agross@hulaw1.harvard.edu
I’m just back from the Boston show, so here’s a quick review…The show was prt of WFNX (Boston’s commercial alt.music station) annual birthday bash, at the Avalon club. Tickets were not sold in advance, so there was a huge line to get in – it was sold out and we had to wait for people to live in order to get in. Fourtantely some people long before Hole got on (probably to go to the other clubs on the same street, which were also hostong the event…), so I was lucky to get in. The shoe itself – very similiar to what Chris from Penn. described, from the dolls on the stage all the way to Courtney’s dive into the audience in the end. She got back to the stage a few minutes before her guitar did… Her last thing before living was sort of almost taking her underwear off, but doing a “what the heck, I won’t” look and leaving….
In the begining she talked about some threat about shooting her at the show from some woman. It was not very clear, but she asked that if that woman is going to shoot her she should do it after Doll Parts “because I have to sing Doll Parts”. Later, Courtney was wondering why were there only guys up front. Oh, as to that threat, she also said :”It’s probably just that she thinks I am f***ing Renzor and Stipe and she’s jealous”.
At some stage she started to talk bash the Boston Phoenix (a weekly would-be Village Voice…). She said she wanted to tell us this Boston story, about how some woman “my husband” knew (I didn’t really get what if at all happened between Kurt and that woman) in Boston thought that made her his girlfriend, and then he ended up having to get a restraining order against her. Anyway she was mad at that “tabloid, thinking they are Village Voice ” paper, i.e. Boston Phoenix. Later she went on to say that the Phoenix would probably write a review of the show different from all other papers because “they are so hip” and she went on to say to the paper: “su** my d**K” etc. She was preety hot on that, and I wonder if it was just because of the way they allegedly handled that story, or also because last week the Phoneix had a review of Hole’s Providence show, that gave the show huge compliments, but said Love herself, her manners, “perfectly messed hair”, clothes etc., “rings contrived”. The Phoneix talked about a conflict between “music and manner”. Anyway, the whole thing was ironic because WFNX, the event’s sponser, is linked to the Phoenix, and while Courtney was saying all of that, above her the banner read “WFNX – Boston Phoenix Radio”….. I wonder if she was aware of the sign…
Oh, she smokes too much. Not a minute without a cigarette.
The band played extremely good. Courtney is a great guitarist and so of course is Eric Erlandson. His hair is shorter and blonder from the way it was when I saw Hole (opening for Mudhoney) in London in Aug. 1991, but he’s still a great guitar player. Unfourtantely, Courtney dropped the habit she had when I saw her over 3 years ago, of ending songs with Smiths refrains.
To recap: it was a truly great show, one of the best. You should all catch Hole!