Heavens to Betsy, Revolution Hall, October 28, 2026

Legendary Riot Grrrl band Heavens to Betsy graced Revolution Hall’s stage last week. Portland’s Altar Girl and Team Dresch also played as this was the latter’s record release show celebrating their newest release Furthermore.

Altar Girl opened the show with an energetic set. Lead singer Kay Morrisette and guitarist Mara Vosien led the quartet with a mix of intense vocal and distorted guitar leads that often genre blended from DIY punk to goth-adjacent riffs. Songs like “Chapel Perilous” worked to highlight the band’s cohesiveness and were bolstered by the band’s rhythm section bassist Sam Mahon and drummer Ariel Chamberlin.

Later in the evening bandmates Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney) and Tracy Sawyer of Heavens to Betsy took to the stage to perform. They had earlier this year at local venue Turn! Turn! Turn! after a 30-year absence from the music scene.

The pair often switched instruments played songs from their classic album 1994’s Calculated and Baby’s Gone, a new album, of songs from 1992 taken from a cassette recording and two EPs.

The band took the audience on a time warp with their sparse instrumentation and fiery vocal delivery. Their songs come from a time of Riot Grrrl ethos, all ages shows, college radio playlists, and analog communication methods: landlines anyone? Exceptional tracks included “Waitress Hell” and the show’s finale “Axemen“.

Local punk stalwarts then came to the stage and played a wide selection of songs including some off their new record, Furthermore. This effort, their first in three decades, was met with a captive audience eagerly waiting to hear the new material. The group began the evening with “Uncle Phranc” from 1995’s Captain My Captain. “Fagetarian and Dyke” and “Hate the Christian Right!” from their 1996 release Personal Best also drew upbeat reactions from the crowd with the later giving way to a mosh pit near the stage. New tracks included “Jamie” and the excellent “One Song” with latter “a love song to our young selves from our present selves.“

Last week’s Heavens to Betsy show featured bands at different eras in their careers. Altar Girl are poised to make a long term impression on Portland’s music scene while Heavens to Betsy and Team Dresch returned with exuberant sets that harken to their youth while reflecting on our current politics. All of the bands gave the audience a chance to be seen, to dance, and sing to classic songs and new anthems alike.

Check out songs and lists from the show: