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Sleater-Kinney concert review

June 16, 2005 at Chicago's Riviera Theatre

By Jennifer Sabella
Published: June 22nd, 2005 | 10:26am

If Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, and Janet Weiss didn’t make it clear on their latest and heaviest album to date, The Woods, they want their live show to set the record straight: Sleater-Kinney is stepping it up a notch, and they are prepared to rock hard.

After three years of waiting for the trio to return to the Windy City, Chicago fans got a dose of Sleater-Kinney’s intoxicating live show on June 16, 2005. The band kept the chatting to a minimum and packed 20 songs into their set. An eerie soundtrack of noises from the woods blared through the Riviera Theatre as the venue darkened and the band took the stage.

Sleater-Kinney’s reputation as an incredible live band is an accurate one. From the first verse of "The Fox," the surprisingly dense lead track from The Woods, fans were reluctant to move their eyes from the stage, where the chemistry between Tucker, Brownstein, and Weiss was undeniable.

The remaining set list was filled with tracks from The Woods, and despite the fact the albums was released only a couple weeks prior to their performance, many fans seemed to already know the words to every song.

Some notable songs of the evening were "What’s Mine is Yours," where Tucker and Brownstein used their signature poppy, double-vocals along with some heavier guitar parts. "Oh!" from 2002’s One Beat incited a sudden dance party, and "Entertain" had Brownstein jumping around the stage, guitar in hand, with a huge grin. As the song wrapped up, Tucker’s voice blared through the venue: "Don’t weigh me down, I’m not fallin’ down," while Weiss’s drumming had the entire crowd nodding their heads to the beat.

In true rock-star fashion, the band briefly left the stage before returning for not one but two encores. For their closers, they brought out the big guns — songs from The Hot Rock, One Beat, and 1997’s Dig Me Out. Between Tucker’s powerful and enchanting voice, Brownstein’s magic fingers and contagious smile, and Weiss’s powerhouse drum solos, Sleater-Kinney once again left Chicago fans satisfied, yet ready for more. Hopefully it won’t be another three-year wait.