At their first London show in 23 years, Bikini Kill frontwoman Kathleen Hanna told the audience, “This isn’t some punk-rock retro bullshit thing. I can play these songs I wrote so long ago. They still feel alive.”
Certainly, their feminist polemics remain as relevant in the post #MeToo climate as they were in the early 90s. Live, too, the Riot grrrl-ringleaders were as formidable as ever, their rapid-fire punk missives fuelled by a combination of melodic economy and brute force that left ears ringing across the venue.
Expanded from a trio to a quartet with the addition of lead guitarist Erica Dawn Lyle, the band from Olympia, Washington, swapped instruments in the set, which drummer and sometime-lead singer Tobi Vail explained was “to show the process of learning, onstage.”
Dedications to Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex, The Raincoats and Southwark’s DIY Space For London were met with cheers by the mainly female audience, as were calls to “stop policing each other’s feminism”, “be better allies” and to rise up against “the Right-wing horror show happening right now.”
When feminist call-to-arms Rebel Girl was dispatched pre-encore, the entire room sang in unison, proving that almost three decades on from their formation Bikini Kill are still uniting and inspiring audiences.
