The White Stripes/Sleater-Kinney

Brownstein (left), Tucker (center), and Weiss (right) are Sleater-Kinney.

Apparently Sleater-Kinney have been around since 1995, though I had no idea. I'd listened to their newest album The Woods once, and it didn't really grab me, but this "chick" rock band looked fresh and young, hardly in there mid-20's as they casually walked onto the stage, the sun thankfully setting in the background. They are the opening act for the White Stripes new tour I caught this past Saturday at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington. Everything had gone pretty smoothly that weekend as we presented our tickets and stepped through the venue's gates, everything save for eating a hornet stowing away onboard a piece of a granola bar I was eating that stung my tongue twice, and getting a speeding ticket for going 61 in a 50 which I intend to fight and win.

The first act was The Green Horns... zzz... oh where was I? I seemed to have dozed off there. Maybe I just haven't heard them in the right setting or mood, but at the time I was thinking they were boring and pretty mediocre. Sleater-Kinney played directly before the Stripes. I don't think many people there had heard of them before, but regardless they quickly took control over the 3000 something crowd. They really play a great live show, and they have a stage presence that you can't take your eyes off. Carrie Brownstein, lead guitarist and one of the bands two lead singers, rocked some major ass, and exuded a confidence on the stage that can't help but to make you smile as she kicks wildly in the air. Corin Tucker seems the most low-key of the three, and is backup guitar and vocals, she looks a bit like your typical country girl and sings rather nicely actually. Janet Weiss (this can't be her real name... damn it Janet) plays the drums pretty hard shaking her bob of black hair from left to right. Everyone was kept interested throughout their entire set by the music and the performance alone, but during the last song (which lasted 15 min.) two people dressed in animal costumes, one a chicken, one a donkey, came out and started dancing oddly in the background. It was a nice touch.

They left ample space in between Sleater-Kinney and The White Stripes to go buy overpriced nachos, use the restroom, and get really excited, and it was pitch black out by the time they came on stage. The Gorge Amphitheater is really great, and if you look out from the audience you see the sheer canyon walls that lead down to the Colombia River, and when you look up at ten o' the clock in the evening you can see the stars very clearly... the real stars would, obviously, be on the stage, however. Meg walked on the stage and honestly looked a little bit nervous and sat down on her drums, but Jack White stalked on to the stage with an animal ferocity, picked up his guitar and played a loud chord. Meg answered back by smashing a snare drum, and Jack again with another chord kinda like they were arguing, getting a hard little rhythm going as they began their set with Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground. Meg is alright, and she's kinda cute as she plays the drums kinda like a ten year old would, sitting really close to the drums and playing more with her shoulders then with her forearms. Jack though is so talented that you feel inadequate just watching him. There were microphones set all over the stage so he could walk around to one by the drums, one by the piano, the xylophone, etc. Highlights of the show were Hotel Yorba, The Union Forever, and Little Ghost. Although the entire set was awesome, and even when they played last years hit single, Seven Nation Army, it didn't seem overdone.

Their show was rad. That being said however, it probably could of been better. I felt a little bit like someone who just payed for a really good hooker, as the Stripes came in and did their job wonderfully, but only played for an hour and a half and ended the show in such an abrupt way that it was clear there would be no encore. I would of liked to hear Jack and Meg talk a little bit more to the audience, and relate to us on a personal level. There music seems so honest sometimes that it's weird seeing them as rock stars, detached from us with red and white rock star lighting, and matching outfits. When the music can seem so personal, it would of been nice to see them wearing normal clothes, chitchatting between themselves and the audience, and stepping out of the rock star clichés as much as their music does. Don't mistake this critique for disappointment, as it was certainly not disappointing. Just like most things, aside from myself obviously, nothing is perfect.