The star has now changed up her approach to exercise.
Do you think the right person won?
Historical venue Troxy, in east London, is hosting this riotous Noughties rock rave (Picture: author’s own)
Could there be any better way to kick off Pride? Electro-punk legends Le Tigre have returned to touring after 18 long years, and they’ve brought an explosive cocktail of LGBT and feminist joy, art, desire and anger.
Frontwoman Kathleen Hanna – also known for her riot grrrl outfit Bikini Kill, and coming up with the title for Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit – struggled with Lyme Disease for years, just playing occasional gigs with bandmates Johanna Fateman and JD Samson.
But the first UK stop of their big return, hitting east London’s art deco Troxy, couldn’t have been more raw or triumphant.
Dream Wife, fronted by Icelandic singer Rakel Mjöll, kick things off (Picture: author’s own)
Striding on to stage – after fantastic, swaggering opener Dream Wife – they launch into The The Empty. It’s a great choice that sums up the DIY scene they come from and indicates the evening’s punk disco to come. Beginning with scuzzy, furious guitars, Fateman’s cool refrain of ‘all that glitters is not gold’ is punctuated with Hanna’s frenzied cries of ‘Oh, baby, why won’t you talk to me?’ and ‘Answer me!’
The band are full of energy that doesn’t let up, whether playing and dancing to electro bops or guitar-heavy rock offerings. Hanna gives her trademark shrill screech throughout – a subversive, self-consciously feminine expression of punk.
Despite a driving anger and overt political messages, or perhaps because of them, Le Tigre are a party band. Songs rely on synthy, poppy hooks and repeated chants. Lyrics projected on the screen behind the stage make the whole night into a karaoke rave.
Pride Month 2023
Pride Month is here, with members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies celebrating their identities, accomplishments, and reflecting on the struggle for equality throughout June.
This year, Metro.co.uk is exploring the theme of family, and what it means to the LGBTQ+ community.
Find our daily highlights below, and for our latest LGBTQ+coverage, visit our dedicated Pride page.
Adam Lambert headlining London Pride with official song his cover of You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Stories of terror – and hope – from the Afghanistan LGBTQ+ community
Scottish island prepares to host hundreds for second ever Arran Pride
Latest London news
Have your Notting Hill moment and take a peak inside London’s idyllic community gardens
Book a trip on this retro Tube carriage for some serious Wes Anderson vibes
Does tapping in and out of the same station cost you? Fares explained
To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro.co.uk’s visit Metro’s London news hub.
Lyrics behind the band let the audience sing along (Picture: author’s own)
And at one point Hanna, Fateman and Samson even leave the stage and re-emerge in matching black and white outfits to execute a corny, choreographed dance. Back in the day, they saw Nsync’s matching costumes and dances and thought ‘they can do that just because they’re really big… why can’t we too?’ explains Hanna, to cheers.
The sense of celebration and relief continues. Hanna is out on the other side, she shares, after struggling not only with Lyme Disease but also PTSD – which she turns into a rallying cry as she launches into Keep On Livin’.
Particularly powerful was Samson’s lesbian visibility anthem, Viz, seeing her take centre-stage to sing: ‘They call it way too rowdy, I call it finally free.’ Before starting, Samson recalls a party years ago when she claims that chat show host Jimmy Fallon mistook her for a man. ‘I’m not a man, I’m a woman with a moustache!’ she says. ‘But he learned something that day. So this song is about Jimmy Fallon.’
The trio disappear to change into pop-tastic outfits, as the karaoke continues (Picture: author’s own)
And Kathleen Hanna and co are back, looking fly in black and white (Picture: author’s own)
There’s more, and more. The band rip through their catalogue, and revisiting it seems as much a treat for them as the audience. The ironic What’s Your Take On Cassavetes is there, plus feminist rallying cry FYR (standing for ‘50 years of ridicule’), kitschy My My Metrocard, and Hot Topic, a crash-course in radical pop culture figures (the crowd goes wild at the Sleater-Kinney name-drop).
There’s harder rock in On The Verge and political yell-along Seconds (‘you make me sick, sick, sick!’) And of course, there would have been riots if they hadn’t finished with big 1999 hit Deceptacon, full of pop loops, funky bass and colliding, euphoric riffs.
This is a band that absolutely know themselves, and don’t need to bring anything to a gig except bangers. Le Tigre know how to make an audience feel like they are part of something special, but they never once phone it in. Their set is full of heart and soul.
Despite there being no new material, the night couldn’t be further from a stale nostalgia-fest. Instead, the rawness and the freshness of their songs, 20 years on, felt like the future – a dam bursting, the unfolding of something big and transformative. It’s a little sad that there’s no hint of new music yet. However, if this is the energy they are reuniting with, we can expect great things.
What’s your favourite act to see live? Have your say in the comments belowComment Now
What to watch Movies
What to watch streaming
Trending Videos
‘People are attracted to, or have relationships — wise or unwise — with people of different ages.’
‘It has brought the greatest grief to them.’
Phillip Schofield doesn’t know if he’ll ever work on TV again: ‘I’ve lost everything, it’s all gone’
‘I do not think I will be able to walk down a street ever again.’
They share two daughters together.
‘What are the two things you don’t screw up? The Queen and a queue.’
They were together ‘five or six times’.
BRIEF – ME! – ENTERTAINMENT NEWS BRIEFING Entertainment Briefing, Catch up with this week’s top…
Social Media Influencers
The Thursday letters page is seeing Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom in its fried eggs, as one reader looks forward to Croc HD.
Games Inbox: The legacy and failures of PlayStation Showcase, Diablo 4 vs. Street Fighter 6, and Advance Wars
The Monday letters page is not surprised to find interest in Final Fantasy 16 might be low, as one reader hopes for a Starfield shadow drop.
Games Inbox: Predicting the next Legend Of Zelda game, June Nintendo Direct, and The Last Of Us Part 1 cheap
The Monday letters page agrees that both Xbox and PlayStation are acting foolishly at the moment, as one reader recommends Chained Echoes.
A reader reminiscences over the golden era of video game magazines and holds out hope that they may one day get a vinyl style revival.
A reader explains how his entire family got into board games and why it’s all thanks to a local game shop and its helpful customers.
Games Inbox: GTA 6 trailer predictions, Meta Quest 3 impressions, and Etrian Odyssey pricing
The Thursday letters page wonders what the release date for Starfield 2 might be, as one reader doesn’t want Tears Of The Kingdom to end.