How do you even start to talk about Sleater-Kinney? They’re unfiltered punk rock, unabashedly feminist and . 2024 has seen them release their eleventh studio album, the critically praised Little Rope, as well as the Frayed Rope Sessions EP which reimagines tracks from the album. They’re currently on tour but we were lucky to get some time to talk to Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein about some of their favorite concert memories. Find out what made Carrie want to get on stage, what Corin did instead of going to her senior prom and what they call “the perfect concert going experience.”
George Michael
Carrie: I saw George Michael when I was in junior high. It was on The Faith Tour. Obviously, George Michael was huge at the time. So I went with my friend from junior high, Hadley. I won't say her last name just for privacy in case she’s renouncing her George Michael affection as an adult. I grew up in the suburbs of Seattle, but often the biggest bands have played the Tacoma Dome, which is about a half hour south of Seattle. It was that great era where he had his leather jacket, his jeans. He would just would run from one platform to another. It was a real workout. If it had been the time of Fitbit, he would be getting a lot of steps in. I was just floored, and the reason this concert was so important to me is I remember my friend turning to me in the middle of the concert and just saying that she wanted to... I'm making this a little more PG than what she said, but she wanted to kiss George Michael. And I thought, “I don't want to kiss George Michael, I want to be on stage.” And I think it was at that moment that I realized who and what I wanted to be in life.
Fugazi
Corin: The show was June of 1990. I was in high school, so this is my senior year. This is the night of senior prom. So, all my friends were at prom doing the high school thing. I went to the show by myself in Eugene, Oregon, at the WOW Hall. The Hall itself was a former lumberjack hall, so it's all built of wood. It sounds fantastic for bands because of the music bouncing off the wood. It was, for me, like a fork in the road for my life because I was a huge Fugazi fan. They had a really amazing way of writing punk songs that were very tight. And I loved the ethics of Fugazi. You know, the whole idea of rejecting the dominant culture and rewriting how we wanted to live our lives. That to me was what I wanted to do for our generation. I think I owe a lot of thanks to that show because it was definitely like a door opened for me.
The Go-Betweens
Carrie: In 1999, we were touring in Japan. We were flying back into San Francisco. We found out that Grant McLennan and Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens were playing at the Great American Music Hall, which is a beautiful, beautiful venue. So we finagled our way into the show, we landed very jet lagged, and saw Grant and Robert perform. What was amazing was that afterwards, we got to meet them and we went back to this hotel and just drank and hung out and played guitar. And Grant showed us the chords to “Love Goes On!” which is from their album 16 Lovers Lane. And yeah, it's unreal to have the actual writer of a song show you how to play the song. So the whole night just has this sheen to it. Sort of the perfect concert going experience.
Sleater-Kinney’s Little Rope North American Tour is going on right now. There’s also dates in Europe scheduled for August. You can check out more and buy tickets on their official website.
