PORTLAND, Ore.— Sleater-Kinney did not go gentle into that good night of, in the words of the trailblazing Northwest band, “indefinite hiatus.”

The one-time Olympia-based riot grrrl standard-bearers, named “America’s best rock band” as early as 2001 (by Time magazine and critic Greil Marcus), Sleater-Kinney went out with a ferocious performance Saturday night.

Playing the second of two sold-out nights in its adopted hometown of Portland, the trio covered most of its 11-year career, with a heavy emphasis on its latest (and heaviest) album, “The Woods.”

The 27-song Crystal Ballroom set kicked off in punishing fashion with “The Fox,” the opening salvo from “The Woods,” and ended more gracefully with “One More Hour.” “In one more hour I will be gone,” Corin Tucker sang. And then, in only a couple of minutes, singer-guitarists Tucker and Carrie Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss were gone, with hugs all around.

“This band has saved my life a thousand times,” said a tearful Brownstein, the only outspoken member of a surprisingly reticent group.

Also not bashful was Eddie Vedder, who preceded the band with a brief set. The Pearl Jam frontman sang a Dylanesque protest number and, strumming a ukulele, a charmingly antique duet with Weiss.

Vedder explained that although he hadn’t been around to see live performances by the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, the Sex Pistols or “the Who with Keith Moon,” he was “very fortunate” he could see Sleater-Kinney, which had opened tours for Pearl Jam. “Truly,” he said, “there is no place else I’d rather be on the planet than here.”

Vedder and about 1,500 fans witnessed a generous survey, after a fashion, of Sleater-Kinney’s back story. That saga included “Stay Where You Are” and “Good Things” from the ’96 “Call the Doctor,” its calling-card second album. Curiously, the band skipped the commanding title song, although it did perform the equally dynamic title track from “Dig Me Out,” along with the not-so-good “All Hands on the Bad One,” the “contemplative” (Brownstein’s word) “The Hot Rock” and the delightful “One Beat,” from Sleater-Kinney’s same-named penultimate album.

The band favored the songs from last year’s “The Woods,” performing all of them. Arguably Sleater-Kinney’s finest album — the more direct “Dig Me Out” and the politically charged “One Beat” are strong contenders — “The Woods” is certainly the most adventurous, pushing the threesome’s bass-less approach into the realm of Led Zeppelin and its heavy-rocking brothers.