Sleater-Kinney made it worth braving the rain Monday night

A classic gig at The Truman with support from Palehound.

March 28, 2024

Andrew Dodderidge,

Sleater-Kinney. // photo by Andrew Dodderidge

Sleater-Kinney
with Palehound
The Truman
Monday, March 25

For the second straight time, Sleater-Kinney brought the rain.

Walking west on 16th Street to head into The Truman on Monday night, pools of puddles soaking into my shoes and socks, I made the connection: how could this happen again? Sleater opened for Wilco back in 2021 at Grinders, a show that ended up being canceled due to weather once the longtime indie rock group finished up, resulting in Americana greats Wilco to perform an eight-song backstage livestream instead.

Luckily enough, this one was indoors, but the immediate downpour on everybody making the trek from their cars to the venue was certainly felt during the entirety of the two hour and 40 minute show. Three years back, they played only seven cuts, but this set was much longer for the Olympia duo, still chugging along despite former drummer Janet Weiss leaving the band back in 2019.

Before their 9:10 p.m. call time, El Kempner’s indie rock phenom for the past 11 years, Palehound, took the stage at The Truman. Kempner initially started the group as a solo project, but they now feature drummer Zoe Brecher and bassist Larz Brogan. On a number of dates this tour, they have clocked 11 tracks into their 40 minute set length, an impressive achievement, which in the end makes sense due to their shorter-than-average song runtimes.

Palehound. // photo by Andrew Dodderidge

Kempner, just recently named the 226th greatest guitarist of all-time by The Rolling Stone, formed bands as early as high school with a band called Cheerleader, but later transitioned into Palehound when she moved to NYC in 2012 to attend Sarah Lawrence College. Their most recent record, Eye on the Bat, released this past summer, and received some major attention, specifically a positive review from Pitchfork.

During the 30-minute break between bands, a Sleater-Kinney merch worker made their way up on stage to introduce themselves as a stand-up comedian. I thought it was a bit at first, but the bit stretched itself just enough to carry the crowd into the band’s seventh trip to the area.

In 2015, they were touring No Cities to Love, with a headlining show at Uptown. Opening for the aforementioned Wilco in 2021, their latest LP was Path to Wellness. This time around, it’s Little Rope.

Weiss left the band right after the 2019 release, The Center Won’t Hold, considered the low point of the band’s career thus far, due to the group “heading in a new direction”. It was the most different record the rockers had put out, for better or worse, and with Weiss out the door, the two following albums trended towards familiar genre territory.

2015’s No Cities to Love was a nice return to form for the band, satisfying longtime listeners after a 10-year gap while also being accessible enough to pick up new fans along the way. Overall, they hit the mark, especially as a follow-up to the group’s magnum opus, The Woods.

But ever since No Cities, they have strayed towards both a different sound (Center) and more generic-type punk-rock (Little). It’s certainly not bad, but just hard to differentiate themselves from the pack with the 10 songs they just released. The recent release is tinged in a new light, given the recent passing of Carrie Brownstein’s mother.

The tracks do sound very good live, though, and the duo brings the energy you’d expect, especially during the show-closer “Untidy Creature”, where Corin Tucker goes out into the crowd to sing a majority of the Little finale. But going from a Little track, to a The Woods cut, back to Little, the dip in quality is very noticeable.

The biggest surprise came from the inclusion of the title track from their overall solid 2000 LP All Hands on the Bad One. One of the few switch-ups of the night compared to their normal setlist this tour, it was refreshing to hear something I did not listen to to prep for the show.

A very hit-heavy encore, which included “Good Things” and “Entertain”, ended the night around 10:40 p.m. Sticking it out a couple more minutes, I saw the setlist handed out to some fans near the front, and while approaching the group, a woman had their 1998 Bottleneck setlist on-hand with her.

“Is that the setlist?” I asked.

“Setlist ‘98!!” she screamed.

“…What do you mean?” I asked again.

“1998! The setlist! Fuck, I’m old!”

Everything was there in that short and simple 10-second conversation. Their fans are enthusiastic about their music and it is clear, still to this day, what effect these women have on their audience. Plus, the full-scope of what they have accomplished during 23 years as a band. I recently saw a concert review of this tour from a fairly prominent publication claiming that “this is the last time they will go see Sleater-Kinney”. That they are done. That’s something that’s hard to justify for me, even if half of their tracklist hits familiar beats.

All photos by Andrew Dodderidge

Sleater-Kinney