We weren't able to score a camera pass in time, so these images were provided by Mike Lythcott at Bandphotography.com, who has Sleater-Kinney pictures to burn. We encourage you to visit the site for more great rock photography.

It's been a while since I've been to a show that I've really anticipated, so I walked into the Crystal Ballroom, located in downtown Portland, full of expectations. The Ballroom itself is a curious venue which is located in an odd, triangular city block in the heart of Portland. The inside is also strangely shaped, with the stage in one corner of the rectangular floor. While this makes for poor visibility in spots, the fact that they brew their own beers makes up for it (I myself thoroughly enjoyed the Black Rabbit Porter, while Colleen's Ruby had a bit too much raspberry for my tastes). The capacity crowd arrived early and was literally buzzing with excitement.

Opening the festivities was Slow, a trio which featured two acoustic-guitar-playing singers and a drummer. One singer's slightly nasal vocals reminded me of Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes, while the other could easily fit in with the Indigo Girls. What I found especially appealing was the way in which the singers stepped on top of one another's vocal lines. Rather than coming off sloppy, this created a "he said/she said" feel to their songs. Since most of the lyrics were Dadaist takes on love gone wrong, it created a vivid picture of an arguing couple. This was a pleasant set for me and, judging by the reactions, for the rest of the crowd as well.

After a quick change-over, the Gossip took the stage. This trio (trios seemed to be a theme for the night) immediately grabbed the crowd. Although the guitarist jumped about while ripping out Fogerty-inspired swamp stomp, it was the singer who held the crowd in her beefy hand. Singing with all the bluster and grit of Janice Joplin while shaking about like Meatloaf, she absolutely ruled the crowd. Between songs, she chatted in a slight Southern twang and was both appreciative of the response and clearly in charge. During a delay due to a guitar breakdown, she easily handled one putz who shouted insults by reminding him that "We're not doing this on purpose, sugah," which quieted him down quite nicely. With their punk-length songs, the Gossip won an ecstatic response from the crowd, although I personally felt their songs were a bit too rushed. If the band manages to take their time while writing and uses more dynamic and drama (as well as replaces their utterly boring drummer) the Gossip will be a band to keep your eyes on.

Finally, with the crowd salivating in anticipation, the women of Sleater-Kinney took the stage. For those who have never heard Sleater-Kinney, shame on you. With their interweaving guitar and vocal lines, the band simultaneously exhibits punk ferocity, pop perfection and gut-wrenching emotion. This particular night, S-K started off a bit slow. This slight lack of energy left some songs a bit flat, particularly the title cut from their latest opus, All Hands On the Bad One. Once they started to heat up, however, there was no denying the intensity of the music. Drawing heavily from the new record, the band roared through tracks like "You're No Rock n' Roll Fun", "#1 Must Have" and "The Professional", with slower songs interspersed among the more driving numbers. A particular highlight was "Was It a Lie?" which was played with such an intimate sense of loss that the entire room felt like it was bending in towards the stage. The musicians themselves mirrored the contradictions which inhabit their music. Corin Tucker stood by her microphone stand as she played, often leaning her head back and closing her eyes as she lost herself. Enveloping herself in her singing, you could see Tucker quiver as if startled by her own intensity. Carrie Brownstein, on the other hand, seemed to revel in the music's passion as she struck rock god poses. Twisting her guitar around herself as she leapt about, she was this generation's answer to Pete Townsend. Behind these two sat Janet Weiss, who has developed into one of the best drummers around. While laying down lightening-fast fills, she never lost sight of the pop within the songs, which kept the crowed bouncing up and down throughout the ninety minute set.

When the band dug into older numbers, they breathed new fervor into the audience's favorites. "Banned From the End of the World", from 1999's The Hot Rock, brimmed with flippant melodies, while "The End of You" built up into a finale that threatened to shake the walls down. The title track from 1997's Dig Me Out brought the crowd to a new plateau of devotion. As a special treat, the band extended this song into an improvisational jam before the main riff burst out one final time. As the show drew to a close, S-K pulled out "Little Babies," a song with a sing-along chorus that had the entire audience pogoing like mad. Although it was a little disturbing to feel the floor of the club literally bend as the crowd danced, this only heightened the excitement and reminded me of the power of true rock n' roll. Despite the slow start, Sleater-Kinney delivered a show that was full of such energy, craftsmanship and feeling that left me with no doubt that they are the best rock band in America. This is not a statement I make lightly and if you get the chance to see them live, you'll agree with me.

Because I couldn't find somewhere in the review to put this, I'm going to stick it here: By an odd coincidence, one of my good friends used to hire Corin Tucker to babysit her daughter. She told me that she actually saw Corin's first show. As Corin, mouth wide open, howled away on stage, Corin's mom leaned over and told Marjorie that at least with Corin screaming like that, she felt that she was getting her money's worth out of the orthodontist. This has no bearing on the review, but I thought it was a funny story.