This Time Around, Part N+1

Some things don't change. Last week, on stage at the Paradise, Corin Tucker had her band dressed in formal wear for its headlining set, yet she was wearing a simple and a bit worn, red-and-black plaid dress, with one strap routinely sliding down and a sticker of some sort near the hem. You can take the girl out of the Pacific Northwest, but you can't take the Pacific Northwest out of the girl?

The songs Tucker played were quite contemplative compared to the ones she played when she was the lead singer of Sleater-Kinney, that principled but fun trio that's been on hiatus for about five years. Not surprisingly, her best songs, from her debut solo album, let her voice escape into its trademark leaping roll that no one else does. When she played slow songs, they usually found themselves trapped in something syrupy or kitschy, though a strong guitar usually barreled through at some point, lifting the song. Overall, it worked and was an appropriate evolution for someone who's now a mom. As I've written before in these pages, I like bands that acknowledge they're aging and write wiser songs as a result. Tucker hit the mark.

The crowd was certainly small. Though it was a Monday night in the middle of the semester, which doesn't bode well in a college-dominated city such as Boston, the Paradise was only about half full. Sleater-Kinney wasn't an iconic indie-rock band at the turn of the century, but it certainly knew how to pack larger venues. (I saw them in fall 2002 at Irving Plaza, when, at the start of the show, they told all the girls to come up front and the guys to walk backwards, so that women weren't straining to see, which is usually the case at shows; the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, with only an EP and mountains of hype to their name, were the opener.) Not everyone's return gets to be as triumphant as Pavement's, I suppose, though Tucker's was worth it.

In fact, even more surprisingly, Guided by Voices -- which never represented a generational moment quite like Pavement did but was wildly loved in its late-90s heyday -- is only playing the Paradise when it brings its reunion tour to town Friday. At least that show sold out several weeks ago.

Above is my photo of the Paradise's marquee the night of Tucker's show.