To Be or Not to Be: That is the Hole question

Courtney Love says the band is back, but how?

By Venus Zine Staff
Published: March 22nd, 2010 | 4:30pm

When Courtney Love crawled out of a Hole at this year’s SXSW Festival on March 19, it was no happy reunion. In fact, ALL of the integral members (guitarist Eric Erlandson and bassist Melissa Auf der Maur) were M.I.A. for the band’s surprise and first show since the official split in 2002.

But the biggest surprise may have been for Melissa Auf der Maur (Venus Zine’s spring cover girl), who was at the festival to promote her new solo project, Out of Our Minds, self-released on March 30. Although Love has often made mention on her Twitter page and to NME Magazine that Auf der Maur would be a part of the reunited Hole, it was news to the red-headed bassist who joined the band in 1994 before finally departing in 1999 for a stint in the Smashing Pumpkins when Billy Corgan needed a replacement for D’arcy Wretzky. For her part, Auf der Maur insists she hasn’t been asked back to Hole nor did she join the stage with Love in Austin. And that’s fine by us, as Auf der Maur proves her leading lady ability with the Out of Our Minds trifecta that encompasses a rockin’ album, film, and comic book.

Erlandson who lays claim to his stake in the band’s name, identity, and recordings has also adamantly professed that Love is not legally able to proceed with a reunion or a new Hole album (slated for release on April 27), and implies that Love has to stick to being a solo artist as she did with her 2004 album, America’s Sweetheart (Virgin). Love’s response: “he’s out of his MIND, Hole is MY band, MY name, and MY trademark,” she wrote on her Twitter page.

With a new logo and MySpace page that recently debuted and April 27 just around the corner, we can only expect this issue to get a Hole lot deeper. Stay tuned for more developments with Venus Zine.