By Sara Collas
Cleveland, OH (The Hollywood Times) 7/19/23 – Le Tigre, a feminist, trans-inclusive, lesbian-centered, electrifying band was reunited in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday evening after being apart for seventeen years.
I saw this badass group performing at the Michigan Women’s Music Festival in the middle of the woods 18 years ago. Despite the gap in time, their messages remained similar to when I heard them. They continue to be political, feminist, inclusive, anti-racist, and radical continuing to blast the patriarchy, right wingers, and racists.
Kathleen Hannah, the founder, and former lead singer of Bikini Kill theorized that racists have something dead rotting in them as their smell permeates the air poisoning people’s minds with toxic words and sick ideologies. Politics was sprinkled in with JD Sampson and Kathleen Hannah’s dance moves. Dancing with the Stars needs to recruit Hannah and Samson to their show immediately. Devoted fans not only danced to their hits, but they also sang the lyrics that can inspire anyone when the blues take over such as the refrain “keep on livin”, “this is your time”, “hold onto your pride”, and “this is your life.” JD Samson, reflecting on an early song, remembered that 20 years ago they were afraid of taking up too much space with her queerness.
Today JD Samson is out as a DJ, rock Star, and the producer of an excellent video called “Searching For the Last Lesbian Bars. “Samson said during the performance that we’re facing more anti-gay legislation than ever before. Keep taking up space. Throughout the evenings their songs demonstrated the powerful feminist lyrics so many of their fans appreciated. The concert was practically sold out. The lines for the schwag were so long this fan wasn’t up for the wait. We spoke to fans after the concert. One lesbian couple shared they had been fans of Le Tigre for twenty years. They were drawn to this group because they were the first queer visible band they had seen. Another fan said their music is “feminism balls to the wall.” We met a mother and daughter who said they were empowered by their strong messages for women. Their music helped them bond over deep discussions they had over the lyrics and music. This is one of the key functions of music. It brings people together.
Topics their music have covered include New York, women empowerment, metrocards, coming out, trans rights, feminism, women’s reproductive rights, and a Hilary endorsement with a powerful video, “I’m With Her.” The crowd loved Le Tigre so much we demanded an encore. We tried to talk to JD Sampson outside, but they were elusive like some stars quickly dashing away.
