Love-Fest!
by Lisa Wilton, July 10, 1999

Hole, Silverchair and Co. wow 18,000 at Edgefest ’99.

CALGARY — Courtney Love may be one of Hollywood’s beautiful people, but she sure doesn’t talk so pretty.

“This is 1999 and we’re not Soundgarden, so stop moshing — you look like retards!” she yelled at one point after a mid-tempo number with her band, Hole, at Edgefest last night.

But she didn’t seem to mind displays of enthusiasm during the faster songs, opening with Violet, from the 1994 album, Live Through This.

Love seemed fixated on the Calgary Stampede, and kept referring to it. It could have been a nice nod to Calgary if she didn’t sound too much like she was poking a bit of fun.

But bassist Melissa Auf der Maur showed her homegrown colours by draping a Canadian flag across the back of the stage, to the delight of the 18,000-strong crowd at Race City Speedway.

The band sounded great, regardless, especially in songs like Malibu from Celebrity Skin.

The preceding act, Moist, really got the crowd going for Courtney. They’ve played here numerous times before, so the pop rock band knew how to please a Calg audience.

Singer David Usher’s voice seems to have improved, perhaps thanks to his recent solo outing.

Their big hits Silver and Push got the crowd singing along loudly, easily filling in when Usher went quiet.

Making a return appearance at Edgefest was Australia’s Silverchair.

The teen trio used far less foul language than during their first visit, but had a far more powerful performance.

Silverchair’s sometimes chugging, sometimes wailing guitars and heavy-handed drumbeats were perfect for the sweat-covered moshers in the front.

Instead of being just noise, however, Silverchair orchestrates carefully controlled chaos in songs like Freak and Anthem for the Year 2000.

They were obviously a crowd favourite, especially with the young female fans — some of whom had “Silverchair” painted prominently across their faces.

Finger Eleven was one of the more stylish bands at this year’s Edgefest, but their set, with a few exceptions, consisted of little more than fairly generic alt.rock.

To their credit, they were successful in capturing the energy of the crowd and using it to create a highly charged stage show.

Treble Charger also made a lasting impression with their fun-filled, visually entertaining set on the second stage.

For some unknown reason, the power-pop four piece decided Karate Kid-inspired apparel was the way to go.

The band packed their 20-minute set with great-sounding new songs like the undeniably catchy American Psycho and older ones from older albums like Maybe It’s Me.

Former I Mother Earth singer Edwin probably had the most to prove — and to lose — with his solo debut in front of a Calgary audience.

There was definite potential. He has both the look and the voice to become one of Canada’s best solo rock artists.

The Matthew Good Band made the leap from the second stage to the main stage this year — and adjusted to the change with no problem.

Good’s hauntingly seductive voice was basically flawless throughout the set, and the rest of the Vancouver-based band provided suitably moody and dramatic backing.

Boston based Big Wreck began their 40-minute set with a short cover of the Lemonheads’ Into Your Arms before charging into their hit, That Song.

The band’s gutsy, blues-based rock and Ian Thornley’s smoky voice filled the vast expanse of the venue with booming intensity.

Vancouver’s premier hip-hop act The Rascalz were a welcome change to the predominantly white male guitar rock of the day.

Their rapping was muddy and difficult to understand at times, but that had more to do with the sound system than their skills.

Two breakdancers demonstrated some cool moves while the group urged the crowd to wave their hands in the air like they just didn’t care.

Len attempted the same during their short 20-minute set.

Unfortunately, pop-flavoured hip-hop act Len didn’t have any better luck with the sound system, which hindered their performance.

The energy is there, but the vocal power isn’t.

That was painfully evident during the band’s triumphant, summery pop hit Steal My Sunshine.

Singer Sharon Costanzo was barely audible during the chorus of the song and had trouble being heard over the rest of the band.

Although the song fit the day’s weather perfectly, Len are still better suited to a more intimate indoor venue.

It was more of the same ol’ same ol’ from Saskatoon’s Wide Mouth Mason.

The trio gave a solid performance as usual, but there was little excitement in their set of polished Prairie blues-rock.

A little more grit and less polish would definitely give the band some bite.

The sun-baked crowd was reasonably well behaved, although the odd few were led away after mishaps or fisticuffs.

Generally, though, spirits were high, and the skies were cloudless all day.

Oh, and it was Courtney Love’s birthday. Bet she never had such a great party.