Sleater-Kinney reunited last night in Portland after almost ten years, thanks to Pearl Jam. Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, and Janet Weiss joined the band at Portland's Moda Center during the finale to cover Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey joined the gang as well.
Sleater-Kinney and Pearl Jam played the same cover when they went on tour back in 2003. Brownstein hinted back in 2010 that the band planned to reunite in five years and next year it will have been 20 years since the band formed. Maybe this performance back on stage is a sign of things to come. Fingers crossed
Although fans would definitely be excited about the band reuniting, each girl has had success in their own right since splitting. Weiss has worked with Stephen Malkmus and Quasi and Tucker has released two albums with the Corin Tucker Band. And of course, Brownstein has become well known for her acting chops in Portlandia alongside SNL's Fred Armisen.
In 2011, the girl supergroup Wild Flag was created when Brownstein and Weiss joined back up with the addition Helium's of Mary Timony and The Minders' Rebecca Cole.
Hopefully Sleater-Kinney will follow in the footsteps of their fellow Northwesterners, Pearl Jam, and continue the legacy. Pearl Jam just put out their tenth studio album Lightning Bolt. It would be pretty awesome if they did a tour together again for the second time more than ten years later. We'll see what happens. Surely Brownstein can handle touring and Portlandia at the same time.