Legendary feminist punk rock band Bikini Kill is back and as authentic as they were 34 years ago. Following their disbandment in 1997, singer/songwriter Kathleen Hanna, drummer Tobi Vail, and bassist Kathi Wilcox reunited for a North American tour in 2019 and have since continued touring worldwide. On August 18th, 2024, Bikini Kill graces the stage of the Warfield for their first San Francisco show in over 25 years.
Following a gritty performance from indie rock trio The Ghost Ease, Bikini Kill takes the stage. Without a moment’s hesitation, the band begins playing “Demirep” (sans “Miss Mary Mack” rhyme with Joan Jett). The crowd; twenty-somethings with spiked hair, mothers with their teenage daughters, families with young children, and everyone in between immediately starts jumping and singing along as Hanna, sporting a pink tutu and sequined top, swings her arms and dances. Her voice, loud and bold and expressive, is unlike any other and her energy is not just impossible to ignore – it’s contagious.
Vail occasionally emerges from behind her drumset to chat with the crowd and sing, with Hanna stepping back to play bass or guitar. Before erupting into the “hellos” of “Hamster Baby,” Vail reflects on the self-righteousness of the West Coast punk scene and advises the crowd to “just have fun…do something silly that’s just complete nonsense.” It’s clear from their performance and stage banter that Bikini Kill is doing just that.
Between songs, Hanna gives the crowd plenty of attention in the forms of a staring contest, a zine shoutout, a story about possible deaths by either go-kart crash in North Carolin
a or serial killer in an apartment above the Cheesecake Factory (“imagine the headlines”), etc. Cutting through the lighthearted humor, though, are some sincere emotional moments. The band plays “R.I.P.,” a tribute song Hanna wrote for late friend and radical faerie Portia Manson / Gene Barnes, for the second time in their live show history. Hanna’s voice is loaded with emotional pain and hurt as she sings “It’s all f*****g wrong / It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair.”
One sweet moment is when Hanna reminisces with the crowd on how Bikini Kill got started. Hanna was on tour with her band Viva Knievel “back when there was no GPS.” At 19 years old, she recalls meeting Vail, who was in Go Team at the time, and writing on a large atlas map that she wanted to be in a band with her. And the rest is history. Now, 34 years later, Bikini Kill stands before us, having paved the way for femme and queer punks to express themselves unapologetically and expunge themselves of the toxic masculinity permeating society.
“Keep being too much. Keep being an overflowing f*****g vase,” declares Hanna to the crowd before the band breaks into, “Rebel Girl,” the final song of the night. Vail is a powerhouse on the drums, and Hanna’s dancing lights up the room. The crowd fiercely sings along to every word. Little girls and middle-aged mothers and teenagers and young women are all bumping into each other without a care, eyes transfixed on the stage and smiles beaming as they sing. After the final drum beat sounds and the band sends the crowd out into the night, you can’t help but feel like “the queen of the world.”
Review and photos by Gaby Smith
