The support band played, they weren’t really my style, and you could feel the tension rising when they finished their set and the stage was prepared for Hole. After about half an hour, with the dance remix of “Malibu” and Bjork’s “Post” playing in the background, and much chanting of “HOLE”, they finally came out. There was so much screaming and people jumping and stuff , and it was really fun and atmospheric. They came out onstage and started with “Violet” (as usual), then “Awful”, and it was already outshining their show the night before. I [love] “Awful” sooooo much! In between songs, there was a lot of “Courtney!” as usual, and i yelled to Melissa, but then they started playing again, and she didn’t hear. I can’t remember what order they played their songs in, I just remember singing along to every single one and just watching them and having fun. After a few more songs, I held up my little pink sign and screamed out “Melissa!” She looked up and squinted to read my sign, then nodded and smiled, she was so sweet! When she smiled, i could just hear *swooooon* all around me. hehe. She smiled at us periodically in-between songs, and it was so great to see that they actually enjoyed playing for us; they smiled and laughed, and it was nice to see Courtney especially looking really happy. She said some really funny stuff in-between songs, and went on about how good Australia is and how we should be proud of it and how good it is that it’s compulsory to vote (which IS a good thing), and that if we’re 18 we should enroll to vote. I thought it was really cool of her to say this and to be aware of our politics and everything. We tried yelling out to Sam a few times, but with the amount of noise and her being up the back of the stage with her drums, i doubt she could hear. She played awesomely again! Courtney began talking about how she’d heard that Australian bands play for ages, so she said that Hole were feeling competitive and wanted to outplay them! Yay! They played a lot of their songs; ranging from “Pretty On the Inside” to “beautiful Son” , to most of the LTT and Celebrity Skin tracks, as well as a few covers (Paradise City, Baby Blue, Into Yr Arms, etc.) and also “Drag” and a few others. Courtney said that they shouldn’t have listened to Billy and put “Drag” on the album. It sounded really good live, just flowing along. Courtney talked about Billy, and Melissa and Billy, then she said “Melissa and I have both slept with Billy, but not at the same time”, and then she went on about Melissa, saying she was such a “redhead Virginal” type. Then she said she wanted to hear Melissa say “fuck”. Melissa said she wasn’t going to say it, so we started a chant, then she said something with the word in the sentence, and it was funny. There was a lot of funny banter between Mel and Courtney. Courtney also said to Melissa “sometimes i think yr a bigger goddess than i am”. Ahhh, sweet. There was a lot of cool stuff that happened, but you had to be there to get it, it was so great. At one stage, Eric actually talked as well! He was pointing over to our side of the stage, and he said something, i don’t know what it was, but i thought maybe it was cos some of us were getting a bit squashed, but we’ll never know now. Courtney also let some girls get up on the stage, then she said “who wants to come up from this side?” to us on Melissa’s side; then she said, “oh no, not on yr side, princess” to Melissa. Ugh! No fair. We would’ve gotten up there for sure, but it didn’t matter, it was still a good show. After they played the Lemonheads “Into Yr Arms” (with Courtney again talking about her relations with another boy rock star!), she said she couldn’t remember who wrote it. “Some Australian guy!” she said. She asked if anyone knew, i yelled out “Tom Morgan!” Then this guy near me who was about 6ft tall yelled it out, and Courtney got the security guard to ask us what it was cos she couldn’t hear, then she said “that guy knows his shit”. I screamed “I knew it too!”, and she smiled at me. Ugh, girls know their modern rock history too, you know. I’m sure i’m getting the order of this show all muddled up, but it doesn’t matter that much, just keep reading. They went offstage, then came back for the encore. Courtney came out in a little pale blue cabaret style outfit of a little busteire and pants, and she came out to the mic and asked: “Does this look stupid?” hehe. It was so cool. Then Eric came out, and they did Northern Star. Halfway through it, Courtney took her top right off and continued the song, at the end of it putting the mic down and putting her hands in the air looking up to the rooftop. She looked like a total power goddess; like a magical mermaid. Then the rest of the band came out and they played Paradise City. Courtney said she was hot so she took her top off, big deal. Boys can do it, so she’s gonna do it. After the Guns ‘n Roses cover, she put her top back on, saying “the patriarchy is making me put my top back on”. I think she was getting kind of irate that there were some photographers who took photos. I don’t know. But it was a totally cool moment. Courtney compared the crowd to ones in Glasgow and British Columbia, saying they’re the only other shows where she’s ever felt totally at ease with the crowd. Melissa said “this is a special, special city”, as she’d never seen Courtney do that before. “You guys are the winners”, she said. Aww. All in all, it was a totally groovy night, and i felt so lucky and touched to be there. Courtney said it was one of the best shows they’ve ever played, and we felt it. They also played for about 2 and a half hours, playing many of their songs, and just being awe-inspiring. I truly hope that other fans get a treat of a show like we did that night. Before they left, I called out to Melissa one last time, and she waved goodbye, smiling, and i was so happy. I’m so glad I got to write her a letter and tell her how special i think she is. Anyway, i’m running out of room here, so i’ll finish by saying that that night sealed my love for this band, and i can’t wait to see them again one day, and i hope they know just how wonderful they are. Hole are heavenly.