This post is going to be a little different than our first installment in the Great Concerts series.  The last was about the legendary David Bowie and was literally a historic concert.  This one is more personally historic, although there’s a lot of history behind this one as well.  Let’s begin.

The year is 1999.  Hole has released their 3rd album Celebrity Skin() and commenced an ill-fated co-headlining tour with Marilyn Manson that fell apart.  Hole hadn’t toured in years and the album alone was a long time in the making, but the fans still wanted to see the band (even with new drummer Samantha Maloney replacing Patty Schmel).  So for once the band did the right thing and went back out on the road alone.  This would be the final Hole tour (except no one knew it yet).  They sold out 2 shows at NYC’s famed Roseland Ballroom, appearing on David Letterman right across the street in the process(the appearance would air on the 20th, but was taped earlier in the week).

This was to be a triumphant return for the band.  There were a lot of fans that the band had gained since they last toured in the early 90′s in support of Live Through This all who were anxious to them live.  I could make this much longer by including my personal story of meeting the band that day, but I won’t.  I will say that I met them all and they were all very nice.  Since this was before camera phones really, and I didn’t carry a camera around there is no photographic evidence all I have is the following:

Eric gave out a few guitar picks:

And I wound up with everyone (except Sam’s) autograph (Courtney scribbled over Eric’s):

As you can imagine this was all very exciting.  I also got to hear the band’s soundcheck through the back door.  Courtney wasn’t there so Melissa sang.  They did Awful and it was anything but.

Now it was time.  I got in and got as close to the front of that stage as possible.  Later I’d be pushed back by perhaps the fattest man I’ve ever seen but I was against the railing for a good portion of the show, and then never far.  Anyway the show opened with Imperial Teen.

Imperial Teen is a pretty good band.  They’re fronted by one of the members of Faith No More and all the band members change instruments.  Unfortunately they’re not very well known.  I was in a record store circa 1996 when their first album came out and the guy behind the counter randomly gave me an Imperial Teen shirt for free because he didn’t think he could ever sell it.  They wrote a song about Kurt Cobain called You’re One.  You’ve heard them, even if you don’t know it.  Remember this song?

Anyway they did a decent set.  Then there was an incredibly long break before the lights went down again.  It was at least an hour.  But then the lights went down and the Old Age intro began to play at the conclusion of which the band launched into Violet.  It was on.

Violet (Old Age intro)

Unfortunately I’m having trouble finding pics from this show (or even this tour, do you know how hard a Google Image search for “Hole” is?).  Courtney wore a dress she was hanging out of with fairy wings.  After the second song  Awful she said this:

Hey you jaded fucking fuckers!

That was just one of many choice quotes from the night.  The set list was a perfect mix of new, old, and even older.  When they launched into Pretty On The Inside I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

Pretty On The Inside

Scattered among the amazing set (only a couple of other songs would have made it perfect) were a couple of covers like All Tomorrow’s Parties, Get Ready, and Valerie Loves Me.  The band was playing at their best.  They were on.  Courtney was bringing the emotion that the albums portrayed to life on the stage, like when she came out alone against a black stage to do Northern Star.  Samantha Maloney who I hadn’t had the chance to hear yet was every bit as good as Patty had been (although I’d never seen her live at that point, I have since, although obviously not with Hole) and played perfectly.  Eric and Melissa both really were playing with their A games as well.  One memorable point was when Courtney saw someone wearing a Rammstein shirt:

You little asshole you’re a jock trying to act like disaffected youth.

She also invited any girl on stage.  Saying “If you can make it up here you can sit here”.  Security hated this and tried to block many, many girls but Courtney yelled at them to let the girls up.  I would have killed to have been on that stage, but I’m a boy.  Melissa got in on the talking at one point:

New York you’re a sweaty, sexy city.

Courtney introduced “Samantha Maloney from Queens” and told the audience she was teaching her about rap 15 years too late.  Then they went into “an experiment in whiteness”:

Get Ready

Courtney introduced Use Once And Destroy by saying that this was Melissa’s song about fucking.  All in all the entire concert was a lesson in how to be a rock star.  Courtney Love is nothing less than a fully fledged rock goddess.  And Hole did nothing less than play one of the best shows I’ve ever heard that night.  Another highlight for me was She Walks On Me followed by Good Sister, Bad Sister which I’d never in a million years ever thought I’d hear live.

She Walks On Me…Good Sister Bad Sister

For your enjoyment here’s the entire set list:

• Violet
• Awful
• Pretty On The Inside
• Heaven Tonight
• Miss World
• Reasons To Be Beautiful
• All Tomorrow’s Parties (Velvet Underground cover)
• Malibu
• Dying
• Get Ready (The Temptations cover)
• Playing Your Song
• Use Once & Destroy
• Doll Parts
• One More Time
• Boys On The Radio

Encore

• Valerie Loves Me (Material Issue cover)
• Northern Star
• She Walks On Me
• Good Sister Bad Sister
• Beautiful Son
• Celebrity Skin

Sounds incredible right?  Well because I love all my readers….Download the full concert here.

Hole played one more NYC show the next day and then finished up their tour in Canada that July. That was the very last time the band played publicly.