I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 18, 2026] Bikini Kill 

I saw Bikini Kill three years ago with my daughter.  She has worn the shirt many times and gotten nothing but great reactions from it.

I bought tickets when they came around last time so my wife and daughter could go, but we wound up not going (and reselling the tickets was easy enough).  This year I grabbed a ticket for myself and my wife.  I was very bummed when Cheekface announced a show the same night, but my wife was really looking forward to seeing Bikini Kill.

After the opener went for 45 minutes, I wasn’t sure how long it would take for Bikini Kill to come on.  Setlist suggested ten after but as ten after rolled up, the crew went on stage to tune stuff.  Come on!

They started a few minutes later and the crowd went nuts mostly for Kathleen Hanna of course.  Kathleen Hanna is a great front woman–talking to us about the songs, being supportive of women and young people in general. She joked at one point that she’s starting a new fashion trend–if your dress is too tight to zip up, leave it down and when someone tells you it’s down, say I like it that way.

Like last time three of the original Bikini Kill members were touring, Tobi Vail on drums (and vocals) Kathi Wilcox on bass (and drums) and Kathleen Hanna singing (and bass).  Original member Billy Karren was not part of the reunion and was replaced by Sara Landeau who has an impressive musical background.

The setlist was very similar to last time.  The first three songs were the same–a blur of fast music and Kathleen’s largely inaudible singing. I’m listening to the records and she is pretty clear about the words.  But live there’s a lot more screaming–which works pretty well (especially if you already know the songs).

After a few songs, drummer Tobi Vail came down to sing I Hate Danger.  She seemed really flat and disinterested when she came up to the mic and her singing style is strangely monotone. But this song had lots of catchy backing singing.  She sang one more song and then went back to the drums.  Kathleen played bass and Kathi played drums.

I love Reject All American and the way it hints at the less abrasive style that they could have been employing (and which Kathleen did use with Le Tigre).  Then Kathleen introduced Outta Me as a song that she wrote in her 20s and she was not that person anymore.  After more talk about being in your 20s, they started the song, but she had to quit after a verse, saying it was too emotional for her.  Which was really surprising and quite raw.

They switched place again for Tobi to come down and sing the rather mellow For Only and the much faster Distinct Complicity–it was fun to see Tobi dance around some.

Kathleen told us a story about her Aunt who was so cool.  She had a stroke but drove herself to work to say she wouldn’t be coming in and then drove to the hospital–she took care of others before herself and now that Kathleen is in her 50s (she’s my age)… fuck that!  Take care of yourself!  That was an intro to No Backrub.

Then came a bunch of songs from Pussy Whipped, including two more sung by Tobi.  This time, Kathi Wilcox played guitar and Sara Landeau played drums.  Hamster Baby and Tell Me So are Tobi’s chance to really let loose with the screaming.  Must be very cathartic.

Kathleen returned to the mic and announced “We are Bikini Kill and we want Revolution Girl Style Now!” before playing “Double Dare Ya!”  As they played Jigsaw Youth, I remembered that there’s a killer feminist band band called Jigsaw Youth which I didn’t connect to Bikini Kill but it sure makes sense.

And then came the moment everyone was waiting for.  They started “Rebel Girl” and the play exploded.  It was great fun.  And at about 80 minutes it still felt pretty exhausting from all the dancing.  My wife joked that they could have played the song ten more times and everyone would have been happy.

That was the end of the set, but it was clear they were coming back for an encore. But they’d already play Rebel Girl!  Well, they cam back and Kathleen shouted Suck my left one!  And the crowd went nuts as they played this awesome anthem.

And that was that.  A relatively short show, but they played almost two dozen songs.  And the crowd’s energy was infectious.  Great fun was had by all.