Performance: Hole
Edgefest ’99
Thunderbird Stadium
Vancouver, July 14, 1999
by Michael Dwyer, October 1999

Welcome to the end of the line. As the sun sinks into a fragrant haze of dope smoke over the grounds of the University of British Columbia, Hole prepare to play the very last show of their somewhat fraught Celebrity Skin tour.

According to one music biz soothsayer, it might well be their last gig, period. Given the drama surrounding the album’s recording, its less than impressive sales and murmurings of discontent under Courtney Love’s shaky-fisted rule, the prediction is not so far-fetched.

So if the rock & roll road is a metaphor for evolution and hard-won wisdom, what has the retiring Goddess of Grunge learned since she bared her tender skin on the Big Day Out six months ago?

“You just want me to play, right?” she enquires after a long-winded farewell speech delivered before the band has played a note. “And to take off my clothes and tell you my whole sexual history?”

Sadly, she’s right on all three counts. The crowd roars affirmation and guitarist Eric Erlandson passes a weary hand over his brow before lurching into “Violet”.

Compared to previous bands on the bill (Silverchair, Moist, Matthew Good Band), Hole is still a dodgy live prospect. But there’s a gritty cohesion in the ranks tonight that was notably absent under Australian skies: “Awful” exudes a mighty, tattered glory; “Reasons to be Beautiful” finds Love’s shredded vocal chords rising to the occasion.

Drummer Samantha Maloney and scene-stealing bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur (hot pants, red thigh boots and maple leaf T-shirt) are well in step and the latter’s harmonies save many a wayward moment. “We’re kind of arrogant tonight because we have a Canadian in the band,” Love babbles as Erlandson visibly itches to play “Miss World”. “And because we know we are one of the best bands in the world: I’m a better band than fuckin’ anybody you’ve seen today…”

And so forth. It’s all as funny as a circus sideshow but alas, music remains an afterthought to Courtney Love’s understanding of what makes rock great. Where a second guitar so often ought to be, she’s busy twittering on about her “really great tits” and taunting the boys who came to see them with spurious musings on the musical relevance of ovaries.

“We gotta go away and make a new record now,” she insists after one last stage dive and a cracker final airing of “Celebrity Skin”. Whatever. Even if Auf Der Maur and Erlandson have another five years of patience to lend to Love’s blurred crusade, they may find themselves among a dwindling few come 2004. See you in the movies, Courtney.