Riot-grrl pioneers and rebel-girl revolutionaries Bikini Kill took over New York City for four sold-out reunion shows. MAGNET’s Chris Sikich (photos and words) was there.
Kathleen Hanna could not hold the love in to begin the final night of her band’s sold-out four-date run in New York City. She reached out her arms to symbolically hug a King’s Theatre crowd so excited to share in the pure raucous joy that is Bikini Kill. Hanna danced and shouted and powered through another brilliant set, while bassist Kathi Wilcox, drummer (and sometime vocalist) Tobi Vail and new guitarist Erica Dawn Lyle stitched together the raw energy that would then explode out in every tune. Hanna hinted that these handful of live tastes are not the end, but rather the beginning of something more. Let’s hope so, as they showed Bikini Kill is one of the greatest forces of rock ‘n’ roll we have in these troubled times.