"Please allow me to introduce myself…"

Courtney Love strutted onto the stage in the Vic Theater in a well fit black dress, thigh-high boots and a cigarette dangling in her hand. She waved to the crowd, pulled a guitar over her shoulder, placed one bent leg on her amplifier and proceeded to deliver a piercing 90-minute set full of soulful ballads and anguish filled songs painted against a backdrop of distortion and turbulent vocal shrieks all the while as the crowd howled in rapt appreciation. Opening with "Pretty on the Inside/Sympathy For the Devil", this was a re-dedication to her talent. Hole hasn't performed in Chicago in over a decade and the lone surviving member, Love, hasn't performed in Chicago during the same time. Her concerts tend to be impulsive yet on the Chicago stage she segued between the distressing hymns of her past and the strident determination of her current state of mind. Ripping through the Rolling Stones most sadistic anthem it seemed to fit Love's journey in the last decade to a T. An element I hadn't foreseen was the enthusiasm for Hole's catalog. When those lights went down the crowd welcomed her back like a long lost friend they hadn't seen in a while. The show ran the gamut of her career touching on all aspects of it (except 2004's solo record America's Sweetheart) with a set heavy on material from Nobody's Daughter and Live Through This along with a smattering of covers and songs from Celebrity Skin. "Skinny Little Bitch" much more sexy and seductive than on record while "Someone Else's Bed" was introduced as a "song about sex…something I know a lot about". Both songs seeped sexual mischievousness with the latter circling around the themes of renewal and rebirth. The throaty "Samantha" took on new dimensions in concert as this incarnation of Hole did the material justice providing a distorted jubilation to the proceedings giving the classic Hole material justice while it provided the Nobody's Daughter songs a blunter edge. Nobody's Daughter is a gut wrenching and unflinchingly honest collection of songs that isn't receiving the due it deserves. It's one of my favorite records of the year but many haven't given it a more concentrated listen, but within the walls of the Vic she could display the wounded and delicate space these songs came from. The healing "Pacific Coast Highway" found Love sharing the microphone with the audience. They sung along the same way they did on "Miss World" and "Violet". I saw a woman fully in command of her craft and she didn't just take the crowd along for the ride but challenged them as well. "Letter To God" found Love with her arms reaching up to the air and as her eyes was closed with intent and absorption. This wasn't show boating, but something else much more weighty only she could comment on, but laying witness to it was enough to make you be aware of the therapeutic ability of art. Even though Love didn't write the song (Linda Perry composed it for her) Love throws herself into it which proved to be her spiritual money shot. Anyone who dismisses Nobody's Daughter on the basis of the sleek production is missing a record with immense spiritual depth.

The pairing of "Miss World" and "Violet" back-to-back was fantastically ferocious as it verged on thwarted fantasies and secret desires. The crowd sung along to every last word, including a girl next to me who was 4-years-old when Live Through This his record shelves. "Asking For It", "Plump" and "Doll Parts" provided the crowd with high voltage blasts where the lyrics seeped into their souls and the performances featured enough gruff and grime from 1994 to feel indisputable. The vigor of the performance and the sturdiness of these songs can't be denied, all of which were accentuated by the current band. Micko Larkin is on guitar and proves to be Love's on-stage foil while Stu Fisher is resilient on the drums capturing the essence of the songs with Shawn Dailey on bass keeping the rhythm intact. This current manifestation of Hole serves the material fantastically well. Showing the world they have the chops to keep up with Courtney Love is enough but I'd like to see them venture and tackle some of the songs from America's Sweetheart and reinvent those songs, notably the inspired "Mono" and "Hold Onto Me". Leonard Cohen's "Take This Longing" and Big Star's "Thirteen" found Love tackling the role of a fan. With just her voice and acoustic guitar, she harnesses her devotion to music. "Play With Fire" featured Love taking drags off a cigarette in between. The covers were carefully chosen and fit in perfectly with the themes of her body of work. It's one thing to write a song about renewal and it's another entirely to peel layers from within. Everyone wishes they were daring and free enough to lay it on the line like Love can.

The opening riff from "Celebrity Skin" and "Malibu" roared like a besotted girlfriend from the past, and the Vic crowd thrust their arms to the air like it was 1998. I mention this not because it's a tip-of-the-hat to the past but to validate the potency of Hole's catalog. You can anything you want about Hole or that Courtney Love associated herself with during these eras, but two decades after her first major album she can still sell out clubs and these songs are an anchor for many where they obliterate their anger, frustration and confusion of the world. In some abnormal way, Courtney Love's tale of survival may be her greatest legacy. Who else could survive what she endured and come out on the other side? This wasn't a nostalgia ride by any means but merely another chapter in the on-going and fascinating life of Courtney Love and Hole.

Courtney Love has been an artist who wears her heart on her sleeve. You can't escape it. Her show is a form is expression and from what I saw, the crowd saw themselves in it as well. The music of the 1990's was about purging from within and making sense of emotions, beautifully demonstrated on "Honey" which found Love clenching her cheeks, squinting eyes and a harrowing vocal –a descendent touch from another time. Anyone who feels she's coasting hasn't seen this as you can't help but place yourself in her world. As the band took their bows and left the stage, Love and Micko Larkin stayed under the spotlight for a pair of acoustic numbers to bring the evening full circle. "Never Go Hungry" had a fierce escalating vocal no one could deny and it's one of her greatest musical accomplishments. Nobody's Daughter is an album of a survivor and should carry the same weight as Live Through This. The celebrity that is Courtney Love dissipated with this album as it's a re-dedication to her craft. Don't concern yourself with what happens offstage because the concert stage is where the real Courtney Love resides. Music saved her life when she was an abandoned and confused teen, it served as a rocket ship to stardom in the 1990's and it's now validating her existence. There are two types of artists, those who perform and those who the show is an extension of their personality. There's no faking this. Leave the tabloids and sarcastic bloggers to the side. If you want to know what Courtney Love is about, see her live. She leaves it all on stage. Whether it was a reflection or an exorcism, the emotions set free on the stage were one-hundred percent real. When she exited stage left, there wasn't a single non-believer left standing. Welcome back Courtney, we've missed you.

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter

Set List:
Pretty on the Inside
Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stones cover)
Skinny Little Bitch
Miss World
Violet
Letter to God
Asking for It
Pacific Coast Highway
Reasons to Be Beautiful
Take This Longing (Leonard Cohen cover)
Samantha
Plump
Someone Else's Bed
Celebrity Skin
Doll Parts
Encore:
Malibu
Play with Fire (Rolling Stones cover)
Boys On the Radio
Honey
Thirteen (Big Star cover)
Never Go Hungry Again
Northern Star