"nothing very interesting happens in well-lighted places."

Scenes from a blog, revisited ...

Last night was about revisiting the past. Keeping in the spirit, I've decided to revamp this blog (wherein I'll actually write on a semi-regular basis). Reboots are the thing of the moment, don't you know?

Hole is the latest to try to recreate something old as something new. That's right. Flannel made a comeback last winter, so why not dredge up everything from 1996? At the time, Hole was everything I was afraid of and wanted to be. Loud, outspoken, subversive, provocative. Courtney Love - front woman, pinup, antichrist - shocked and scared me. But somehow I couldn't look away. I just wanted more and more and more.

That was then. For Love, the road since has been wild and well-documented. For a while, her trainwreck antics were emblematic of the flip side of celebrity culture in the information age. Drugs, twitter, trash bag dresses, pale skin, protruding bones, and plastic surgery -- that's a look that even an icon can't wear well. So it was with morbid fascination that I accepted an invitation to see Love front a rebooted Hole at Terminal 5 last night. Based on my experience, here are 10 things that will happen to you at a Hole show:

1. You will get hit on.
He may be old and in town from Buffalo, but it will happen. Another demographic you're not pursuing thinks you're irresistible. Cheers.
2. You will learn esoteric facts about Courtney Love.
Like the fact that Malibu won't give her the key of the city, despite the song she rocks on Celebrity Skin. What's a girl gotta do?
3. You will see Zach Quinto.
In the VIP. Dreamy.
4. You will be in the splash zone of the mosh pit. And it will suck.
No wonder your mother wouldn't let you go to shows like this in the mid-90s.
5. You will be corrected for thinking that Hole is an oldies band
Or in Courtney's words, "We're not an oldies band, fuckers!!!"
6. But you will still think the old stuff trumps the new stuff.
Miss World, Doll Parts, Violet. These are a few of your favorite things. And she can still rock them.
7. You will see Love channel Stevie Nicks.
The cover of Gold Dust Woman? Fab.
8. You will learn you shouldn't wear your shitty converse with holes in them.
You will get spilt beer on your purple socks.
9. You will think Courtney Love has a thing for her lead guitarist.
Yes, his name is Dragon.
10. You will be glad that Courtney Love is alive. And fabulous.
Enough said.


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