Bikini Kill, a progenitor of the Riot Grrrl movement, took the stage on Sept. 22 at Boston’s Roadrunner for a trip back through their catalogue — laced with the same biting edge and fervent, pressing emotion the tracks had upon release.

Bikini Kill — originally formed in 1990 in Olympia, Wash. by Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail, and Billy Karren — broke up in 1997, reuniting only in recent years to continue performing. Bassist Kathi Wilcox and guitarist Sara Landeau joined Hanna and Vail to take the music back out on the road, performing more than 120 times since 2019.

It was an energy-filled, forward-looking night of punk music that felt as fresh as it did in 1990 when the band first came together. For example, some of Bikini Kill’s most famous tracks, like “New Radio” and “Double Dare Ya,” still hit with all the force as they did on release, channeling the same anger with the system and their need for “Revolution girl-style” that brought Bikini Kill to prominence.

Not a moment seemed to drag on too long as the propulsive nature of the music carried each song into the next, with lead vocalist Hanna making brief comments as the music stopped between tracks. She commented multiple times on how far the band has come since its inception.

At one point, she joked that her mother was the band’s biggest fan, despite thinking that the lyrics were just “continuous swearing.”

While there were plenty of expletives to go around throughout the set as the weighty, hard-hitting instrumentals kept the energy high, it was the innately political, frustration-filled lyrics that drove the crowd’s attention. Whether it was railing against patriarchal social structures that kept women down in “Feels Blind” or commenting on sex work in “Jigsaw Youth,” the audience took the band’s spirit and converted it into movement.

A medium-sized mosh pit opened in the middle of the packed standing room as the songs picked up in force, bodies clashing into each other as the blast beat pounded and the riffs picked up in intensity.

Though their discography is replete with tracks which maintain their political and social relevance, Bikini Kill managed to pick some of the most potent. “Sugar,” “DemiRep,” and “Reject All American” still have a lot to say about women’s sexual pleasure, standards of femininity, and the American dream, respectively — and the band is back to keep the message alive in the way that only they can.

The music hasn’t lost its edge, and neither have those performing it. Hanna, wearing a sparkling red top with pink ruffles and black tights, was utterly magnetic onstage, matching the energy of the distorted, fast-playing guitars backing her up.

Ultimately, the band managed to cultivate a remarkably collective space in the Roadrunner. The songs conjured a real sensation of catharsis throughout the crowd. It was lively and uplifting, the embodiment of what a punk show can and should be.

Bikini Kill brought revitalized life to their music, but never strayed far from the essential pieces that brought the outfit together as a band in the first place, nor from the crowd’s ability to appreciate the show. Though “For Only” felt almost out of place with its comparative slowness, it was only a small instant of the night. For the rest of the evening, Bikini Kill had everyone caught up in the moment, headbanging, moshing, or dancing along to the music.

“Suck My Left One” captured this spirit beautifully. The performance, charged with a resounding sense of anger, but the audience was along for the ride, fully invested as the song played through.

Faces from the audience sang along to their favorite songs, and when they weren’t, they were hooked on Hanna’s words. She peppered the set with political calls to action — and ultimately a message of hope — to continue to fight for a better, more just world. It was a pressing point for a crowd that on the whole was younger than the music itself. One fan in the crowd was attending the show as a 15th birthday gift from her mom.

Hanna sang her happy birthday from the stage.

Bikini Kill’s performance was raucous, loud, and enthralling, while always managing to bring the crowd into the action.

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at hcc.35. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.