Bratmobile’s September 12 return after 25 years to San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill doubled as their bittersweet farewell to the esteemed venue.
The 1990s feminist punk band hailing from Olympia, Washington is best known for pioneering the riot grrrl movement alongside Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney, and spent most of its active years in the Bay Area. In the early 2000s, the band frequented local venues like Bottom of the Hill, Thee Stork Club, and the now-closed Slim’s, to name a few.
For 35 years, Potrero Hill venue Bottom of the Hill has ushered in diverse crowds into its intimate, divey, and welcoming space. Where no matter where you stand in the place, you get a great view—even from the patio out back, thanks to the signature crooked window that peers in behind the stage.
Amid increasing struggles to maintain an independently owned concert venue in the city, Bottom of the Hill’s co-owners Kathleen Downey and Lynn Schwarz have decided to close their doors—but not before a year-long victory lap for the beloved venue that sees sit hosting new and veteran performers until December 31.
Three years after Bratmobile reunited at Oakland’s Mosswood Meltdown—an East Bay music festival hosted by John Waters—the band once again returned to the Bay as part of Bottom of the Hill’s farewell show series.
The duo performed to two sold-out rooms at Bottom of the Hill on September 11 and 12. The venue’s 246-person standing-only capacity was a refreshing change of pace for the band, whose comeback has consisted mostly of festivals like Riot Fest in Chicago, where it played on September 18.
I saw Bratmobile at Mosswood Meltdown in 2023 and again in 2024. The energy of the group’s intimate. nostalgia-driven show was unmatched.
The same was certainly true of Bratmobile’s first night at Bottom of the Hill. As a long-time fan whose discovery of riot grrrl changed her 16-year-old life, I was excited to see them perform they’d rocked in the era before iPhone and Tiktok, before riot grrrl had been written into the history books.
L7’s “Till the Wheels Fall Off” served as Bratmobile’s walk-on track, in tribute to the punk band’s bassist Jennifer Finch, who died on July 18 at age 59. Frontwoman Allison Wolfe shared a few words about Finch and their friendship, before properaly kicking off the set with “Love Thing” from 1993 album Pottymouth.
The night had all the raw attitude and amped-up energy for which Bratmobile is known. While Bottom of the Hill’s stage may not be big enough for Wolfe to do her classic cartwheels, she still managed to do the splits onstage in her sparkly sequined dress.
Bratmobile brought their angsty energy to one song after another, their hearts on their sleeves in that familiar sticky-floored room. The crowd responded in kind—all girls to the front in the mosh pit! I stood around its heaving human mass and can confirm that nearly everyone was screaming the lyrics back to Wolfe as she paraded around the stage.
It didn’t matter if the songs were over three decades old—tracks like “Bitch Theme” and “Gimme Brains” gave all age groups in the audience had something to yell about.
Songwriter Rose Melberg—who is now playing with Bratmobile as a guitarist—performed a song from her early band Tiger Trap, the cherry on top of what felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. That Sacramento based twee-pop band played their last show at Bottom of the Hill in 1993 only a year after forming, and its track’s performance came as a complete surprise to eager fans—myself included—that had glimpsed a copy of the setlist onstage.
The audience showed love to Melberg and Wolfe’s rendition of Tiger Trap’s “Supreme Nothing,” which has amassed over 1.4 million listens on Spotify.
Bratmobile’s most-streamed song “Cool Schmool” came early in the set, leaving me curious as to what they had in store for the encore. When that came, it didn’t disappoint.
The band shuffled back out onto the quaint stage for the last time ever to play their final two songs of the night, starting off with their cover of The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” and then launching into a cover of Misfits’ “Where Eagles Dare” alongside special guest Trent Ruane, lead vocalist of the late-’80s San Bruno punk band The Mummies. Bratmobile ended its decades-long love affair with Bottom of the Hill on a high note, surrounded by friends and fans.
Check out Bottom of the Hill’s remaining shows here.
