Live Review: Sleater-Kinney at Crystal Ballroom, 5/5

Sleater-Kinney are finally home. 

After starting its reunion tour in Spokane, of all places, the band returned to the Crystal Ballroom on Tuesday night to play the same venue where it ended its original run in 2006. It was a cause for celebration, sure, but Sleater-Kinney didn’t spend much time leaning on past glories. Opening with the fierce punch of “Price Tag” and “Fangless,” the first two tracks on its new record No Cities to Love, the night was more of a showcase for the band’s great new album than a syrupy trip down memory lane. 

Despite the initial disappointment of waiting a few months to see Corin Tucker, Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein back on stage together, the hours spent on the road honing these songs—chiseling away any extraneous notes and sounds—gave the show a tight, urgent feel. There was little banter or reflection, just jam after jam, with material from the group's entire catalog laced in between blasts from No Cities. 

All the new songs were a revelation live, and the band has these songs down perfectly—”Surface Envy,” especially, has become the new rallying cry, with Brownstein’s guitar peeling off weird noises in every direction as the crowd joins in on the most singable chorus of 2015: “We win, we lose/Only together do we break the rules.” And though it looked like Sleater-Kinney were actually more comfortable playing post-Portlandia material, it’s clear, almost 10 years removed, that The Woods is the band’s masterpiece. Give me 10-plus minutes of “Let’s Call it Love” over any classic-rock album, boomers. 

No matter if this was your first or 10th time seeing Sleater-Kinney, it’s still remarkable to witness three musicians (and sometimes four, as new touring member Katie Harkin contributed backing guitar, synth and rhythm work to about half the songs from the shadows at the back corner of the stage) so in tune with each other. Tucker’s unhinged wail has only grown more fierce with age—when she unleashed the “wah-oh-ohs” of “Entertain,” I briefly thought the flickering backdrop behind the stage might collapse from sheer force. Brownstein’s guitar playing will always be astounding, but for me the best part of seeing Sleater-Kinney live is witnessing Weiss’ incredible drumming, pushing the songs toward the rafters like each hit might be the last one. If she’s not the best drummer in the world, then I really don’t know anything. 

About halfway through the set, Brownstein quickly paused to address the crowd. “You’ve seen us at the beginning, the middle, and the end,” she said, trailing off before saying whether “the end” meant the band's split or this current victory lap. Let’s hope this isn’t the last time we see Portland’s best band in the flesh. Portland needs Sleater-Kinney now more than ever. 

All photos by Colin McLaughlin.

WWeek 2015