Like a picture of a sunny day, Sleater-Kinney makes their Las Vegas debut
Very few things in life improve with age – wine, Chinese food, “Police Academy” movies, etc. Pacific Northwest-based rock band Sleater-Kinney remains one of those anomalies in life that repeatedly outdoes themselves. Seeing this happen in real time has been nothing less than amazing. Rewind 21 years ago to July 8th, 2003 in New York City. After getting into Madison Square Garden with what turned out to be a counterfeit ticket I bought on 7th Ave to see Pearl Jam, a band with which I wasn’t familiar, Sleater-Kinney, was the opener. 3 women grinding out some mix of punk, new wave, and pop delivered with frantic inflected vocals that would blow anyone’s ears back like a sudden fist to the jaw (pun intended). I was hooked.
In the years to come, seeing this band in Atlantic City, NJ supporting their album “The Woods,” further solidified this stance. Later encounters in Philadelphia, PA, and back in New York City in 2015 supporting the “No Cities to Love” album, Los Angeles, CA in 2019 at the Palladium for the brilliant “The Center Won’t Hold” tour, and Dana Point, CA in 2021 left me as not only a fan of their art but also as someone who endlessly respects their legacy as a band.
Sleater-Kinney kicked off 2024 by releasing their 11th studio album, “Little Rope” which unleashed a barrage of fresh tracks that not only made me do a double take but in a few cases, made me say “OK, this is going on my everyday playlist.” Songs such as Hell, what sounds like to me The Killers-inspired Say It Like You Mean It, and the avalanche of emotion poured out in Untidy Creature all set this record apart from anything on their previous album “Path of Wellness.” Wellness seemed like a band trying to find their go-forward sound after the departure of a long-time band member. “Little Rope” is that sound decided upon, personified, and delivered with fury.
Sleater-Kinney took the stage at the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas in what they would say later as their first time playing Vegas, to a packed house filled with anticipation. The very strong opening band, Black Belt Eagle Scout, filled the room with a mood that made one almost feel like they were in some small town in Oregon or Washington. You could almost smell the coffee brewing from some cafe while standing in the rain peering through the window to see if there was an open seat. But back to reality, this is the desert and I actually smelled Bud Light.
The set was a menagerie of songs spanning their 30-year history, though mainly and expectedly focused on their new record. It’s always easy to tell from watching the audience at any show how the new music is being received. Sometimes at shows, the first notes of a new song cue people to visit the restrooms. Luckily and deservedly for “Little Rope,” Sleater-Kinney’s audience remained engaged and there was no mood of boredom permeating the venue. And fortunately, nobody screamed “Freebird!” either.
The stage presence of Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein playing off of each other has always been nothing less than electric. One without the other is like the yin without the yang, peanut butter without the jelly, or Fox News without the Goebells-inspired propaganda. Tucker gushes out raw passion and fervor in a way that brings one into the song with her through every bar. Brownstein moves about the stage delivering a performance with her Gibson reminiscent of guitarists like Pete Townshend or Mike McCready. Both ladies trade lead vocal roles seamlessly like a book filled with run-on sentences that you just can’t put down. Seeing what happens next is always paramount when seeing Sleater-Kinney.
As the main set began to peak, the single I was most excited to hear live for the first time, Say It Like You Mean It, made the setlist. Though I enjoyed it, I think it is still too new to get the audience reaction it truly will receive after it gains more traction. I’m convinced this song will become one of their classics on tours for years to come. Followed by the fan-favorite Modern Girl from their most notable album “The Woods,” the audience got their chance for that moment in any show that’s always touching – the singalong. (A normal singalong, not a trip into a psych ward that is a singalong at The Eras tour as great as that was)
What followed was something I certainly did not expect. Sleater-Kinney’s new album “Little Rope” closes with a passionate mid-tempo emotional rollercoaster that would have fit well as a Soundgarden song in this humble writer’s opinion. That song is entitled Untidy Creature. Sometimes it becomes apparent when seeing a song performed live how much it actually means to the songwriter. That’s what happened. We all got to see how much that one means, the emotive desperation it conveys, and how expressing one’s self musically is more valuable than any shrink in Malibu. Corin Tucker came directly into the crowd and delivered a dose of power to the people in the front of the audience like dropping an F-150 transmission into a hot tub. That’s how you close a set, kids.
See the Full Gallery of the Night Here!
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Set List:
Hell
Needlessly Wild
Get Up
Bury Our Friends
Small Finds
Start Together
The Fox
Hunt You Down
The Future Is Here
One More Hour
Don’t Feel Right
A Quarter To Three
Can I Go In
Six Mistakes
Jumpers
Dress Yourself
Say It Like You Mean It
Modern Girl
Untidy Creature
Encore:
Good Things
One Beat
Dig Me Out
Entertain
Sleater-Kinney’s tour continues throughout the US and Europe this year. For more information, check their website, sign up for their mailing list, and follow their social media:
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