The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
May 3rd, 2004
By Shane Harrison


COURTNEY LOVE

“My name is David Grohl,” Courtney Love announced from the stage at Music Midtown Sunday night. But the real David Grohl, leading the Foo Fighters in a set the night before had a much larger audience and a lot less drama.

It seems a pop princess trumps a legally troubled rock star. As the show began, fans were still making their way toward the other side of the festival grounds to see Jessica Simpson.

Clad in a blue denim jumpsuit topped by a bustier, Love started strong with a competent if unspectacular version of the title track from the first Hole album, “Pretty on the Inside.” Things quickly degenerated.

I’d like to thank the academy of hell and the devil for [messing] up my life,” she said. Then things got weird. “And it’s peach season and there are no peaches.” Huh?

A plain imitation of “Malibu,” from the final Hole album, only highlighted that her band needed a little more rehearsal. But she didn’t seem concerned with the music. In fact, she seemed a little emotional and on edge.

But some things remain the same, emotionally fragile or not. No one could have been surprised when the top half of Love’s outfit came open. Breasts were flashed more than once, but that’s just what she does. Eventually, it got too cold even for an inveterate flasher like Love.

Later, Love spotted a blond girl in the audience and asked the secuirity guards to let her up. “You’re hot, sit here.” She asked the new girl to sing “Violet” with her, but it soon became obvious that the girl didn’t know the words and Love just pushed her aside. “Sit down, you can’t sing.”

All this theater would be fine if this was a theaer, but this was supposed to be a concert. If anyone was there for music, it wasn’t until near the end that they got anything worthwhile from the stage.

After the second of Love’s forays into the crowd, she returned to the stage and chided the crowd.

Then we got some music. “Celebrity Skin” sounded confident and rocking, though Love still had trouble staying in front of the microphone long enough to finish a verse. The band left the stage while Love remained, singing a snippet of Nirvana’s “Pennyroyal Tea.”

The band comes back, surrounds her and they all retake their places for “Reasons to Be Beautiful.” By the end, Love is crying. Suddenly, this theatrical performance seems all too real and watching the seemingly damaged Love for the past hour feels wrong and a little sad.