Sleater-Kinney still sounds fierce, but something seemed off at 9:30 Club

Strange feelings brew when a rock band successfully transitions from hopelessly trying to conquer the world to having actually conquered it. It's not that crusty, petty irritation that comes when the twin gusts of charisma and hype force us to share our pet bands with the rest of the universe. It's more about the hollowing shift in energy that occurs when the band no longer has anything left to prove. And how the stakes never feel high enough at the love fest.