Western Connecticut State University
What if Hole played your prom? That's what this gig felt like. I saw Hole in a college
gymnasium, surrounded by teenagers. It might have been Homecoming, except nobody had rented
tuxedos or gone to the tanning salon months in advance for this occasion. But the kids had
done their homework, bought Celebrity Skin, knew all the words.
Let me say up front, I'm a Hole fan and an unapologetic Courtney Love supporter. I believe
that neither Courtney nor a grassy knoll were involved in Kurt's death. I thought The Academy
gypped Courtney out of a nomination for The People Vs. Larry Flynt. But things have changed--
I saw the New Courtney at this show. In the past, I had been utterly transfixed by the
Courtney-Outta-Hell, but this time I could only bop along with Fit-n-Trim Pop Courtney.
I first saw Hole in 1994 at a St. Louis club called Mississippi Nights. It was winter, and
they were touring in support of the brilliant Live Through This album. They were late.
Courtney rushed through the crowd to get backstage, carrying a blase Frances Bean. Mother and
daughter wore ratty fur coats. When she finally emerged onstage, Courtney complained of having
a cold, and she trashed my hometown with comments like, "I can see why T. S. Eliot left." She
led the band through a blistering, feral hour-long set. Eric's riffs and Courtney's primal
screams rang in my ears for days afterwards.
Live through this with me, I swear, and I will die for you.
The following summer, I saw Hole on the Lollapalooza tour at St. Louis' sterile Riverport
Amphitheater They were still angry, still potent and far from easy listening. Sweaty Courtney
wore a raggedy baby doll dress and propped one leg up on her amp while fondling her guitar
like a rough, drunken lover. Eric sneered as then-girlfriend Drew Barrymore filmed him with
her camcorder from the wings. Melissa and Patty did their thing in the eye of the storm,
oblivious to the chaos of Courtney. The moshing crowd kicked up dust on the lawn. Courtney
made snide remarks to fuel her feud with headliners Sonic Youth before spewing a
stream-of-consciousness rant about Kurt, for Kurt, at Kurt. "Fuck you," she said,
"Fuck you all." She broke down and cried while cursing and ranting. Fans made the
devil-horn sign of rock approval and begged for more rock, less talk. But I was mesmerized by
this woman who seemed to be imploding in front of me.
Go on take everything, take everything, I want you too.
A few years have passed, and the Courtney I saw in Danbury was a new woman, fit and toned and
wearing a black midriff shirt and leather pants, instead of a thrift store dress. She'd taken
some time off, made a few movies, attended awards shows in Versace gowns. Her band had just
released a new album, Celebrity Skin, devoid of screaming rants and full of catchy riffs
supplied or enhanced by a new collaborator, Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. The lyrics
speak to her transformation and her ambivalence about it, and the music reveals a new pop
sensibility.
Miles and miles of perfect skin, I swear I do, I fit right in.
To warm up for a European tour, Hole played a few radio station Christmas festival shows and a
few random shows, including this one in the aforementioned college gymnasium. I was shocked
that Courtney had no harsh comments for the anti-glitzy venue or the boring suburban town,
considering the way she'd dissed St. Louis the first time I saw her. But this is the New
Courtney and she's much nicer. She also warned us that she was trying to do a "no talking"
show to see if she could do it, because I guess her bandmates and critics had complained that
she talked too much during concerts. I was disappointed, because I love her bitchy rants and
I love it when she criticizes people in the audience. She did do a little of that, telling one
guy, "Lose the flannel, this is 1998."
Hole played for only about an hour, just like the other two times I'd seen them. They kicked
things off with the title track of the new album, "Celebrity Skin." Next came "Awful" and the
biggest hit from the last album, "Miss World." Courtney said she wouldn't be stage-diving
anymore and she also begged our forgiveness for her "leather pants phase" and promised it
would be brief, all the while posing and seeming to enjoy her gym body and sex appeal.
The set continued with "Reasons to be Beautiful," "Dying," "Use Once and Destroy," and a Bob
Dylan cover. Courtney played guitar on a few songs, and Eric and Melissa sounded great. Patty
Schemel has left the band, but the new "temp" drummer did just fine. As promised, Courtney
kept her stage patter to a minimum and I had trouble hearing her when she did talk, due to the
gym acoustics. "That chick just showed me her tits," Courtney laughed, after a girl got on her
boyfriend's shoulders and flashed her. Courtney and Eric hit and teased each other constantly.
Although the set was heavily weighted with songs from the new album, Hole did play "Pretty On
the Inside," the title track of their first album, which required Courtney to channel her old
screeching self and yell some prophetic lyrics.
Is she rotten on the inside, ugly from the back? There is no power like my pretty power.
They wrapped up a 45 minute set with two more songs off the new album, "Heaven Tonight" and
"Boys on the Radio." Then they came back to play four more songs for an encore. First, they
played "Northern Star," a reflective ballad from Celebrity Skin. Next came a powerful
doubleheader from Live Through This: "Doll Parts" and the abrasively beautiful "Violet" which
allowed Courtney to prove that she can still at least "act" angry. Then she went back to being
cute for the final song, a cover of the Lemonheads' "Into your Arms," which she prefaced by
saying, "Here's a song by a boy who Melissa and I both kissed." Yes, girls, that Evan Dando
sure is dreamy.
Overall, this wasn't the best concert and it lacked the fire of the other Hole shows I've
seen. I think the band's low-octane performance could be attributed to the fact that this
concert was part of a warm-up tour, and people who attend shows on the new Hole/Marilyn Manson
tour will probably see tighter performances. I also think maybe I just need to move on and
accept the New Courtney and her band. The new album is damn good, just different. I shouldn't
be like those Metallica fans who can't listen to the band's new albums because the guys cut
their hair. I should stop being nostalgic for dysfunction and be happy for her. At long last,
she's achieved credit in the straight world, something she could only sing about with disdain
(or was it just jealousy?) on Live Through This.
Go for credit in the straight world, you will die....Lots of credit in the real world gets you
high.
Julie Wiskirchen
Danbury, CT
December 4, 1998
Ape Culture, 1998