Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour (documentary)

Last night I was delighted to attend the world premiere of Le Tigre’s new documentary, Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour, at MOMA. The film screening was followed by a Q&A session with two of Le Tigre’s three members, Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman (JD Samson was on tour with her band MEN and thus was unable to attend).

Who Took the Bomp? follows Le Tigre on a 2004-2005 world tour in support of their final album, This Island. The film evoked a vast array of emotions in me, ranging from sheer hilarity (i.e. Johanna’s retelling of a conversation with a guy who said his goal was to beat up a shark) to dejection (JD’s description of the band needing to decide whether to allow a magazine to run an ad in which they refused to include the word “lesbian”) to euphoria (Kathleen belting out “Hot Topic” while images of feminist books and artwork flashed on a projection screen).

Among the screening’s attendees was my friend and feminist inspiration Kate Wadkins, who worked on the film and was given a shout out by Kathleen Hanna for her recently released zine, International Girl Gang Underground.

Who Took the Bomp? will be available on DVD on June 7 for the amazingly affordable price of $15.99, and can be pre-ordered now. I’m definitely going to buy a copy for my library’s feminist/gender studies collection!