Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Hole

Editor's Note: As of June 2, this concert has been postponed.


Most artists have fans; Courtney Love has defenders. I used to be one myself. There are a lot fewer of them than there used to be in Love’s ’90s heyday, but you can still find defenders saying things like “If only everyone weren’t so distracted by her personal life and could see what a brilliant artist she is!” Even some of the critics who have trashed her new Hole album, Nobody’s Daughter, have gone out of their way to defend her ’90s work. I think the defenders are missing something that should have been obvious long ago: Love is an artist whose primary medium is fame itself. She plays her messed-up personal life the way Jack White plays a guitar solo. As the subject of magazine articles, she is a virtuoso.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Listen to “Doll Parts,” from Hole’s breakthrough 1994 album, Live Through This, released just days after Love’s husband’s suicide. Love’s singing is off key. The lyrics are little more than “Someday you will ache like I ache” repeated over and over. But it wasn’t that her voice and lyrics were just parts of her persona — an intelligent but wild woman who was determined to make it as a rock star, a movie star, whatever. She forced you to take sides either for or against her. It was fascinating for awhile, but at some point she needed to come up with something new to say other than “Look at me!” and “I ache!” The truth is, Nobody’s Daughter is pretty good. But Love had better be damn good in concert if she wants to win fans instead of merely hanging on to her defenders.

Past Event

Hole -- POSTPONED

  • Thursday, June 3, 2010, 8 p.m.
  • 4th&B, 345 B Street, San Diego
  • $33

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Woodpeckers are stocking away acorns, Amorous tarantulas

Stunning sycamores, Mars rising
Next Article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"

Editor's Note: As of June 2, this concert has been postponed.


Most artists have fans; Courtney Love has defenders. I used to be one myself. There are a lot fewer of them than there used to be in Love’s ’90s heyday, but you can still find defenders saying things like “If only everyone weren’t so distracted by her personal life and could see what a brilliant artist she is!” Even some of the critics who have trashed her new Hole album, Nobody’s Daughter, have gone out of their way to defend her ’90s work. I think the defenders are missing something that should have been obvious long ago: Love is an artist whose primary medium is fame itself. She plays her messed-up personal life the way Jack White plays a guitar solo. As the subject of magazine articles, she is a virtuoso.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Listen to “Doll Parts,” from Hole’s breakthrough 1994 album, Live Through This, released just days after Love’s husband’s suicide. Love’s singing is off key. The lyrics are little more than “Someday you will ache like I ache” repeated over and over. But it wasn’t that her voice and lyrics were just parts of her persona — an intelligent but wild woman who was determined to make it as a rock star, a movie star, whatever. She forced you to take sides either for or against her. It was fascinating for awhile, but at some point she needed to come up with something new to say other than “Look at me!” and “I ache!” The truth is, Nobody’s Daughter is pretty good. But Love had better be damn good in concert if she wants to win fans instead of merely hanging on to her defenders.

Past Event

Hole -- POSTPONED

  • Thursday, June 3, 2010, 8 p.m.
  • 4th&B, 345 B Street, San Diego
  • $33
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader