~9/27/02-Sleater Kinney, Shannon Wright, The Quails [The Crystal Ballroom, Portland]

I'd been looking forwards to this show for quite some time. I've been a Sleater Kinney fan for probably 6 years now, but I've not once been able to catch them live. For a northwest act this is pretty bizarre. Car problems, not getting time off work, not having money, sold out shows, sickness, you name it. Many things have kept me away. So when I found out that SK would be playing this show I bought tickets months in advance. I'd take out the tickets and look at them. Mmmm, Sleeaaater Kiiiinnnney. My biz partner Jon, our friend Paul, and myself headed up to Portland early in order to ensure a good view, and to meet some other friends at a bar beforehand. Paul hadn't picked up a ticket so as I pulled up to the venue he hopped out to find a scalper. I pulled around to the parking lot in back and Jon hopped out to hit the bar while I made sure I didn't have any knives, booze, drugs, or explosives on me so I could get inside. As I got out of the car the car next to mines door opened and none other than Corin Tucker, the lead singer of SK got out. Being a giant fan of hers I stared in silence until she looked at me. Then I looked away in embarrassment. Yes, smooth I am. Meeting the rest of my friends in the bar we had a few drinks before hand and watched the Critical Mass bike protest go by. This was exceptionally cool. Heading back to the car to get my camera Will and I were literally skipping like little girls in our excitement for the show to start. When you're seeing some bands you really enjoy it's always a good idea to bring a camera. And if it's a digital camera an extra disk is handy to have. Of course if you forget to fully charge the battery up your camera and extra discs will be ZERO use to you. P.J. is stupid. We were upstairs for the majority of the Quails set, something I regret now, because the upstairs sound at the Crystal is crap. 

~~We interrupt our review because I have to leave in the middle of typing it out! I'll have it finished soon! (or maybe not, the other copy I was working on got deleted.)~~