 - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOVEMBER 21ST, 1991, CAMDEN UNDERWORLD, LONDON, UK HOLE - Camden Underworld Courtney Love, self-proclaimed 'Worst fuck in The World,', comes onstage like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz after she's been through the mill. Hardly surprising, since she's just emerged from the pawing crowd, not so much mauled as mangled. Hole sound that way too. Appropriately enough, the band start out on 'Teenage Whore'. So, this is the future och rockenroll, or what? With the hype currently off the scale and heading past Pluto, and the band ridding high with support slots for Nirvana and Mudhoney, and an indie chart-topping album backing it all up, there's been enough momentum to ensure that Hole's headlining show would be a sell-out. But not until 'Pretty On The Inside,' with its endearingly hoarse vocals and blustery guitar lashings, does the front row get into a lather. The trouble is that, with a few exceptions, the Hole thing adds up to less than the sum of its composite parts. Now if it were the other way around then Hole might really be the most genuinely exciting thing since, say, Big Black first spat forth their thrilling guitar assaults. Hole sure can kick and scream, but do we really need another band grabbing the boring old Neil Young heritage bag? In the future we might see some great pop, but right now Hole are just OK, nothing too memorable. Five minutes after leaving the gig, I couldn't remember a damn' thing about the music except the noise. Perfect pop? - Paulo, Spiral Scratch, December 19, 1991 - - - - - - - - - - - - - |