Hole… those shows were always a little bit dangerous.
I first got into them when someone played me “Teenage Whore” and I thought, “Who the hell is this?” Courtney Love had this way of singing like she was daring you to look away. It wasn’t pretty, but it was real as hell. From that moment I was hooked. I’ve always had a soft spot for Courtney.
I saw them live on July 1st, 1993 at the Off Ramp here in Seattle. The place was packed and the energy was insane. They played “Violet” that night and the whole room felt like it was about to explode. Kurt was there too, standing off to the side watching quietly. You could feel the tension in the air, like something bigger was always happening around them.
They were messy, loud, and unpredictable. Some nights the shows were total chaos, other nights they were powerful in a way that stuck with you for weeks. You never knew what you were gonna get, and that was part of the reason people kept showing up.
A lot of people criticized Courtney when she got together with Kurt, but the truth is she was already known before that. She already had her own crew following her around back in Portland. She wasn’t just “Kurt’s wife” — she had her own thing going.
After Live Through This came out in ’94 everything changed. That record is still one of my favorites — “Violet,” “Miss World,” “Doll Parts,” all of it. It hit different because you knew how much was going on behind the scenes. Then came the tragedy with Kurt, and later losing Kristen Pfaff… it felt like the band paid a heavy price for all that attention.
These days in 2002, Courtney’s still out there doing her thing, making music and acting. She’s been through more than most people could handle, but she keeps going. I respect the hell out of her for that.
Hole wasn’t for everybody. They were too much for some folks. But if you got it, you really got it. And yeah… I got it.