Review: Bikini Kill at The Rechabite

Bikini Kill at The Rechabite
w/ Cold Meat
Tuesday, February 28, 2023

It’s been over twenty years since Bikini Kill last played in Perth, so you can imagine how much anticipation there was when Perth Festival announced two dates for these Riot Grrrl pioneers at The Rechabite. Tuesday night saw generations of fans, old and new, fill the venue to capacity, the stage aglow with red lights.

Local outfit Cold Meat kicked off proceedings with a short and snappy set. Sporting a Bikini Kill tee, lead singer Ashley hurriedly sprayed lyrics over classic, bratty punk. This band, elusive in their online presence, do seem to pop up on the best bills because they remain one of the best punk acts in our city.

Although it has been decades since Bikini Kill emerged, everything they stand for and everything they write songs about is still absolutely relevant. Feminism, the patriarchy and inequality are just a few of the issues we are still dealing with thirty years later! Tonight at least there was no need for Kathleen Hanna’s famous siren call for “girls to the front,” the crowd had that taken care of with womxn front and centre and ready for the onslaught of nineties punk.

Opening with Double Dare Ya, their set started off with a call for a “revolution – girl style.” It’s an invitation for womxn to do what we want, be who we want, and stand up for our rights. It was an empowering message to begin a cutting and urgent twenty five song set. New Radio was next and it became clear the audience would be treated to all the greatest hits.

Between songs the band members swapped instruments and took turns on vocals, and whenever drummer Tobi Vail took the mic, her raw edge won over the crowd. Her t-shirt says “Girls living outside of society’s shit” and it was nice to feel like one big unified gang with common goals. It also felt like a safe space to be a womxn at a gig and have freedom to feel angry and express yourself.

During the evening, Hanna’s light hearted quips and self deprecating humour offered some comic relief from the fury of their lyrical content. Before launching into In Accordance she reminisced of the time someone called her a ‘walking yeast infection,’ saying she couldn’t be mad because it was such a ‘good burn.’ Later on in the set she laughed that this is the ‘self help portion’ of the show after admitting she writes a gratitude journal. She also talks about growing up in the Washington DC punk scene but assures the crowd she doesn’t romanticise the nineties, or as she bluntly put it “the nineties sucked.” She went on to say there was no intersectionality, which seems incredibly poignant if you look at the state of LGBTQI+ politics in the USA right now.

Picking back up on her self help talk, she implored us to only listen to those that matter, and ignore trolls, before joking that she appreciated the effort taken by trolls in the nineties who had to send actual physical hate mail. It was a great segue into Magnet. Introducing For Only as a ‘sad song,’ Vail dedicated it to Screaming Tree’s Van Conner. It was a sweet moment in a largely frenetic show.

After a solid twenty or so songs, their signature fast pace kicked up another notch towards the end of the set, which saw Hanna’s dancing also intensify for absolute highlight DemiRep. They wrapped up with Suck My Left One and a story of the harrasment Hanna’s sister copped as a girl. It served as a reminder that although we had a great time tonight, there’s still work to be done.

Of course, there was one glaring omission from the set, so an encore almost felt guaranteed. It was just a one song encore, but it was like an electric jolt to the mosh pit. When the opening notes of Rebel Girl rang across the venue the excitement was palpable. The perfect finale, it sent us out the door buzzing and with a fire in our bellies.

SHANNON FOX & KARI SHELTON

Photos by Cam Campbell