Sleater-Kinney and Coney Island Knishes

Back in May, i bought three tickets to Sleater-Kinney. Grrr decided to come out here on Thursday to visit and to see the show with me. Here's what we thought:

- Janet Weiss is very short. A BADass drummer who just happens to be surprisingly very short. After a very very delayed flight, and a lazy wander to the 6:45 show that included happy hour and a little midtown lostedness, we found standing space in the balcony directly in line with the stage, and were able to watch the opening band finish their last two songs in true prog-rock smocke screened splendor. As we were doing so, we noticed that Janet Weiss was standing just next to us. At first, we didn't think it was her cause, well, she was just out with us, and also cause she was soooo very little (she looks pretty staturesque in the pics). But it was. And she was watching the opening band rock out. Well, at least until dude started talking to her, when she decided it was time to leave the peoples.

- Being a bit space-sensitive--okay, aggressively, territorially space sensitive--I'd been working myself up for this show, preparing to be hot, crowded, jostled around, acres away from the band, and surrounded by rude, jaded city folk. So not so. The bathrooms were clean, the air conditioning was high, and Sleater Kinney fans are delightful. We kept battling with these guys next to us for space in a very friendly, half-joshing way, and made truce to hold each others' spaces when nature or the beer man called. On the other side, a lovely (and also nicely short) trio of Polish rockers who came in like tigers and ended up being hug-goodbye friends. And did we mention that we were standing, like, RIGHT BESIDE and above the stage? Like "Oh, look, her tag's sticking out of her top" close to the stage? I-can-see-their-shoes close to the stage? Oy, this is turning into one of tthose obnoxious yogurt commercials. It was "jeans that make your butt look good good!" Yuck. But seriously? Good.

- THE ROCK! It rocked.

- Pot smoke drifting about at a Sleater-Kinney show? ok. whatever, kids. i think it was part of the pre-show effects actually.

- The music was awesome too. and we had tons of room to jump and dance and watch and not be hit on the head by the elbows of others while doing so! (a) -- ive been to four SK shows, and, for most of em, i leave kinda disappointed that i didn't feel moved by the show. this was was different. good.

- (r) -- They played a goodly mix of stuff from their new album mixed in with some older stuff. Always interesting to see which songs people respond to--not always the ones I'd expect. Corrin sang a bit more this time around, I think. A bit of a jam session at one point, but it was pretty interesting to watch them work together at it. For a while. There did come the eventual "oooookay, I want songs, not concertoes" moment for me, but it wasn't overkill--it's not like they've suddenly turned into a PHish-style jam band. Despite what I'd heard. (a) -- they played TONS from their new album, which makes sense since they are touring on it and all. and they did two encores where they brought out more oldies. but i love their old stuff. never can play enough of em in my book. but i didn't leave feeling too sad about it this time. and i thought Carrie sang less than other shows ive seen, but she was allowed to rock it git-wise front and center a lot more. a trade off maybe. dunno. drum and git solos. different. interesting.

- Riot grrrls playing prog. "Proficency." hm.

- Janet can drum really, really fast. Really fast. It's pretty cool. It's like, whoa!! Cooll!! That cool.

- Thought during the show we shared toward tiered-skirted, pointy-shoed, leopard-shirted Corin throwing it down on the vox: "She's a momma. That's pretty great."

- No one shared any cute kid stories. It wasn't like "I'm a mom! Let me show you pictures!" even though so much of their press starts all "So, you're a mom! What's THAT like?"

i did miss weaving guitar lines and Carrie screaming.

beer isn't that expensive. not like chicago's stupid for many reasons metro. (but not inexpensive like PBR at the rail, really, either...) and you can buy shots that look like they're served in an oversize thimble. Or the dispensary cap off a cough syrup bottle, kind of. Cheers!

So. No fighting, nice Polish girls, rocking rock of a fountain of ROCK, pretty pink bathrooms with loads of mirror space, and air conditioning. All around, I'd say thumbs up.

my thumbs are up too. the Roseland has surprised me how well you can see and hear in such a large space(it's pretty too). way to go again, Roseland! Sleater-Kinney rocks it. and non-nasty people to stand by during all of it. plus, rare running-into-you-goodness from grrr. a fine show all around.

mermaid parade and manhattan bridge walking and lots of eating and happy houring and drinking and park sitting and ocean wave jumping too! ny summer.

aout!