Le Tigre - 8/19/02 @ the Metro

Have you ever went to a show only because you heard so much about a band from others and they insisted you come along…well I just did…and now I know what everyone is talking about…

They’re talking about Le Tigre, the Feminist based threesome (one being former Bikini Killer Kathleen Hanna) who mixes punk's directness and politics with playful samples, eclectic pop, and lo-fi electronics’s which show fully in their latest release, “Remix” (a compilation of songs from the prevous 2 albums remixed beautifully). Plus their latest LP “Feminist Sweepstakes” makes their pro-womyn declaration right away with track one stating “For the ladies and the fags / Yeah, we're the band with the rollerskate jams.” This is all what they label the “new genre of feminist dance music.”

Their hour-long set was filled evenly with past and present songs. Most of the show was performed rather than played, where at times you wondering if they were actually lip-syncing. During “on guard,” the remixed version, it was so to the CD than the rest of the songs, you just weren’t sure if they just pressed play. Yet that did NOT take away at all from the show itself. They are a very original sounding “chick band.”

Each song either brought out a new unique b-style video, or you learned a new dance move. The audience were never left bored, even during the banter between songs you were entertained by political views, clever comparisons and statements like how they hate Londoner’s and their phrasing of “you rule” during their shows.

Le Tigre is a group that hopefully will not die young (they already lost one member and was soon replaced). There are too many potential groups out there that are over powered by their own band mates making a break up inevitable. I can see Le Tigre making a difference in today’s new-punk era and making it less pop and more punk and showing that mediocrity does in fact rule.

--Todd - Chicago- iownu2@yahoo.com