[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). (more…)
