Riot-grrl pioneers Bikini Kill, back in Philly for the first time in three decades at Franklin Music Hall

Kathleen Hannah reunites with her bandmates after years apart before Bikini Kill kicks off Friday’s two-song encore that caps off the band’s blazing set at Franklin Music Hall. I spoke to the crowd about the satisfaction of

“It’s great to be able to do what you really want to do. towards“And to do better than before,” the feminist heroine, founder of Riot Girls, told the sold-out crowd.

Calling herself a “54-year-old punk” earlier in the evening, Hannah made particular mention of the band’s return to Philadelphia, which features bassist Kathy Wilcox, drummer Tobi Bale and touring guitarist Sarah Landau. I didn’t. It’s been almost 30 years.

Friday’s wickedly paced and enthusiastically received 75-minute show featured Vale singing on one of the turns, Wilcox taking over the drums, and Hannah a true egalitarian in front of a multi-generational audience. and cites one of Bikini Kill’s two 1994 Philadelphia songs. It shows especially memorable.

It was an all-ages night on the roof of Drexel University’s garage, and the band sold four boxes of T-shirts with the group’s Wiener Dog logo. Every time, they’re from Philadelphia,” she said.

From forming in Olympia, Washington in 1990 until breaking up seven years later, Bikini Kill were a culture-changing force, winning audiences as massive as contemporaries Grunge Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Hall. It didn’t happen, but its impact was far-reaching. , like a vintage T-shirt passed down from generation to generation in search of its own voice.

“Revolution Girl Style Now!” was the battle cry Hannah quoted in the band’s first cassette-only release. That call to action was repeated in Franklin on Friday in “Double Dareya.” This is the first encore song that calls for self-improvement to self-doubts. “Hey girlfriend, I’ve got a proposal that goes something like this,” she sang.

Hannah is a great frontwoman, an expert at creating a sense of community with audience-song chatter about self-care, a hopeful “recipe for the future” and the noxious nature of heteronormative porn. “We have to act according to our desires,” she said, before breaking down the “sugar” and unsmooth dance moves. We can have something to live for.”

Bikini Kill’s music is tough, aggressive, and often confrontational, like sticking a finger in the patriarch’s eye and yelling “Suck My Left One!” Hannah explained that the song inspired her then-15-year-old sister’s reaction to an adult male catcall while waiting for the school bus. A scream, a highlight of the show that got stronger as the show progressed, and a squeaky early sound mix that found a balance.

BK rejoices in putting their entitled siblings in their place, and the music thumps with lean tunes wielding punky muscles in echoes of surf rock and girl group ballads. “No need to say we’re good, no need to say we’re bad,” Hannah mocked the misogynist. “Are you afraid we don’t need you?”

Predicting the “girl power” pop culture moment that turned the Spice Girls into a global phenomenon, Hannah and her bandmates popularized the essential “girl on the front line” in punk and all-ages shows. created a safe space for women to move freely. Pits and crowds surf without fear for their lives.

At Franklin, the area in front of the stage was filled primarily with female fans, many of whom were born after Bikini Kill broke up in the 1990s, with older couples and OG Punks hanging in the back of the packed house. House.

Fans were finally able to witness the historically important band come back alive and well after years of long separation. Released an album with the electro-dance band Tigre and the indie project Julie Ruin.

After the show, originally scheduled for April 2020, was postponed multiple times due to the pandemic, the waiting time for Bikini Kill to finally arrive in Philadelphia was extended, with Hannah collapsing with COVID in 2022. But fans won’t have to wait long to see Hannah again.The reunited Le Tigre, who haven’t played together since 2005, will kick off their reunion tour on May 27 at Philadelphia’s Union Transfer. increase.