Walking into Auckland's Powerstation on Wednesday night to see Bikini Kill in concert was like stepping back in time. Seeing that many black band tees, baby doll dresses, leopard print cardigans and green hair dye in one place, you felt like you were on Karangahape Rd or Cuba St in 2003.

It was exactly what you would have expected from the all ages crowd: rebellious teens of the past and present, united by their raging love of Kathleen Hanna, Bikini Kill's frontwoman and a pioneer of the 90s riot grrrl movement.

It was Hanna, along with Tobi Vail (the band's original drummer and editor of punk feminist zine Jigsaw) who spoke out against sexism in their local music scenes. They declared "Girls to the Front" at hardcore gigs and yelled "Suck my Left One" to any creep dumb enough to objectify them.

Thirty years later, Kathleen Hanna and her band had made it to a stage in Aotearoa. In her sparkly mini dress, hot pink tights and Winehouse-esque bouffant, she offered the crowd some words of wisdom in between songs:

Don't throw away your artwork. "You might be like 'oh, it's not important, this poem doesn't mean anything' but then you find yourself at age 54... at a sold out show all the way in New Zealand, singing the poem you wrote when you were 17."

Unionise. As an ex-dancer herself, Hannah gave a shout to Fired Up Stilettos - the local stripper's collective from Calendar Girls who are currently protesting for workers rights and fair payment.

It's cool to be cringe. "I performed spoken word in high school about being sexually abused - I don't care about being called cringe."

Talk about whatever you want, even if it makes people uncomfortable. "As a rape trauma survivor - not meaning to be a bring down but it's just a fact of life, it's not something I'm embarrassed to talk about. I mean how much do we talk about coffee?"

By the end of the show everyone was inspired, empowered and sweaty. Photographer Becki Moss captured the atmosphere...