Courtney Love Debuts New Songs at London Gig

Courtney Love played an intimate gig in London last night to celebrate her 43rd birthday at which she introduced her new band and debuted material from her upcoming Nobody's Daughter. Love's band, which now includes former Larrikin Love guitarist Micko Larkin, helped her play 11 tracks from the Linda Perry-produced Daughter. In addition to new songs like "Never Go Hungry Again" (which Love shared with RS staffers in the fall), the set featured classic Hole tracks like "Doll Parts" and "Celebrity Skin." Tickets reportedly sold out in less than ten minutes and fans lined up outside Bush Hall starting at 10 AM, but it appears the show will be the first of many: A note on Love's Web site instructs fans to join her mailing list for a chance to see her live in July.

The always-outspoken Love also took the opportunity last night to complain about the U.K.'s new smoking ban, saying, "The only place I can smoke in England is the House of Parliament. How retarded is that?" Maybe she's been quelling her nicotine habit with some gum. Full set list below.

"Samantha"
"Malibu"
"Stand Up Motherfucker"
"Sunset Marquis"
"Miss World"
"Nobody's Daughter"
"Pacific Coast Highway"
"Doll Parts"
"Letter To God"
"Dirty Girls"
"Celebrity Skin"
"Never Go Hungry Again"
"For Once In Your Life"
"Loserdust"
"Northern Star"
"Happy Ending Story"

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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