I drove down to Portland from Vancouver, BC on Friday to see SK play. When I went through customs back home into the us the officer asked me where I was going and was like, um, rock concert in Portland, and he was like who, and I said sleater-kinney, and he just kind of smiled and waved me through. Seven hours (and Labor Day traffic) later I got down to Portland in time to catch the opening act, Slow. The Gossip played and they were even better then during the SF show in June. I think they’ve really grown. The band was simply amazing and dealt with guitar problems very nicely. Wow. Carrie said later during the sk set that Beth was considering going back to the south to go to beauty school in the fall, and that she would take a poll of the audience to see how we felt. Naturally everyone voted for Beth to stay out in Portland and continue to rock. Put down your tease and comb and go back to rock school. sk played and the crowd seemed tired and excited, or maybe that was just me. Although some people have commented that this show was off, I disagree. I dug the energy, people were respectful (and cute), and there was room to dance. y’all should have seen Kevin and his indie fashion sense. really something. a shout out to the cute girl who was dancing behind me and is moving. I thought sk rocked and sounded fine. It was worth the drive. Seeing Janet onstage made me realize that I think I really did see her in Portland last week. I happened to be wearing my ahotbo shirt and had emerged from the ladies room, and was very surprised. I felt kind of embarrassed, and didn’t say anything, despite the fact that I think she’s a super drummer.
