Christina, Charley, and I visited L.A. for the Bikini Kill reunion show at the Palladium. This is probably the only band I would travel to see once in my life. All of Kathleen Hanna's musical projects (Bikini Kill, The Julie Ruin, Le Tigre) collectively set the tone for my first real creative renaissance when I was 14, locked away in my own world with loud and fast female voices singing at me while I made my own clothes and collages, obsessively studied fashion designers and models, and Ask Jeeves'ed more and more new bands to buy CDs of or download on Limewire (sorry for all the songs I stole, sue me). Bikini Kill was a gateway drug for me with music at a time I felt the most lost and unseen; I saw in them a perfect balance of toughness and anger and confidence with feminity and vulnerability and sincerity. I've never felt like I belonged anywhere, but this music was the driver escorting me to the realization that I belonged in my room absorbed in my projects and thoughts, and also made me feel confident in my presence and not so tiny. I still put on Le Tigre's "Keep on Livin" when I feel scared of the world because it inevitably makes me feel 10 feet tall and full of light.
Anyways. L.A. was a good adventure. We really got acquainted with the tougher side of Koreatown ha ha ha, observed an exuberant nude man marching up the beach, and crossed paths with lots of alien-looking plants because Southern CA can grow literally anything. We were also very cold most of this trip.
I’m sorry for the terrible video. You get the point.
