Bikini Kill Revive Girlhood Punk Dreams at The Greek

Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill performing at the Greek Theatre, LA by Sophie Prettyman-Beauchamp

PUNK ICONS SOLD OUT GREEK THEATRE

Several years after their triumphant pre-pandemic reunion, riot grrrl pioneers Bikini Kill return to the stage for another tour. This time around, the band is making their way across the nation on some of the biggest stages of their decades-long career, including a much-anticipated stop in Los Angeles.

Before I continue, I want to preface this with some backstory on my personal connection to this band. Like many women and femmes, discovering Bikini Kill changed my life. As a teenager, I’d borrow their records from my mom’s collection and perform alone in my room when nobody was home, channeling my baby feminist angst and joy simultaneously. Their music quickly became my gospel, and Kathleen Hanna my savior. My connection to the punk scene and passion for writing about and documenting it would not be the same without Bikini Kill. In many ways, I owe so much of who I am and what I do with my life today to them.

Cut to last night. I stood in the Greek’s photo pit with rows of fans behind me, and Hanna and the rest of the band warmly receiving their roaring applause directly in front of me. Ten years ago, I never would have dreamt this was possible, but as these heroes of my teenage years stood before me, I felt more like them than unalike. Being this close to them definitely put our shared humanity into perspective, but they felt so familiar to me because I’d been friends with their music for so long. I tried my best to soak the moment in, but with only three rapid-fire punk jams to get my shots, I succumbed to the rush and blur of it all.

Tobi Vail of Bikini Kill performing at the Greek Theatre, LA by Sophie Prettyman-Beauchamp

For all-intensive purposes, Bikini Kill is still the band they’ve always been. It was strange to look down at these larger-than-life figures upon this huge stage from the bleachers, but they played to us with the same level of intimacy as their tiny, dive bar gigs of yore. They still aren’t the most technically proficient band in the world, but I love them for that, and it’s clear that many others share my sentiment. Moments of bumpy time-keeping and dissonance anchored their unabashed humanity, their brash imperfections all the more reminiscent of what it must have been like to see them in all their 90s, DIY glory. Nothing can take away from the fact that they still totally shred.

Hanna is as charming of a frontwoman as ever, whether she is flexing her powerful pipes and heightened vocal range or sharing funny anecdotes and observations between songs, like a seasoned stand-up comedian. She’s not like a comedian–she is one. Not only does she display a keen observational sense of humor in her storytelling delivery, but she also channels it into the snotty punk characters she traverses with the various voices she inhabits. When she is onstage, she becomes many things: a jokester, a poet, a dancer, a unifier, and so much more depending on who you ask. Hanna’s multifacetedness and versatility is what solidifies her as a true punk.

Speaking of punk singers, Tobi Vail does not get enough credit as a frontwoman! The drummer took center stage for several songs, with bassist Kathi Wilcox taking over the drum kit and Hanna on bass. With a valley girl vocal fry that hasn’t changed much over the past 30-plus years, Vail still carries herself with the unassuming charm of someone in their early 20s, which made the banshee-like shrieks she unleashed all the more disarming. Once she starts singing, her commanding presence is undeniable and practically demands mosh pit formation (which wasn’t entirely feasible at the Greek, but the electric energy flowed through the amphitheater nonetheless). Her and Hanna are living examples that we don’t really change, we just get older. This sentiment is part of the reason why Bikini Kill maintains such a strong multigenerational fanbase. The amphitheater seats were packed with people of all ages and styles, from middle-aged women who could’ve been at the same riot grrrl shows as my mom at my age, to alternative teens in their grungiest looks, to wide-eyed little girls for whom this was probably their first-ever concert experience. Despite our demographic differences, all of our connections to this band and their music brought us together in an ageless display of glee.

Bikini Kill performing at the Greek Theatre, LA by Sophie Prettyman-Beauchamp

As I sat in my seat way up in the terrace, I was able to access the sense of joyful empowerment and love that Bikini Kill evoked in me as a teenager. When Hanna yelled the titular opening of “Suck My Left One,” I couldn’t contain my tears–all of a sudden, I remembered what it felt like when that was my favorite song as a teenager, waiting impatiently for life to begin. I found it even more difficult to contain my emotions when I descended to the middle of the theater for the encore, standing behind an enthusiastic girl who couldn’t have been more than 10 years old, dancing, singing along, and brandishing her fist in the air in earnest. She went wild with the rest of the crowd as the band closed out the night with their iconic hit “Rebel Girl,” which had even the most sullen-faced teens and stoic adults jumping up and down and screaming along. Just for a night, we were all the girls we used to be once more–the girls we always have been.

Tonight was undoubtedly a full-circle moment for much of the audience, myself included. I found myself living out a dream that for so long, I was afraid to admit out loud, let alone to myself. In worshiping Bikini Kill in my youth, I gained the courage and tenacity to become my own hero for the rest of my life. There’s no better feeling than looking back and realizing that you’ve been doing right by yourself this whole time, living a life that your younger self would be proud of you for. It has been one of the greatest gifts of my life to grow up alongside this band of women who taught me how to be myself. Long live Revolution Girl Style, and all those who found and continue to find themselves through it. Check out the set list here!

PS: Check out our gallery of photos from the performance!

PS: Check out our gallery of photos from the performance!