Review: Bikini Kill Performs at the Salt Shed
BIKINI KILL ENTERED MY LIFE AFTER I RECEIVED A C ON MY FIRST COLLEGE PAPER - I was pissed. A couple of months later, I went into my professor's office to get help on a topic for my final paper. I knew I wanted to write about music. I was leaning towards the D.C. scene, Bad Brains, Fugazi. He looked at me over his glasses and millions of papers covered in red marks and said, “Have you heard of Poly Styrene?” “What about Bikini Kill and the Riot Grrrls?” I said “No.” He said, “Maybe you should check them out, I have a feeling you would like them, write about that.
I don’t know what gave him the impression of me liking the Riot Grrrl movement. Maybe it was the pissed look I had on my face, the C that I never got over, maybe it was my arms crossed and my annoyance that indie music was full of men. He was right. After that class, I became certifiably obsessed with the Riot Grrrl movement. I read books, listened to Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, and Bratmobile, flipped through a million zines and manifestos, and wrote a 35-page thesis (that I got an A on by the way). All that to say…I went to a Bikini Kill concert in 2024 and, I screamed my head off.
When I wrote that thesis, I would lock myself in the library, put my headphones up, and listen to every Riot Grrrl band I could find. I was full of fervor, and longing for a movement I didn’t think I would ever see live. But, Sleater-Kinney was going on tour again, Le Tigre too, and I had high hopes that Bikini Kill would make a return–hoping I would finally be able to sing “Suck My Left One” in person instead of just showing a recording of it to a room full of professors.
I scored a ticket, put my hair in two ponytails, put on my homemade GRRRL shirt, met up with my friends, and we walked to the venue, singing “Rebel Girl” on loop for 40 minutes. Unfortunately, those lyrics did not ward off the super ironic string of catcalls we got on the way to Bikini Kill. Firemen yelled out their truck, cowards rode their bikes by shouting things so quickly that all my middle finger saw was the back of their shirts. Shaking off gross words, we got into the venue, seeing punks of all ages scurrying around the endless merch line, and walking with an extra punk pep in their step to the stage.
Shadow Show opened the night up. Their psychedelic punk sound was reminiscent of bands like Post Animal and Habibi. They carried this wistful and distant tone while keeping power in their hands. I could tell they were so excited to be there. I was too. There were so many grrrls in the crowd. It was the first time in a long time that I didn’t feel outnumbered or nervous when the eventual mosh pit would form.
My friends and I waited in the crowd, looking around and seeing everyone with the biggest, goofiest smiles on their faces. That’s how the whole night felt, like a big Cheshire cat smile. Finally Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Erica Dawn Lyle stepped onto the stage, erupting the venue in a roar. Decked out in colored tights and big skirts, Bikini Kill looked punker than ever.
Bikini Kill ripped through their set with their signature punk attitudes, walls of roaring sounds, dancing across the floor while everyone in the crowd beamed with amusement. Hanna holds this power in her mic that makes you feel everything she is saying. It’s pretty magical to witness. Hanna’s presence reminded me and that crowd that you don’t just have to be a punk grrrl in a crowd. You can command the spotlight, flip legs-crossed-femininity on its head, and demand everyone listens to you. Often, Hanna would pause in between songs and share stories of people, tours, friends lost, and zines. These breaks made the show feel like a jam sesh in your friend's apartment. A slap in the face of sound and a kiss on the cheek of “Remember when?”
There were deep cuts in Bikini Kill’s set like “Feels Blind” and “Carnival.” Grrrls turned to their friends in the crowd after hearing one or two bars of guitar and started jumping up and down, gearing up to enter the mosh pit. The band was tight and displayed their artistry in a way that when you watch them you know they know what they’re doing, they’ve been around the block, and are confident in their music and performance. A choreographed dance of switching instruments and bringing the music right back. It’s this nonchalance coupled with putting literally everything into this tour that Bikini Kill accomplished so gracefully. Hanna’s voice still pricks you like a rose stem. It’s jarring and in your face, saying everything you’ve been feeling and performing it eloquently.
Bikini Kill, of course, ended their show with an encore, because what's better than that? I finally saw “Suck My Left One” performed live. Hanna ran across the stage, kicking her legs, almost as an honorary guest of the mosh pit. I thought of my professor's faces when I pressed play on that video while presenting my thesis. I didn’t have shaky legs anymore, they were bouncing off of the concrete floor. There is no better feeling than singing “SUCK MY LEFT ONE” at the top of your lungs. “Rebel Girl” rounded out their show. Hanna performs that song with a message in her mic, one that you can’t get out of your head. “When she talks I hear the revolution.”
Seeing Bikini Kill at 23 is something that my 18-year-old mind cannot quite comprehend. It brought back those stars in my eyes that I had listening to Bikini Kill for the first time. Bands like Bikini Kill are needed today. We need revolution grrrl style now. Their lyrics make your legs move and your hands write. They make you want to go home, write a zine, play that guitar that's been sitting in the corner of your room for six months, have a conversation with your friends about anything and everything. That’s what this music is about. That’s what punk is about. As Kathleen Hanna said, “You don’t have to look a certain way to be punk.” Punk was leaking through the walls and onto everyone in that crowd. The mixed patterns, Sonic Youth t-shirts, pigtails, big boots, and all of us singing “Rebel Girl” at the top of our lungs, what’s punker than that?
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