Photograph
Academy 1 (Manchester Academy)
13th May 2013

Photo: Melanie Smith (Mudkiss)
www.mudkissphotography.co.uk/

Review: Beth Abbit for Manchester Evening News (see link)

Courtney Love will always be in the headlines. Whether it’s her recent bold claim that she found the crash site of Flight MH370, or the publicity linked to the 20th anniversary of her husband Kurt Cobain’s death - she has a knack of remaining in the public eye.

And as the original grunge rock chick, she has inspired millions of copycats, including The Distillers Brody Dalle and Shirley Manson of Garbage.

The question is whether it is her music or her mythology that makes her so fascinating.

But it becomes pretty evident during a visit to Manchester Academy that this accomplished rock chick still has plenty to offer.

"By far the best part of this appearance is Love herself, who happily plays up to her reputation with a wealth of sarcastic banter."
Clad in a black kimono, the former Hole front woman, now 49, looks every inch the rock goddess.

Rumours of a Hole reunion have sparked enthusiasm for the old material and her back catalogue of songs, including Malibu, Skinny Little Bitch and Miss World, sound as fresh and raw today as they did years ago.

Love herself is still a messy fireball of gravel voice and raw guitars, enthusiastically blasting through her latest singles, the anthemic You Know My Name and the gritty Wedding Day.

“I liked her older stuff. I liked Courtney when she was 26,” she mocks in a deliberately bad Mancunian accent, before launching into Celebrity Skin.

In her more shambolic moments, Love is helped along by a band of great musicians - including the brilliant Ginger Wildheart on guitar.

She also tests out some unusual covers, amongst them, a version of Not an Addict by 90s Belgium one-hit-wonders K’s Choice and a stripped back rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Take This Longing.

This is one of several acoustic songs in a low-key encore, although the show ends with an energetic rendition of Doll Parts.

By far the best part of this appearance is Love herself, who happily plays up to her reputation with a wealth of sarcastic banter. Ridiculous requests for Kleenex and tequila are punctuated by throaty cackles at her own jokes. In fact Courtney’s tongue is so firmly wedged in her cheek that it’s a miracle she can sing at all.

At one point, she teases: “This song is about all my fans…oh wait, no it’s not, it’s about me.”