POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Free to Fight Mixes Music, Spoken-Word

The Free to Fight self-defense rock organization was established by three Portland women to empower women and girls through music and education. The relaxed atmosphere of the Macondo arts center and coffeehouse was the ideal setting for Friday’s Free to Fight program, which combined music and a touch of spoken-word with a series of instructional interludes.

The self-defense segments employed role-playing, demonstrations and discussion to emphasize points about verbal and physical violence, and the music performances were equally ardent.

Sleater-Kinney, an Olympia, Wash., trio composed of two guitarists and a drummer, played a particularly charged set that churned somewhere between early Siouxsie & the Banshees and pre-”Nevermind” Nirvana. A hip-hop duo from Portland called 151 unleashed a grinding, sinuous collision of verbiage and dance grooves, while Los Angeles’ own Phranc turned in a set of well-honed folk that ran the emotional gamut from bittersweet beauty to wry humor.

Sue P. Fox, fresh-faced yet frumpy in polyester and sensible shoes, launched into a spoken-word performance that was both awkward and eloquent. Tour organizer Lois’ fluttery folk tunes closed the evening on a somewhat monotonous musical note, but one that seemed genuinely heartfelt--an appropriate way to close an evening dedicated to self-expression as much as self-defense.