I’m sure someone with more journalistic talent can and will write a better review of last night’s concert, so I’m just going to give my two cents on the whole thing, take it or leave it. The opening band Star 69…. hmmmm, the less said the better. They knew how to play their instruments, and that was about it. Saw the lead singer packing the equipment into a pickup after the show. A verrry interesting person. Veruca Salt was great, the crowd was pretty tame until they started to play Seether. After that, it was pure adrenline. The pit was one of the best I’ve been to in a long time. No one was bleeding, I don’t think any girls were violated, and there were no 200 lb meat heads trying to prove their manhood. My worst injury, if anyone cares, is a bruised chin from knocking some guy on the head. Even though people have called VS an industry-made band, they still have a lot of talent IMHO. American Thighs will defintely be high priority on my list of things to buy.
Hole……..What can I say, it’s too awesome to put into words, but I’ll give it a try. I managed to push and shove my way to the fourth layer of bodies around the stage around the second song. (I can’t recall all the songs they played, but it was most of LTT, and four or five from POTI, also Hungry Like the Wolf, and Pennyroyal Tea- her version was great, but it can’t be compared with Kurt,IMO.) I got sprinkled with some of the water she threw around (Evian I think). Didn’t get any dolls, but some lucky bastard next to me caught a wad of chewed up rose petals Courtney spit out. Oh yeah, the music… the band was tight for most of the night, but she played really shitty during the encore. (a whole chord behind in some songs) To my untrained ears, most of concert sounded pretty good. She didn’t have that don’t give a fuck attitude peopel talk about in other concerts.
As far as Courtney’s banter with the audience, I didn’t get most of it because of the crowd noise, except that it was often laced with reference to sex and pop culture, both of which I know little about…sigh. At one time, she screamed out to the audience (while looking up) “why don’t you just fucking come back? (look down at us) Oh, I was talking to somebody else.” You can feel all the positive energy being sucked out of your body…Looking into her eyes… I really thought she was scary. It may have been tinted contacts, but that golden hue made her look so empty. When she sang, she either closed her eyes or barely opened them so you couldn’t tell if she was really looking at you. I could swear she stared at me a couple of times, but I guess every one around me probably got that feeling too. She plays the evil seductress role to perfection. Wore a black dress and black underwear only about an inch wide for most of the show (yes, I looked up her dress, but honestly didn’t enjoy it beyond a primitive level). It pains me to see her so willing to be sexploitative of her body.
Personally, I thought Melissa was the most beautiful person on stage, standing to the left with her bass. Just playing her part quietly. Everyone’s attention was on Courtney, and I got the impression that the other band members felt alone. The only feedback they got from the audience was when Courtney introduced them midway through the concert. Wonder if they care that CL is getting all the adulation and fame.
The introduction of Hungry like the Wolf was the same as in other concerts (best song ever written). Pennyroyal Tea… now I’m sure she’s played it more than once before the Fillmore show, but she said it was only the second time’s she’s played it. Maybe she meant during a tour…An interesting tidbit about Doll Parts, Courtney said that it was written back when she thought Kurt didn’t like her…. everyone in the audience made a sympathic sigh. We were all touched. It makes the song infinitely more meaningful to me now.
Now for the fun part… Courtney’s dive after the encore. She ame out in a flimsy white dress and lacy white underwear, leaped off of stage left, and landed in a jumble of bodies. It was like a ripple effect. About twenty people fell down on top of each other when she landed. So she spent almost no time floating, if at all. Security immediately converged on the spot, since she was practically standing in the middle of a mob. I’m sure she would have lost her dress if they didn’t get to her so soon. The whole thing lasted less than a minute. After returning to stage, she pointed to a guy in the audience and said “you little shit, you got my $48 Italian underwear.” It was pretty anticlimatic, but I guess I didn’t really want to see her get wasted by the crowd.
Ok this is post-concert stuff, so bear with me for a little longer. I had missed the last train that would take me home, and none of my friends could give me a ride all the way back to Berkeley, so I decided to stake out by the bus for Courtney. Francis was carried out to the bus by one of the VS girls (not the lead singer) (NOTE: See the correction about this at the bottom of the page) about forty five minutes after the concert ended. She was the cutest little baby that I had ever seen. Beautiful blond hair, and her dad’s eyes… She looked at me for a second before getting on the bus, I was so happy : )
Courtney came out of the front door and signed some stuff, three of her friends were trailing her, one guy had a home video camera. On a whim, she decided to walk down Fillmore (Ave?). The twenty people who staked out for her basically watched her go down the street with our mouths open. A couple of people followed her, but most just watched. The group turned back after walking about a block, and Courtney got on the 22 MUNI bus. Like the dedicated reporter that I am (ok, star-struck idiot fan), I got on the bus (asking for a transfer because it was not the one I needed to take) and rode with her for about five blocks. To put it mildly, it was an interesting experience, watching her standing in the middle of a bus load of people, most of whom didn’t know who the hell she was, joking about fucking Trent Reznor. “Yeah,” she said with her eyes closed, “He’s a missionary man…. and he kicks a little.” (laughter from group) “After he was done fucking me, he got up and said ‘Damn, you’re nasty!'” (more laughter) “I guess he fucked me like an animal.” (We nearly died laughing)
Courtney kept telling her escorts that they would get in trouble if they didn’t get back to the tour bus soon. So after going up five blocks, they got off the MUNI bus. I left too, because I had to run back to the station and catch the 38. They headed back down Fillmore and turned left down a street. She seemed to be really enjoying her little expedition in SF. I managed to make the 38, and she must have ran back too, because the last thing I remeber was seeing her kicking the Ryder truck where all the equipment was stowed as the bus was driving away…
Now I don’t have any insightful metaphors or pretty adjectives to conclude my semi-review, except to say that my own personal Hole experience was worth every penny of my $16.50 ticket and then some. And I hope her accoustic show at San Jose State Univ. Dec 8 (woke up this morning with three hours of sleep and managed to find four front row tickets 🙂 will be just as great.
If this reaches you, Courtney, thanks for a great show.
NOTE: The following was posted on the Usenet group in response to Jack.
ApathyC
Nov 13, 1994, 4:20:05 PM
ok i was one of the ones who followed her like a puppy dog.. but when i intro’d myself to her she remmmembered me and hugged me a few times and kissed my cheeck we talked about old times and she promised to put me on the list for the next nights show.. she really did look happy and i am glad to see that it is still possible for her to be content. As for the trent remarks.. i dunno anything about anything since i headed home after that!
NOTE: Jack added this correction about his post.
Nov 14, 1994, 12:22:51 AM
to
In article <3a3ihe$p…@agate.berkeley.edu>, jb…@uclink2.berkeley.edu
(Jack) says:
>Francis was carried out to the bus by one of the VS girls (not the lead
^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^
>singer) about forty five minutes after the concert ended.
See what happens when you don’t read the trade magazines and keep up to date with your favorite star like a good fan should…
Let it read: Frances was carried out to the bus by her nanny about forty-five minutes after the show ended.