The Roundhouse, Camden
“It’s pretty cool to be a 55 year-old punk rocker and have kids come to your show.”
Decades following on from the notorious punk-afflicted Riot Grrrl movement of the nineties, Kathleen Hanna’s entourage once again coalesce to inspire generations both old and new in their interminable run of energy, determination and ruthless rhetoric.
“We’re Bikini Kill and we want revolution girl-style now!” cries frontwoman and lead singer Kathleen Hanna, centre-stage leading a free-wheeling, voracious arsenal of sounds ‘daring’ women to be bold in the face of male-concentrated resistance (“Dare ya to do what you want / Dare ya to be who you will”). This endemic, anthemic and rallying cry is imminently thrusted back from tonight’s sold-out audience at The Roundhouse, evidently amidst the throes of feminist-driven punk continuing to this day.
Beyond the punk-inspired influences Bikini Kill arouse within their sound (Ramones, The Clash, The Slits, The Raincoats), Hanna & Co. continue to arouse such pertinently societal topics in their lyricism: sexual liberation in ‘New Radio’; self-independence in ‘I Like Fucking’; calls for revolution in ‘Rebel Girl’; to a reciprocated vengeance from the crowd. Bolstered by the steady beats of Tobi Vail and blaring distortion of Billy Karren and Kathi Wilcox, as well as Hanna’s screeching vocals, the act ruthlessly tear through their set to an audience who converge to the wider call of women’s liberation in modern society.
Amidst this convergence, Hanna recites the perpetual importance of supporting one another’s art - perhaps now more so than ever before. “All of our art matters, it can make a change”, she declares, citing the personal inspirations behind her introduction to punk music, namely Viv Albertine and The Slits. For this show is evidently beyond the confines of The Roundhouse and, even so, the transcendental group playing before us. The most impressive facet is the group's ability to inspire such a gathering to come together for the cause of a greater good, a damning of regressive events (including the Supreme Court overturning of Roe vs. Wade) and an optimistic breach of a better future.
Despite the sparkly, colourful outfits adorned this evening, the band’s presence seems collectively well-worn compared to their young and youthful selves 30-odd years prior (as detailed in Hanna’s recently-released autobiography). In certain moments, Bikini Kill try their utmost to battle any stuntedness by swapping instruments, eliciting spur-of-the-moment call-outs and monologues on the current state of affairs. Hanna’s voice, however, pales in comparison to yesteryears and the swap-outs seem somewhat laborious and underwhelming, detracting from the band’s overall striking pertinence which has ruthlessly set them apart to date.
Through all of this, however, Bikini Kill proved transcendental, accentuated by the conclusion to tonight’s proceedings which voraciously seared their name into punk-afflicted folklore at Camden’s historic venue. Converging into a punk-gifted euphoria, “Suck my left one!” attuned itself into a crowd-fulfilled mantra with ‘Rebel Girl’ enacting a surefire feminist revolution beyond these confines (“When she walks the revolution’s coming / In her kiss I taste the revolution”). With each track tonight offering a brief, yet pertinent, vignette into Hanna & Co’s feminist-focused world from decades gone by, Bikini Kill possess an interminably unique ability to bring together communities and generations: igniting a pertinent movement throughout the course of time.
7/10
Photo is courtesy of The Red Beanie Photography whose work can be found here.
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