Sleater-Kinney at Vicar Street, Thursday 29 March, 2015

As Sleater-Kinney bought their set in Vicar Street to a close with Jumpers, Corin Tucker ended the song on the familiar refrain of “four seconds was the longest wait”. Those in attendance in Vicar Street had been waiting a lot longer – ten years in fact – for the return of Sleater-Kinney to Dublin. With every parting year, their reputation and influenced seemed to be enhanced further and this year’s reformation and new album ‘No Cities to Love’ only increased the sense of anticipation.

That expectation was fully met and then some. Dr Egon Spengler said in Ghostbusters “Don’t cross the beams” for fear of some seismic event occurring. Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein were those beams, with alternating currents of crackling electricity emitting from them throughout, sparking of each other. In between them on stage Janet Weiss provides the steady symmetry and her metronomic presence is what grounds both of her band members’ performances.

Brownstein provided the theatrics with a twirling, contorting flurry of fretwork. She’s a guitar playing Tasmainian devil in perpetual motion; standing on the drum kit, playing while lying on the floor and strutting the stage. Tucker’s voice live is even more impressive and it’s not just the high notes she hits with what appears consummate ease. Her range is underrated with her throwing in a blues like style on Sympathy while her softer tone on Get Up feels just as natural. Watching Sleater-Kinney play is like watching a tennis match with Tucker and Brownstein commanding your attention back and forth across the stage, urging the other on to greater heights.

Thecareer spanning set list was mightily impressive. Consisting of nineteen songs and another five during the encore with no fluff, you could have very few quibbles with what was on offer. Going back as far as I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and the classics from ‘Dig Me Out’ (One More Hour,  Turn It On) right up to new smashes such as A New Wave, Tucker, Brownstein and Weiss  give the crowd the full Sleater-Kinney  experience.

As new up and coming bands get compared to the next hot ticket, Sleater-Kinney showed in Vicar St showed there really is no substitute for the genuine article. Welcome back Sleater-Kinney, just don’t leave it so long next time.