Awesome write-up. Women rock, and it is their time. Enough with the muscleboy wikipedias of Nipper and Segal, desperate to entertain with vocabularies and humor. Some good fangirl appreciation is what is needed at Slog. Not even six months ago, Sloggers by the dozen were ranting about the overwhelming and obnoxious presence of music topics on Slog. At the time, I just thought The Stranger was being their typical bully self by ignoring its readers, but now I realize they may have been waiting for someone like yourself. Just don't get too personal diary on us, and stick with the tunes. Welcome.

I enjoyed reading that. Welcome to Seattle.

Great write-up! For what it's worth if you're ever back in NYC and facing down the awful prospect of seeing a great band at the unrelentingly awful Terminal 5: don't. Check and see when they're playing Philadelphia: it's an 80 minute ride on Amtrak and it is completely worth the hassle. I saw S-K play at Union Transfer in Philly and it was nonstop brilliant: zero "stars" in the audience, just a venue full of passionate fans and S-K giving a great performance.

I was at both shows as well. I flew to NYC to see my favorite band with my best friends and it was awful. Celebrities, hair-pulling and even racism. I knew the Seattle show and crowd was going to be amazing and neither disappointed.

"I stood there, trying to focus on the music, unable to stop my eyes from drifting over to the shiny, famous people, and hating myself for recognizing them."

You may be new here, but with that kind of feigned angst you'll fit right. Let me guess - you don't watch TV either, right?

Nice article.

I'm from Los Angeles, and I also used to see a lot of celebs at my concert-going peak (late 80s, early 90s). Weirdly enough, I shared musical interests--the Replacements, REM, Soul Asylum, Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, Urge Overkill, i.e. your typical 120 Minutes acts--with Bobcat Goldthwait, George Wendt, and Katey Sagal.

Also, that show was fantastic. I saw Sleater-Kinney only once previously, when they stopped in Burlington, VT on The Woods tour. They were great that night (and seemed to dig Burlington), but last night was something else.

If you refrain from attempting to lead a communist rebellion most of us will be thrilled.

My husband and I moved from Seattle to NYC just a little over a year ago. It is funny that we use the same expression when we are asked how do we like NYC. We always reply it is "different". Simply put it is like comparing apples to oranges and I have come to believe until we claim the new city as home the only descriptor is "different". I believe that until many of our roots are firmly planted and we have formed friendships and attachments everything is "different" because we are restless in the newness of not yet belonging and wishing for that one thread of commonality to anchor us to our new home.

I lived in Brooklyn (1998-2002) and I lived in Seattle on Capitol Hill (2002-2007). I love both Seattle and New York City and they are so very different from each other! There is nothing wrong with feeling that or saying that, because it's the truth. Anyone who has lived in both cities knows that. There are things I love and hate about both cities. I loved living in both places, while I lived there. Ironically, the night I flew to Seattle Sleater-Kinney and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were playing at Irving Plaza. I found out too late and could not change my non-refundable plane ticket (didn't have the money to do so). I was told "don't worry, S-K play in Seattle all the time." I don't think they played in Seattle for at least two years into my living there. I have been fortunate enough to see them numerous times in both cities. While living in NYC saw them twice in the same week, actually, once in Manhattan and once in Brooklyn. I currently live in upstate NY and was disappointed when I found out they were playing Terminal 5 and actively decided to not see them play there. Happy to hear I made the right choice. A good friend of mine saw them in Seattle last night - that makes me happy and is almost as good as me being there myself.

Portlandia S13E05

Summary: "The band you thought you'd leave behind becomes your lifetime job"

Lindsay, as a native New Yorker and long term resident of Seattle, very interesting perspectives on leaving NYC and initial ones on Seattle. Hopefully you'll have more to say about the culture of your new home as well as the local music as time goes on.

Janet Weiss was the far and away standout when they played here in SF last week. Talent for days.

Welcome to Seattle. We don't like name dropping or sincerity.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! It's nice to see how the Seattle show compared and how your life is going up there. Sleater-Kinney never played a show in San Diego, sigh. So for the last few months I've been living vicariously through endless instagram 15 second teasers, blurry youtube videos, and tumblr fandom (mostly emphasizing the hallmarks of the tour...the matching white hats in Austin and the burning question of whether Carrie is really dating Taylor Schilling from OITNB!) But alas, your articles takes the cake! *Hugs from San Diego*

This was painful to read. Go back to Brooklyn please.