Sleater-Kinney, Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, 2-May-2006

When I saw that the opening act was a comedienne I thought that this meant the show was going to be more radical than I expected. The audience was more than half female. There were a lot of school age kids. Tee-shirts seemed to be available only in small sizes. Alas, despite these signs of the apocalypse the band still started well after my regular bedtime. But I was glad I stayed up. Sleater-Kinney rock hard. They are not formal innovators, they are just a great rock band. Who happen to be all women. They like being in San Francisco and they like playing. I hadn’t realized that Carrie Brownstein is such an amazing guitarist. And I had no idea that she is a guitar hero, she looked great in a sleeveless shirt, somewhat like Chrissie Hynde. She has all the moves that any air guitar player could love: she struts, she kicks, she plays the guitar above her head. I knew from their records that Corin Tucker has a special voice but it was a pleasure to hear it filling a hall. It doesn’t get wearing either, I could listen to her all day. I was surprised that I wasn’t more impressed by Janet Weiss. Every great band has a great drummer and Sleater-Kinney is no exception. And I am impressed by any drummer who can hit as hard as Janet and still sing and play harmonica. Was I somehow expecting John Bonham? I liked the way that Carrie and Corin get by with only a couple of guitars each. There was no sign of guitar techs although Janet did seem to need the assistance of an earring wrangler at one point. I jumped around in a foolish manner. Another good gig, why did I ever stop going? I think the secrets are: don’t go to too many gigs (keep it special), only go to see bands I know I really like (which means not going to see the hippest new UK bands), don’t stay out too late.