Sleater-Kinney wrapped their latest tour in support of 2024’s Little Rope album at a sold-out show in Portland, Oregon’s McMenamins Crystal Ballroom. The band opened the night with the moody lead track from the new record, Hell, and the stage was appropriately drenched in dark, red lighting that would periodically flicker to illuminate the shadows of the band members roaming the stage. 

Despite the glowering feel of the opening song, guitarist (and former Portlandia star) Carrie Brownstein was all smiles nearly the entire evening, clearly enjoying her chance to close out the tour with a hometown show as a resident of Portland. Needlessly Wild followed, leaving us wondering if the band would play the new record straight through, but they then pivoted to Bury Our Friends from 2015’s No Cities to Love reunion record. 

Vocalist/guitarist Corin Tucker also seemed to be having a blast throughout the night, often jamming alongside Brownstein with a grin on her face while touring musicians Angie Boylan, Toko Yasuda, and Teeny Lieberson filled the room with their drums, keyboards, guitars, and backing vocals. 

Most of the setlist selections for the night came from the more recent Sleater-Kinney albums with only a few dips into the earlier releases like Modern Girl, which was a personal highlight slotted in immediately before Untidy Creature closed out the main set for the band. Sleater-Kinney did not disappoint for the encore, returning to play another five songs including Say It Like You Mean It, a standout track from Little Rope, crowd favorites I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and Dig Me Out, and closing the night—after 26 songs!—with Entertain.