On Friday, I saw Corin Tucker...

Her glitter eye shadow left remnants; a diatomic piece lying on her pectoral muscle next to her armpit kept catching the light. Halfway through the first song, the strap of her red plaid dress slid off her shoulder, and when she re-adjusted, it twisted and stayed that way the rest of the show. I stood in the second row, held hands with my good friend and cried like a bitch the whole time.

See, I’ve followed Corin Tucker’s musical career since I was 14. First listening to Heavens to Betsy, and later, Sleater-Kinney. The Riot Grrl movement shaped my identity in the mid-nineties. I saw Sleater-Kinney play live more times than I can count, from shows at RKCNDY, a now defunct all ages club in downtown Seattle, where my fourteen year old self was pressed against the edge of the stage, to a 21+ show at the Showbox a few months before I left Seattle for the east coast. Corin Tucker’s soft subtle melodies paralleled with her belting warble, that verges on a scream filled with passion followed me through moves; friendships formed and lost, death, break-ups, and immense joy.

So when I learned months ago she had recorded a new album, and was going on tour, I bought tickets as soon as they went on pre-sale, called a friend who had been crushed up against that stage at RKCNDY with me, and cried when she heard Corin Tucker’s voice live. The album hadn’t yet been released, but it didn’t matter. When the show started, we stood, 2 rows back, held hands, jumped up and down to Doubt (the only song on the new LP, 1000 Years, even remotely in the style of Sleater-Kinney) and cried the rest of the show. She is still one of the only musicians I’ve ever seen that is better in concert than in person, apparently no matter who she plays with.

The songs in her most recent endeavor are slower, more deliberate. Carefully planned. But her howl can still be found. Her music has changed, she still wore the glitter eye shadow and the vintage style dress, but, like us, she had grown up.

Oh, and P.S., during the encore, she sang The Golden State, by John Doe, with Eddie Vedder. I totally lost it.