Since forming relatively recently, Wild Flag has not released any music. The band is composed of two thirds of Sleater-Kinney (Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein), as well as Helium’s Mary Timony and The Minders’ Rebecca Cole. This information alone was sufficient to sell out the Portland show weeks in advance. Given these women’s history and considerable talent, fans safely assumed it would be good no matter what the band played. I show up early, expectant and excited.
Doug Fir’s basement is jammed with people before the lights even dim, and the room buzzes with excitement. The first act, Kelli Schaefer, sounds like a blend of Bjork and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O. She and her backing band have a quiet and ethereal intro before drums and bass kick in to partially overshadow the singer. They are earnest and lovely, and seem unaffected by the fact that half the crowd is talking over them as they play. Kelli Schaefer’s final song is a big production that ends in perfect a-capella goodness and provides an excellent lead-in for the next performers.
Royal Baths come on strong and heavy, with Hendrix-style guitar riffs that make the floor vibrate. They’re loud out of the gate, and the singer snarls into the microphone. He seems shy though, and faces the drummer for much of the performance. Royal Baths are instrument-driven and their sound is tight. The bassist lends his vocals to the second song, creating a nice blend and adding more confident stage presence to the performance. Their sound builds on the atmosphere created by the preceding act, with an extra air of mystery about it. Songs churn together, one flowing immediately into the next, and I detect a tinge of Middle Eastern influence coming through in one of the later songs. There are also hints of Jefferson Airplane in the mix, appearing briefly like a minor acid flashback. Mumbled lyrics are eaten by the overpowering instruments, and are difficult to distinguish. They are musicians first and writers second, with the overall set feeling like an hour-long jam session. Audience members fidget as if they want to dance, but are trying to conserve their energy for the next band. Toward the front, several people bob their heads along with the music, but the fierce sounds should inspire more movement than this. Royal Baths’ final number is wordless and experimental-sounding, and lasts upwards of ten minutes. They are clearly enjoying the free-form aspect of it, but the crowd is unsure of what to do. The band abruptly stops and exits the stage with no goodbye or other fanfare. All three band members looked uneasy onstage throughout their performance. They have potential, but they need to grow into their craft a bit more.
Wild Flag begins to materialize around 11:30. Janet Weiss appears onstage to make final adjustments to her drum kit, and the audience goes appropriately berserk. Though she plays often with both Quasi and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, these fans cannot get enough of her. The rest of the band soon follows. The members fumble around quite a bit, and Mary Timony leaves momentarily to retrieve her purse from the backstage area. It contains her vital notes, she says. Brownstein takes the microphone and jokes, “All right, we have an hour of Christian rock for you,” inciting laughter from her bandmates and the audience. Once organized, they start to play. Right from the beginning they are, of course, phenomenal. With no recorded material, the atmosphere is one of curiosity rather than anticipation. No one waits anxiously to see a favorite track performed live; instead, people are relaxed and ready to absorb anything the band plays.
Carrie Brownstein does her signature high-kicks while playing the guitar, and both she and Timony bounce up and down during each song. Brownstein’s voice has a snappy edge that bites through the air, but her cutting delivery is accented with an ear-to-ear grin. The four members share singing duties and harmonize beautifully together, creating a wave of superb sound. Professional video cameras travel through the room, recording the performance. Will this be featured on an episode of Brownstein’s upcoming television series, “Portlandia?”
Janet Weiss sings lead on their third song, showcasing her immense vocal capabilities that too often take a backseat to her awesome drumming. Midway through their set, a familiar guitar riff emerges. It takes a moment for my brain to register what it is, before Timony begins to sing, “I’ll never be your beast of burden.” These ladies are fond of covers, so hearing a Rolling Stones song is not completely unexpected this evening.
Brownstein provides us with a title, “Romance,” for one of the later songs. It’s upbeat and strong and gets the crowd moving. This is one of the best in an incredible set, and they inject a huge amount of energy into it. They leave the stage and the audience is uncertain if there will be an encore, due to the band’s presumably limited repertoire. Fortunately, they are back within minutes to play us a few more. The first is a cover of Patti Smith’s “Ask the Angels,” and a trio of women next to me sings along. Once the band launches into the next song, which is not a cover, it becomes clear that the ladies to my right have been following Wild Flag from Olympia to Seattle to Bellingham to Portland, and by now have deciphered the lyrics of their new favorite songs as well. Such is the power of this aptly designated supergroup.
The band is out of sync on the last song and has to start over. Once they sort themselves out, Brownstein puts down her guitar and works the microphone like a true rock star, though without a hint of swagger or bravado. Each of the members looks thrilled to be performing this new material, and almost sad to have reached the end of the night. Their set finally concludes at 1:00 a.m. and the crowd stands in place for a few moments, stunned by what they have just seen. We audience members are filled with hope that an album is forthcoming to capture this magic, so we can continue to live inside Wild Flag’s music.
