It’s hard to believe that Sleater-Kinney has been doing this for 30 years now. Maybe that’s because they’re still playing small sold-out clubs like a hot new buzz band when they could easily move up to stadium shows. “Packed to the rafters” is usually just a way to say a venue is crowded, but in the case of their Monday night show at Philadelphia’s Theatre of Living Arts the fans were literally packed up onto the second floor and into the rafters to see the band.
Coming in hot in support of January’s Little Rope LP, the band worked their way in and out of hits old and new without taking any time to catch their breath. Carrie Brownstein’s thousand-watt smile betrayed any pretense of disaffected rock-star cool as she was clearly having a blast trading vocals and guitar lines with bandmate Corin Tucker. For her part, Tucker was all business, kicking things off behind the mic with “Hell,” the standout opener off Little Rope, before moving around the stage and even hopping the rail to venture into the crowd.
Openers Black Belt Eagle Scout won the crowd over early with their atmospheric rock tunes, setting a perfect mood for what was to come. And while it isn’t quite summer yet, the crowd funneling out onto Philadelphia’s South Street was all sweat and smiles after the night’s show.
Check out scenes from both sets captured by FLOOD photographer David Iskra below.
BLACK BELT EAGLE SCOUT
SLEATER-KINNEY
