 - - - - - - - - - - - - - FRIDAY, JUNE 4TH, 1999, SANTA BARBARA BOWL, SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA By Chris I drove four and a half hours to see Hole in Santa Barbara and it was worth it. Queens of the Stone Age (or something like that) were the opening band. They were not good at all. I havn't heard much of Imperial Teen, but something tells me they would be much better. At least they played a short set. Hole came on and started with Violet (surprise, surprise). There wasn't a wall at the sides of the stage. The front area was grass and the grass went up to the stage at the edges. Courtney walked down to the pit three or four times during the show. There were two walls in the pit. One was directly in front of the stage and the other was about ten feet behind the first wall. During Heaven Tonight Courtney walked on the grass and stepped onto the second wall. She walked on top of the wall towards the center of the pit. When they played Reasons to be Beutiful, she walked to the back of the pit. I have never seen a rock star get that close to everyone. It was so cool. There wasn't much of a boundary between the crowd and Hole. I have never seen anything like it. About five songs into the set Courtney began to make fun of the rich Santa Barbara kids, saying things like they have never worked and got mom and dad's credit card when they were 14 (it was really funny). Santa Barbara kind of has a reputation for being a rich area. During Malibu she changed the lyrics a little and made even more fun of the Santa Barbara kids. She sang something about trust funds. They sounded really good through the entire set. Near the end of the show Courtney was making fun of the Santa Barbara kids again, this time for not going on stage. She said they didn't know how to riot. Then she dared everyone to get onstage. I saw that I could get to the front and ran through two sections of seats. I fought my way through the pit and over the second wall. The security would not let me on stage, so I stood at the wall in front of the sage for Doll Parts. After that I jumped the wall and was on stage about three feet from Melissa. Security kept on telling people to sit down when I was up there. They played Boys on the Radio next. Courtney was dancing with one of the girls that were on stage (there must have been around a hundred people. The stage was full). Then they played Northern Star. Melissa stayed on stage and I got to talk to her (I wish I could have talked to her all night). She seems really cool. Melissa looked like she might have been a little uncomfortable with all of the people being around her, but she was very nice to everyone. They played a Quiet Riot song after Northern Star and Melissa sang the lead vocals. They ended with Celebrity Skin. By that time security wasn't even bothering having everyone sit down. After Celebrity Skin I went up to Melissa and held out my arms to give her a hug. She held out her hands and gave me a hug. It was a real one!!!!!!!!! She didn't try to keep her distance or anything. I also got a pick from her mic stand. One of the best experiences I have ever had. The only thing that sucked was that there is a city ordinence that doesn't allow shows to go on past 10, so they couldn't play a real long set. Oh well, after getting on stage, talking to Melissa and getting a hug I didn't care that much. - - - - - - - - - - - - - |