BY YVONNE ZUSEL
When a band doesn't play together for a few years, there's always the concern when they come back together that they won't be able to reclaim the magic that made them successful the first time around.
Indie-punk stalwarts Sleater-Kinney put any doubts to rest during the first few notes of "Price Tag," the first song they played during their sold-out Tuesday night show at the Tabernacle, and they didn't let up for a second of their 90-minute set.
They sounded so tight, in fact, that it was nearly impossible to believe that they hadn't played together as a trio in nearly a decade. Guitarist/vocalist Corin Tucker, guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss made their marks in the entertainment world during their hiatus, with Tucker fronting The Corin Tucker Band and Brownstein creating and acting in the popular IFC show "Portlandia" and recording an album as Wild Flag with, amongst, others, Weiss, who also played with Quasi and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.
The fact that they all remained active musicians clearly worked in their favor as they powered through a set that leaned heavily on songs from the excellent "No Cities To Love," released earlier this year, and their seminal older albums, including the bratty title track from the 2000 release "All Hands on the Bad One" and "Oh!" off their 2002 album "One Beat."
Tucker's in-your-face, at times harsh vocals played nicely off of Brownstein's snarling guitar and her slightly more restrained singing, particularly on the hard-charging, ferocious "Entertain," during which Brownstein played her guitar with one hand while whipping the mic stand with the other. Brownstein also went all rock star on "No Anthems," alternately kneeling, standing, flamingo-like, on one leg, and laying on the ground. Weiss, arguably one of the best living rock drummers, impressed with complicated syncopated rhythms on "Oh!" and " A New Wave," and managed to play both the drums and the harmonica on the sweet "Modern Girl."
Tucker gave a nice local shoutout to Athens band The B-52s, saying the group was "all about being who they were, and that changed our lives," before dedicating "All Hands on the Bad One" to singer Cindy Wilson, who was at the show.
The band wrapped up with a quartet of hard rockers in addition to "Modern Girl" that saw Brownstein play her guitar atop Weiss' drum kit on "Let's Call It Love," a last but of showmanship in a show that didn't even need it because the music and playing were just that good.
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