Venue: O2 Academy Brixton
Location: London, England
Band Lineup: Courtney Love (Guitar/Vocals), Micko Larkin (Guitar), Invisible Dave (Guitar/Keyboard), Shawn Dailey (Bass), and Stuart Fisher (Drums).
NOTE: This is a partial transcript, pieced together from videos. A complete recording hasn’t surfaced. The setlist might not be in the exact order.
– PRETTY ON THE INSIDE
– SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
– SKINNY LITTLE BITCH
CL: Ta, you little fuckers. Hey London, we’re Hole. FUCK YOU!
Audience screams.
CL: On three, I want you to say “Fuck you” really loud. One, two, three…
Audience: Fuck you!
CL: Ooh, that felt so good. That was a challenge, wasn’t it? You want it and you want it bad. Well, I don’t know if I’m up to that challenge. Ooh, you want to hear an oldie?
– MISS WORLD
CL: ?? I need, um, audience sound in my wedges. I can’t (CUT)
(CUT)
CL: I can’t see you and I can’t feel you and I can’t hear you. So if they could turn on the house lights. Thank you.
Audience screams. The house lights go up.
CL: Oh, hi! Yay. Hi! Aw. Sexy. Alright, let’s fuck. Let’s go.
– TAKE THIS LONGING
CL: Thank you.
CL: I don’t hate the old songs. I like them. I only play the ones I like. I was kidding, but I can’t see you and I can’t hear you in my wedges, so I…I don’t know where I am. I could be at, you know, John’s Shit Shack in Austin with Limp Bizkit, for all I know.
(CUT)
CL: Now this room is the best rock ‘n roll room in history. Brixton Academy is the best venue to play rock music and if you’re in a band and you don’t like playing here, you should probably quit. This song…I wrote this song about Billy Corgan. Can you believe it? How long ago was that?
Audience screams.
CL: Oh my God, how below the belt. Dude. Alright. Wait, wait, wait, wait…
CL: I did. I wrote this song about Billy when we were…when we were romancing. Can you imagine? 99 percent of you weren’t even born. It was platonic! It was just romantic. Alright.
– VIOLET
– GLORIA (TEASE)
– CLOSER
– JUST DO IT/WHOSE PORNO YOU BURN (BLACK)
– NOBODY’S DAUGHTER
CL: (CUT) Anyway, I said “Fuck you, those songs were about me” and so I wrote this song…but actually it reminds me of a man uhhhh, who’s such a tragedy, but I fucking…uh, yeah, he’s a tragedy…but I fucking…nahh, I don’t…nah, yeah, maybe, I don’t know, I kind of…let’s play the fucking thing.
– BOYS ON THE RADIO
CL: It was a try. It was our first try. How did we do?
Audience screams.
CL: Really? I love the lyrics though.
CL: Ok.
Girl in Crowd: Courtney!
CL: What?
Courtney walks to the edge of the stage and leans down to the audience. Someone hands her a present.
CL: I’m doing really well. Thank you. How are you, darling?
CL: How are you, London?
Audience screams.
CL: I feel like my tits are just about to pop out.
Audience screams.
Courtney pulls her blouse open.
CL: That’s all you get though. I’m too old, baby.
Opening chords to Letter to God.
CL: Right. I’m about to cry. Now listen, when I sing and I cry, I sound like a frog, so just remember I’m crying.
– LETTER TO GOD
CL: Are you ready? ‘Cause it’s a nice little song.
CL: Dave…that’s a really good entrance. Well, I could start ranting. Starts out like magic, some sick religion, that ain’t no vulture, that’s a fucking pigeon, and he had vultures in his hair and blood and feathers, they were EVERYWHERE!
– PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY
CL: Thank you so much. (CUT)
– ASKING FOR IT
– HAPPY ENDING STORY
Courtney takes her outfit off. She plays the rest of the songs until the encore in her underwear.
CL: So listen…so listen you fucking Londoners, if you want three and a half hours from me, then I’ve got two nights to do and…and…and…and my voice is kind of fucked up and…and I need to know you love me and I can’t even see you. I feel like I’m fucking someone without looking at them. Could you keep those lights on, you fucking light person? Keep the lights on. Keep the goddamn lights on or I’ll walk. I will walk.
CL: Alright, this is a very linear song. It’s about tawdry, nasty, nasty sex.
– SOMEONE ELSE’S BED
CL: I am standing in my fucking underwear in Brixton Academy. Yep. Can we do a blues song please? I’m in the mood.
(CUT)
– CODINE
(CUT)
CL: I need some love.
Audience screams.
CL: Thank you. Uhh. Ok. Alright, I can do this now. I got a really big one to sing now. Aw shit, I’ve got three big ones. Can you guys hear my voice is kind of fucked up? I’m so sorry. I gave it to Glasgow. What was I thinking?
CL: (To Micko) Oh yeah, you want to do that? Can I play guitar on it? Do you mind? I wrote it. Ok, thank you.
CL: 33,000 fucking people and they won’t let me live there. Let’s go.
– MALIBU
– CELEBRITY SKIN
CL: We ain’t done. I am not fucking done. I’m in my underwear with a fucking raspy ass voice at Brixton Academy. I am not done with you.
Audience screams.
CL: And tomorrow they’re just gonna have to fucking eat shit ’cause I’m giving it tonight so badly.
CL: (She adjusts her top) Alright, tuck the girls in. Um, you ready, Micko? Mr. Larkin. Alright, let’s go.
– THIRTEEN
CL: Shawnie, it’s not Manchester. We can do this song one more time. Oh, you’re not playing on it? You don’t know how to play it? Oh, I told you not to. Ok. Well, isn’t Stu supposed to play on it then? Ok. Tell him. Ok, alright, we’ve never played this live before so bear with us, ok. Shh. Just chill. It’s a little bit of an acoustic dip, it’ll end with a rocking blast, ok? Shh. I love this song. It’s so sick.
– SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN
– FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE
CL: Aw, my voice is shot, man. ??
– NORTHERN STAR
CL: Thank you. Goodnight. It was good for me.
Courtney picks up her clothes and walks off stage.
-HONEY
-PLAY WITH FIRE
CL: I just…did you hear that? I just totally shot my voice.
CL: I will give it to you. I need a guitar. It took me 20 minutes to write this song…in Boston…and…and…and the lyric ‘Dog beg’ is in it because…because there was a dog begging when I wrote this song. I have no idea why this song is so popular. It’s three chords.
CL: Who can play Doll Parts? Is there anyone who can sing it? Who wants to sing it? Show me.
Audience screams.
CL: Don’t suck either. I’ll let you sing it with me if you don’t suck.
A guy is being brought up from the audience.
CL: Alright, a gentleman is going to try and sing it. Last night we did not have luck with this. I will throw you right off the stage, faster than Simon Cowell, if you can’t sing it. It is a fucking easy song…I am, doll eyes, dun, dun, dun…no, really, we’re not gonna play that song at all.
The guy from the audience is now on stage with her.
CL: Ok, ready? Look, right there (gesturing at her lyric sheet) – that’s my secret. Ok, ready?
– DOLL PARTS
CL: (During song) Just one second.
CL: (During song) Sing it.
CL: (During song) (After the guy sings “I want to be the girl with the most cake”) Alright, alright, alright.
CL: (During song) (Before “For the rest of your life”) Now scream this.
CL: (During song) Good, good, good.
CL: Thank you so much. Goodnight, London. Come up and see me sometime.
Courtney takes a few bows and then prances off stage.