The moments leading up to this are some of the most crucial. Your palms are sweating. You’re jittery with excitement. You can’t stop smiling, but there’s something in the pit of your stomach. What if seeing your hero perform live for the first time doesn’t live up to your expectations? Could you handle that? Last week, The Julie Ruin came to The Sinclair, and this would be my first time seeing Kathleen Hanna live. Would it live up to my expectations? In short, yes, but here’s the long story.
The night before the show, I mentally prepared by watching The Punk Singer, the 2013 documentary chronicling the rise and subsequent disappearance of Kathleen Hanna into the third wave feminist movement and music scene. Where did she go in 2005? We all thought it was exactly as she told us: she had run out of things to say with her music. She lied to us a bit, which I can forgive her for after seeing The Punk Singer. She was sick with undiagnosed Lyme disease, which had been taking control of her body, leaving her unable to perform.
But Kathleen Hanna is back, looking as healthy as ever. I’m so happy that she can now perform again and finally start to have fun with her music. The Julie Ruin is a perfect outlet for her in this stage of her life. She can mellow out from her Bikini Kill and Le Tigre days, just singing, dancing, and having fun. Not only was the anticipation of seeing The Julie Ruin more excitement than I could handle, I was ready to see Screaming Females again.
I had the chance to see Screaming Females live last year with Waxahatchee. I went into the show hearing Screaming Females records with the notion of “eh this is cool but not really what I’m usually into.” Seeing Screaming Females live flipped that 180 degrees. Their unending energy and stage presence makes the live experience on a whole other planet, never mind plane.
Marissa Paternoster shreds harder than anyone on the guitar, even needing a special strap to help keep her guitar attached to her body. This set was a lot tighter than the previous one, which would flood into some long jam sessions from the trio. Everything at The Sinclair was timed perfectly and kept neat, really letting their musicianship shine with no frills or gimmicks. Paternoster even stayed on the stage this time, but she would have probably gotten lost within the large audience at The Sinclair anyway.
Then The Julie Ruin took the stage to the sound of 500+ people clapping harder than their hands can take. I wasn’t sure what the setlist would consist of, but when I interviewed Sara Landeau two months ago, she said that the band had worked out the tracks from Kathleen’s solo album Julie Ruin from the late ’90s. These tracks were dispersed between songs from 2013’s Run Fast. Hanna’s vocals were put through distortion in the earlier tracks to give it the same lo-fi feel of the bedroom recording quality of Julie Ruin. The newer tracks were a frenzy of fun garage tunes thanks to the other members of the band: Kathi Wilcox, Kenny Mellman, Carmine Covelli, and Sara Landeau. Synth and guitar/bass elements were perfectly balanced, and I imagined that this was like seeing The B-52s in their prime.
At most shows at The Sinclair, the height of the stage makes you feel removed from the show; you’re not part of the spectacle. This night was different. Kathleen and Kenny told jokes about their outfits and accepted feedback from the crowd about them. There was also an interactive game of trivia to give away three tickets to the nearby Apple Cinemas, where the band had tried to see Noah earlier that day. Audience requests were also entertained (for the most part. If you want to hear “Rebel Girl,” go see a Bikini Kill cover band instead.) They played “Apt. #5” after a man in the audience yelled it out between songs. Though not the Bikini Kill song most people would have given up their first born child to hear, they did play “This is Not a Test” with a fun, lighter sound thanks to the electronic elements of The Julie Ruin.
Tonight couldn’t have been ruined or better than it was. I’m not sure what I was so nervous about.
