Hole at Shepherd's Bush Empire
Hole
Foxy Shazam
Little Fish
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 17 February 2010
I remember when I first saw Hole many years ago it the same week I also saw Neil Young for the first time (life-changing) and had just seen two Pearl Jam shows at Brixton Academy back to back (joyous). Hole, playing the slightly dingy Clapham Grand, were a world away from those shows: kind of disorganised, kind of ramshackle and definitely punk rock.
I remember Eric, the guitarist, looking gaunt and slightly ghoulish from under his hair and Kristen Pfaff the bassist wearing the most beautiful antique lace dress I've ever seen, but it was pretty much the Courtney Love show from start to finish, with Courtney emerging wearing a disguise of brown wig and trench-coat, to rants about other female rockers and journalists to coming back on stage about five times after the show had ended, confusing the audience to whether they should go home or not (it was something about a girl in the front who had the same dress as her I vaguely recall). It was memorable to say the least, and it was all down to the bleached haired, smeary lipsticked Ms Love, who from moment to moment looked like she didn't know whether she wanted to rant or sing, fall apart or rock out.
Therefore when I heard Courtney Love's forthcoming record would be a Hole album despite the fact that none of the previous members would be taking part it didn't really concern me much. Sure Eric's ragged guitar had always sounded great, but it was never that distinctive, and they had had enough different bassist/backing vocalists throughout their history that I couldn't imagine another change being that much of a big deal, so when the new version of Hole announced their debut at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, where I had last seen them 15 years ago, I knew I definitely had to go.
But before we got to Courtney and gang I had to make it through two support bands, the first of which, Little Fish, were already on stage when I arrived. Hailing from Oxford, they were a two-piece consisting of just a drummer and a guitarist/singer who looked like a cross between Chrissie Hynde and Joan Jett and sang like she had the Patti Smith back catalogue memorised note for note. On keyboards they also boasted "one of our biggest supporters" Linda Perry, who coincidentally I saw live that same week I first saw Hole, in 4 Non Blondes, one of the support acts at the Neil Young show. It's funny because back then all the hip circles, including Courtney I imagine, scoffed at 4 Non Blondes and their No.1 hit What's Up? and now, since becoming an in-demand songwriter (for the likes of Christina Aguilera and Courtney herself no less), she is now rolled out like a prized addition. I wasn't quite sure what she added to Little Fish who sounded like Patti Smith but with less memorable tunes and heavier guitars, but maybe their debut album, due out in April, will reveal all.
Foxy Shazam on the other hand were just plain weird but kinda entertaining too. They got a bad reception from the crowd but I thought they were definitely memorable, not so much for their music, a kind of mix of New Wave meets 80s hard rock, that at times dangerously reminded me of The Darkness. When the rail-thin lead singer first emerged, wearing just a satin waistcoat and skinny jeans I actually thought he was a girl, even his high-pitched, squeaky speaking voice didn't betray his maleness, it was only the fact that when he turned around he had a big moustache and flat hairy chest that made him in any way distinguishable. He offered $10 to anyone who could kill him, said they almost couldn't play the show because the soundman said a faulty mike might electrocute him (would it give that the $10 then?), said an audience member who gave him the finger hurt his feelings and jumped around like a lunatic, even wearing a cymbal for a hat while the drummer bashed away at it. The audience was not impressed but I was fairly amused.
So finally, after all of this, at 9.30pm on the dot the lights went down and Courtney and her new boys emerged from the shadows, Courtney wearing a lacy gold and purple tutu, with flowers and jewels in her now long, blonde hair. Strapping on her old red Rickenbacker guitar (the only thing left of the Hole of old it seems), she launched straight into her back catalogue with a nicely shambolic Pretty On The Inside, which instead of sounding tired or awkward, sounded almost as it did 15 years ago: fresh, raw and full of rage. This then segued into a fuzz-filled version of The Rolling Stones' Sympathy For The Devil, Courtney seeming to take it as her theme tune (she's definitely up there as one of the most hated figures in rock, for sure).
The rest of the night was filled with new tracks from the forthcoming album interspersed with classic Hole tracks. Of the new songs, there was a loud, building distortion-filled number called Skinny Little Bitch and another (Pacific Coast Highway) that she called a companion piece to Malibu ("I just can't stop writing about the place" she said) and a surprisingly good Dirty Girls Get Clean (I had heard the demo of this a while back and wasn't too impressed but live it seemed to come to life). But her attempt at a big emotional number, Letter To God, I found a little grating: she just doesn't have the voice to pull off this kind of power ballad and I couldn't help imagining it being performed by a more skilled singer, instead of the grunting, speak-sing she seemed to specialise in on her one solo album, America's Sweetheart.
On the older, classic material though she sounded absolutely superb, it was as if the Courtney of old had returned to shout us all down with the anger and passion that made her so memorable in the early days. Despite the fact that she had to use a teleprompter to remember the words (Axl Rose's apparently, she admitted), the words still seemed to find a powerful, intensity in her performance, it was a great moment to see her almost as he once was, not this trainwreck she appeared to have become in recent years.
But while Courtney seemed on better form, I wasn't completely convinced by her band. They reminded me of session musicians, brought in to add their expertise and polish but having no connection to the songs. Sure they smiled and appeared to be enjoying playing the old stuff, but, as much as I hate to admit it, they just weren't a patch on Eric or Kristen Pfaff or Melissa Auf der Maur or drummer Patty Schemel. I can say this having seen the older versions of Hole, the new incarnation just didn't have the same warmth or feel: it was too perfect, too metal at times, dare I say, too male and reminded me almost of Garbage, a band I do like but is essentially a bunch of producers performing on stage. It was still the Courtney show for sure but with a blander background.
