BIKINI KILL CALL FOR A REVOLUTION AT PIER 17

The archetypal riot grrrl band Bikini Kill returned to NYC for a highly anticipated show at Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport, after having multiple shows being postponed by the pandemic like so many frustrated artists, but considering the latest rulings by the Supreme Court that cut women’s rights in so many ways, it is the perfect time for some revolution girl style right now! They also added a second NY show the following night at Irving Plaza. I was first turned on to Bikini Kill back in the early days of the 90’s when I was briefly living in Seattle. My roommate at the time knew Kurt Cobain, and I knew of him from their early album Bleach that my friend had taped off for me on the B side of a Pixies album in High School, but in these pre-Nevermind days not many people knew of him or the band. He was very nice and had a great knowledge of music and many other things, and he strongly suggested I catch this band called Bikini Kill he was playing with soon after. So, I went out to this small-ass venue to see them play, and I very nearly missed Bikini Kills opening set, only catching the last few songs, which is one of the reasons I try never to miss opening acts to this day. However, seeing Bikini Kill blow the roof off this place felt like a whole new world opened up to me, as lead singer Kathleen Hanna exposed so many sad fallacies in the patriarchal world we live in, and she especially rallied against the rape and abuse culture of the live music scene in which it was common for women to be groped and attacked sexually at shows. It was that openly activist zeal that defined the riot grrrl movement, and also heavily influenced the more male-dominated grunge rock movement that blew up out of the Pacific Northwest in the early 90’s. By the end of the 90’s the band was no more, and Hannah had moved to NYC and married Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys as well as fronting a more synthy new wave sounding project called Le Tigre.

In the early 2000’s Kathleen Hanna caught Lyme Disease and spent over a decade fighting its debilitating effects, but she did eventually begin to play live again with her project Julie Ruin that involved her old Bikini Kill bassist Kathi Wilcox. In 2017, I was blown away by catching the first official Bikini Kill reunion when these two played with their former drummer Tobi Vail at a book event about the seminal all-ladies band Raincoats at The Kitchen in Manhattan. They only played one song, but you could cut the excitement in the room with a buzzsaw. It didn’t take long before they were touring as a unit once again, and I was fortunate enough to catch one of their explosive Brooklyn shows at Kings Theater in 2019. This Pier 17 show was on the rooftop of the Chase Building at the South Street Seaport, set to the glorious backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the open air setting gave the night an even more festive feeling than seeing them in a smaller, cramped venue.

Opening the show was a local NYC band called Ribbon Stage, and they had a real Velvet Underground and Nico sound that really wooed you in. They said they have a new album coming, so I look forward to hearing more from these splendid musicians.

Ribbon Stage

Bikini Kill came on stage and it was like seeing an old friend you hadn’t seen for far too long. For this tour Hanna, Wilcox, and Vail were joined by local guitar legend Sarah Landau who filled in for founding axe grinder Billy Karren. They switched instruments often through the show, as Vail stepped to the mic to sing a few songs, and Hannah played some bass as well. They opened with a classic oldie “New Radio,” followed by punker masterpieces like “Carnival,” “DemiRep,” and “Capri Pants,” and Kathleen Hanna, of course, spoke out often about many feminist and humanist issues, which felt so appropriate considering the loss of rights we’ve experienced in this country recently. The finale of their classic early punk anthems “Suck My Left One,” “Double Dare Ya,” and the iconic call to arms “Rebel Girl” was so damned good I could die happy just seeing those played over and over again in concert heaven.