Grrrl power was in full effect at the Moore Theatre Tuesday night when hometown favorites Sleater-Kinney, one of few bands from the brief riot grrrl musical movement to find success after the 1990s, opened its 22-city North American tour with a set of powerful, female-fueled rock.
Named after an Olympia exit on Interstate 5 (exit 108 if you’re curious), the trio –Janet Weiss on drums, Carrie Brownstein on vocals and guitar and Corin Tucker on vocals and lead guitar — have been mainstays in the Northwest music scene for the last decade. During the past 10 years the group has released seven records, including its most recent release, “The Woods,” the band’s first album on perennial local indie label Sub Pop.
Released last week, “The Woods” sees the group taking a risk by going in a drastically different direction. The result is a critically lauded album — one of the best pure rock records Sub Pop has put out in the past few years — that is filled with screeching feedback, muzzled fuzz and plenty of searing guitar solos.
However, as great as the record is, sometimes the first night of a tour for a band can go horribly wrong. But Sleater-Kinney performed a tight set that made it seem like it was the last night of the tour, not the first.
After the lights dimmed, sounds of crickets, birds and other noises from the great outdoors filled the theater, setting the mood for the crowd to enter the musical woods of the Portland threesome. Then, after a little bit of intentional feedback, the band started its set with the rock n’ roll parable “The Fox,” the opening track off “The Woods.”
As much fun as it was to listen to the band put on a solid set on the first night of its tour, it was almost as fun to watch the women of Sleater-Kinney perform. Weiss’ shoulder length, jet-black hair swished through the air as she held down each song with equal parts precision and abandon. Brownstein hopped up and down and robotically contorted her body during her reverb-filled solo on “What’s Mine Is Yours.” And Tucker’s passionate screams soared through the venue, as the band played nearly every track from “The Woods.”
The last song before the encore was almost Zeppelin-esque in its grandeur. The longer the song got, the better it became, which made for a dazzling 17-minute set-closer filled with jangled guitar parts, disjointed solos and ferocious drumming even the most jaded critic would have to respect and appreciate.
Mary Timony, a power-rock duo featuring drummer Devin Ocampo and former Helium vocalist Mary Timony, opened the show. Ocampo’s bombastic drum sounds combined with Timony’s crafty guitar work made the band a highly appropriate choice to start things off.
