Music review: Sleater-Kinney, Barrowland, Glasgow

The world has finally caught up with Sleater-Kinney. Original riot grrls Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein have been kicking against patriarchal exploitation and subjugation for 26 years. Held just a few days after Harvey Weinstein was found guilty, this electrifying show was a powerful confirmation of everything they stand for. It was also F.U.N. fun. Sleater-Kinney have always known that punk – or punk rock as our American friends insist on calling it – is entertainment, no matter how serious and important its overall intent. When they encored with a cover of Laura Branigan’s Gloria, it wasn’t an ironic hipster joke, it was a natural fit.

Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney PIC: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Sleater-Kinney, Barrowland, Glasgow *****


 



The reason they’re frequently cited as one of the greatest living rock bands is easy to explain: they actually are one of the greatest living rock bands.


They still play with the same passion and intensity but they have evolved their sound to encompass Goth, punk, indie-pop, synths, psychedelia, even wracked torch balladry. It’s all part of the same continuum.


Brownstein is a phenomenal performer, a mesmerising riot of kicks, leaps, shimmies, points and windmills, all delivered with a big warm smile; the definition of unpretentious cool.


Tucker has an extraordinarily powerful voice, a yowling cross between Siouxsie Sioux, Cyndi Lauper and a haunted soprano. Her famed vocal interplay with Brownstein, plus the way they interact with each other and the crowd, is a unique thrill.


They are great guitarists, too, complementary masters of expressive thrash and texture. They have absorbed all the clichés in order to subvert them.


A telling moment occurred towards the end of the show, when Brownstein delivered an acute monologue about our communal need to listen and look after each other. Suddenly, some dingbat in the crowd – a man – yelled, “Play another song!”


Brownstein shut him down with a pointed rebuke: “I will not play another song, sir. I’m gonna speak for another f***in’ hour. People are so tired of being told to shut up.” 
Cue a deserved roar of approval and, I hope, a moment of dim reflection from a heckler so utterly lacking in self-awareness he effectively told a member of the feminist punk band Sleater-Kinney to put a sock in it while she spoke compassionately on behalf of marginalised groups. 
Some people don’t deserve the gifts they’re given.