I saw Hole in March 1995, when I was 15. It was my first rock concert and I didn't know what to expect. My two sisters took me to the show and we watched together from up in the balcony area. I wanted to be closer to the stage, but now I'm glad I was up there, because I had a good view of the entire stage and a small peek into the backstage area.

The opening band was Catherine. The audience didn't seem to get into them, but I thought they were ok. One of the songs they played had a chorus that sounded like they were screaming, "Patty!" and I thought that was funny.

We had to wait a really long time for Hole to play. I saw Eric standing at the back door and talking to people while we waited. When the rest of the band finally showed up, I saw Courtney, Frances, Stacy (Frances's nanny), Patty, and Melissa come through the back door and go around a corner back stage. Then, there was some more waiting. Stacy went over to some girls and started talking to them. I think she was looking for cigarettes. Well, I didn't know who she was at the time, and from a distance, she looked a lot like Drew Barrymore - short blonde hair w/ roots, same tiny little figure - so I yelled down, "Drew!" She looked up at me for a moment, and then went backstage again.

The band finally came on stage after what seemed like hours. Courtney came out in a black coat, and made some comments about the "shit" (NIN) they had been playing earlier. She took off her coat before the first song even started and - I may have just imagined this - but it seemed like there was a small hush over the crowd. She had on a black dress - you can see in the photo - that she may well have been poured into. This being 1995, the wonderbra was in full effect, along with some ass kicking black boots. It was pretty dramatic. I don't remember what anyone else was wearing, except that Patty had on the light blue long-sleeve shirt from the SPIN cover shoot.

The first song was "Plump", of course. Then, Courtney asked what we thought of the opening band, and there was a general "meh" from the audience. I believe she said something like, "They didn't have bands like that when I was in high school." She introduced us to Melissa. At one point, someone in the audience threw a roll of toilet paper (?) on stage, and Courtney drapped herself in it, saying "I feel like Stevie Nicks". Before "Softer Softest", she told us "I wrote this song for a dickhead. All men are dickheads." Then, a guy in the audience yelled "I'm not" and she said, "That's what they all say." Later, she told us that she wrote all the songs for Eric. There were baby dolls all over the stage, of course, and bottles of water in front of Patty's drums. Courtney would spray the audience and herself with it. Once, after completely drenching herself, she said, "There's no such thing as waterproof mascara." I think they played everything from LTT -- "Doll Parts" was especially powerful. Courtney asked what we wanted to hear next, and someone requested "Teenage Whore", so they also played that. She told us that she had been in the hospital the day before...I never did find out the story behind that, if there is one. An audience member asked if she was pregnant, and she glared at them, and said no, "Melissa's pregnant". Then she said, "Oh! I forgot to tell you guys! Melissa's a virgin." Not only that, but "Juliana Hatfield is the father of Melissa's baby." That's how it went. Lots of stage chatter. One lucky fan caught a baby doll that Courtney had rubbed between her legs. There was some talk about Lars Ulrich. The band played "Violet" at the very end. When they came back for the encore, Courtney had changed into a white nightgown and they played "Credit in the Straight World" and "Rock Star" before saying goodnight.
 
 
 

Josie Howard