Night two of Sleater-Kinney’s mini-residency in LA brought them to The Belasco in DTLA to play a show highlighting their recent release, Little Rope, and celebrate their beloved classics.
Little Rope is the group’s first album since the departure of mainstay Janet Weiss (though Weiss left shortly after the release of their 2021 album Path of Wellness). Her exit from the band came as a shock to many and fans were understandably a bit skeptical of the future of Sleater-Kinney. Where Path of Wellness felt a bit wonky at times for the band, now a duo of Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker, Little Rope sees them lifting off and carving their own direction.
The setlist on Friday featured essentially the entire new album, along with selections from 2005’s classic The Woods, The Center Won’t Hold, Dig Me Out, and more. Highlights came from the driving “Entertain”, jangly ballad “Modern Girl”, and Little Rope opener and show opener “Hell”.
Brownstein and Tucker’s chemistry was electric. So many of their songs have a feeling that they want to burst out of the speakers and that energy was captured beautifully live. You can tell they’ve been performing together for decades. With that, though, they haven’t lost a bit of their spark.
Sleater-Kinney continue their world tour along the west coast before heading into Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Canada later this year. For tour dates and all things Sleater-Kinney, visit here.
Photos + Review by Andrew Ameter | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!