definitely turned out to be one of the best gigs of my entire life (if not the best). The gig took place in a small(ish) club called "The Cockpit", despite the fact that it was scheduled to occur in a smaller part of the same club called "The Rocket". I assume the show got moved to the larger venue due to extra ticket requests or something. It was 500-700 capacity, to give you some idea. Perfectly sized really, and therefore, a more personal experience than some of the bigger venues S-K have been playing.
The support band was Mary Timony. I'd heard alot about her, but hadn't heard her music, so I was quite curious, and I went down the front (2nd or 3rd row, centre, from the stage-where I was to remain for the whole show). For such a minimal sound, I was impressed by Mary Timony, she's got a distinctive voice and plays the guitar in a cool way, angular but gentle chords, then the odd powerchord thrown in. Mary played about nine or ten songs, some of them she played on keyboard, one even had her playing a violin and singing, she's very versatile, so I am going to check out her records at some point....I was impressed. Despite there being only two people on the stage, (Mary and the drummer), they managed to paint some interesting musical sketches. I'd definitely recommend them to see....so if any of you are going to see S-K, get there early.
When Sleater-Kinney took the stage 25 minutes after Mary Timony left, we all cheered, and now looking around, I realised the place was jam-packed. Good job I stayed down the front, I had a perfect view of all members of the band, being in the centre. Carrie and Corin said hello, and they opened with "Start Together". I thought the song sounded good, but during the next one, it was clear that Carrie's voice was dead quiet in the mix. Carrie asked the monitor guy to give her some vocals, but apparently, it was already full on. It's a shame that Carrie runs into these technical problems all the time. Sometimes, the sound guys don't even turn the Mike on until it's too late and she's already singing. She must get pretty annoyed. Anyway, Carrie asked if we could all giver her a hand singing, which of course, most of us that knew the words did. Corin's guitar was a little quiet too, and then their was the drums. Janet had to stop playing in the middle of a song, (she looked pretty annoyed) and tighten up and move some pieces of the drum kit, so whilst she did that, Carrie and Corin played a drumless version of "Good Things", which went down great.
Things really picked up by the fouth or fifth song, the band had relaxed a lot, and most technical problems were minimised, apart from Carrie's Vocals (which nothing could be done about), and the crowd loosened up too. We all started dancing (pogo-style) and the gig had really taken off. The ladies apoogized for their sound, (but it didn't actually sound that bad to me), and thanked us all for the dancing. (Our pleasure!) The rest of the songs went by too quickly for me, I was enjoying the gig so much. It was amazing to see them at last (my first time), and the power coming off the stage was intense.
Carrie was amazing to watch. Dominating the stage, it's hard to take your eyes off of her, as you don't want to miss any of her funky moves. She pogos, throws shapes with her guitar like it's a gun, and does 90 degree swivelling jumps, all whilst kicking out the riffs faultlessly. This woman is the new guitar hero....right up there with Kristin Hersh in my book. Hopefully, she'll make more women pick up guitars and play, the music scene is still dominated by men, so come on girls, go for it.
Not much was said during the gig, but I think S-K had to rush a bit, as after the gig, there was an alternative music club night on, which struck me as unusual, it being a Sunday night. At one point though, Corin mentioned she'd been reading the papers and was talking about Madonna. I'm not exactly sure what she was relating to (mudfighting whilst pregnant maybe?), but she asked "what do you guys think of this?". She was looking right at me, but because I missed what she said exactly, I didn't answer....just smiled...I felt a bit embarrassed, but not for long, as one guy shouted "who gives a Sh**?" at which point Corin replied "I think my sisters might have something to say about it". :) Corin is cool...no doubt about it. At another point, inbetween songs it went quiet, and people started to shout for songs. A mate and I shouted out for "write me back, fucker" at which point some people just turned and looked at us as if we were actually swearing at the band....no way, just wanted to hear some old stuff too. S-K didn't play anything off the first album, which was a little surprising....it would have been great to hear "The Last Song" or "Be Yr Mama", but maybe next time. The crowd was brilliant though...they won everyone over.
S-K came back for encores. Carrie casually walked back on stage and started hacking away the intro to "Dig Me Out". The place went crazy! Then, "The End Of You" hit our shores, and I was shipwrecked for good by these sonic sirens. (Excuse the muso-journo jibber!). A perfect end to the night. At the T-shirt stall at the end, it seemed like people were trying to get hold of the last crust of bread in the world.....or a diamond. They got both.
All in all then, an excellent gig.....I think I spent the entire evening dancing and singing Corin's words back at her, even though I thought I might have fainted from the heat. I saw the S-K wandering around before and after the gig (before the gig it would have been dead easy to talk to them, I was dying to say hello, but I was feeling a little shy and wasn't sure if they were in a mood to talk to fans or not, so I didn't bother-it must be pretty weird for fans who know so much about you coming up when you know nothing about them, I felt). I smiled and waved at Carrie as she walked offstage, and she smiled and waved back at me, so that was more than enough compensation. What more can I say? I haven't enjoyed a gig so much in my life, I was smiling for hours afterwards, and I wish I could have travelled around the UK to see every gig, but I had work....enough said. Sleater-Kinney, I love you. (If you ever come to Wales-please?-I'll give you a tour and show you my riffs) :)
Merchandise: The orange tee (with the cat on it), posters, CD of latest S-K and Mary Timony releases.