It's because of this that the final songs, where Courtney performed acoustically, that were probably my favourites of the night. Firstly, the powerful Northern Star, arguably the album Celebrity Skin's greatest moment and a new song that I thought sounded incredible, that Courtney performed alone (looking increasingly dishevelled, despite half changing before the encore) called Never Go Hungry Again, which sounded like an old folk standard that Dylan himself could have sung: the simplicity of the words and message resonating throughout the venue. It was definitely the highlight of the show.
Interestingly enough after the show I looked around to see if Hole's audience had changed much in the 15 years since I had last seen them (there were quite a few teenagers around me) but while a lot of the crowd was younger, there was plenty of smudged eyeliner, lace dresses and goth chicks that could have stepped out of the early 90s. The media may love to try and drag her down but as long as she keeps coming up fighting it appears she remains a figure of empowerment to a lot of girls and certainly Hole's re-emergence, judging by this show, won't do anything to hurt that.
I remember Eric, the guitarist, looking gaunt and slightly ghoulish from under his hair and Kristen Pfaff the bassist wearing the most beautiful antique lace dress I've ever seen, but it was pretty much the Courtney Love show from start to finish, with Courtney emerging wearing a disguise of brown wig and trench-coat, to rants about other female rockers and journalists to coming back on stage about five times after the show had ended, confusing the audience to whether they should go home or not (it was something about a girl in the front who had the same dress as her I vaguely recall). It was memorable to say the least, and it was all down to the bleached haired, smeary lipsticked Ms Love, who from moment to moment looked like she didn't know whether she wanted to rant or sing, fall apart or rock out.
But before we got to Courtney and gang I had to make it through two support bands, the first of which, Little Fish, were already on stage when I arrived. Hailing from Oxford, they were a two-piece consisting of just a drummer and a guitarist/singer who looked like a cross between Chrissie Hynde and Joan Jett and sang like she had the Patti Smith back catalogue memorised note for note. On keyboards they also boasted "one of our biggest supporters" Linda Perry, who coincidentally I saw live that same week I first saw Hole, in 4 Non Blondes, one of the support acts at the Neil Young show. It's funny because back then all the hip circles, including Courtney I imagine, scoffed at 4 Non Blondes and their No.1 hit What's Up? and now, since becoming an in-demand songwriter (for the likes of Christina Aguilera and Courtney herself no less), she is now rolled out like a prized addition. I wasn't quite sure what she added to Little Fish who sounded like Patti Smith but with less memorable tunes and heavier guitars, but maybe their debut album, due out in April, will reveal all.
Foxy Shazam on the other hand were just plain weird but kinda entertaining too. They got a bad reception from the crowd but I thought they were definitely memorable, not so much for their music, a kind of mix of New Wave meets 80s hard rock, that at times dangerously reminded me of The Darkness. When the rail-thin lead singer first emerged, wearing just a satin waistcoat and skinny jeans I actually thought he was a girl, even his high-pitched, squeaky speaking voice didn't betray his maleness, it was only the fact that when he turned around he had a big moustache and flat hairy chest that made him in any way distinguishable. He offered $10 to anyone who could kill him, said they almost couldn't play the show because the soundman said a faulty mike might electrocute him (would it give that the $10 then?), said an audience member who gave him the finger hurt his feelings and jumped around like a lunatic, even wearing a cymbal for a hat while the drummer bashed away at it. The audience was not impressed but I was fairly amused.
The rest of the night was filled with new tracks from the forthcoming album interspersed with classic Hole tracks. Of the new songs, there was a loud, building distortion-filled number called Skinny Little Bitch and another (Pacific Coast Highway) that she called a companion piece to Malibu ("I just can't stop writing about the place" she said) and a surprisingly good Dirty Girls Get Clean (I had heard the demo of this a while back and wasn't too impressed but live it seemed to come to life). But her attempt at a big emotional number, Letter To God, I found a little grating: she just doesn't have the voice to pull off this kind of power ballad and I couldn't help imagining it being performed by a more skilled singer, instead of the grunting, speak-sing she seemed to specialise in on her one solo album, America's Sweetheart.
On the older, classic material though she sounded absolutely superb, it was as if the Courtney of old had returned to shout us all down with the anger and passion that made her so memorable in the early days. Despite the fact that she had to use a teleprompter to remember the words (Axl Rose's apparently, she admitted), the words still seemed to find a powerful, intensity in her performance, it was a great moment to see her almost as he once was, not this trainwreck she appeared to have become in recent years.
It's because of this that the final songs, where Courtney performed acoustically, that were probably my favourites of the night. Firstly, the powerful Northern Star, arguably the album Celebrity Skin's greatest moment and a new song that I thought sounded incredible, that Courtney performed alone (looking increasingly dishevelled, despite half changing before the encore) called Never Go Hungry Again, which sounded like an old folk standard that Dylan himself could have sung: the simplicity of the words and message resonating throughout the venue. It was definitely the highlight of the show.
Interestingly enough after the show I looked around to see if Hole's audience had changed much in the 15 years since I had last seen them (there were quite a few teenagers around me) but while a lot of the crowd was younger, there was plenty of smudged eyeliner, lace dresses and goth chicks that could have stepped out of the early 90s. The media may love to try and drag her down but as long as she keeps coming up fighting it appears she remains a figure of empowerment to a lot of girls and certainly Hole's re-emergence, judging by this show, won't do anything to hurt that.
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