In 2014, the best way to get press is to play a "secret" show. Prince did a bunch of them, Kylie Minogue played at the Old Blue Last and, a couple of hours ago, Courtney Love played to about 50 people at a coffee shop in Clapton, London.I arrived at Hayden Wylds at about 7pm. It's one of those boutique cafes that also sells vinyls and juice that comes in glass bottles - a strange venue to see one of the leading ladies of Grunge, but whatever. A bunch of people were milling around outside, a sign next to the shop confirmed that Courtney Love was playing, and it felt like I'd stumbled across something special.
Courtney hung around outside for a bit, posing for photos with fans. A guy from her band strummed his guitar. "Okay" - I said to myself, "Courtney will be on stage soon and it will be amazing". Then I started talking to a girl who told me that, actually, she had already played. "Great", I thought, "here's another reason to hate myself for going out last night and not getting out of bed until 5pm".Thankfully though, the internet exists and a bunch of people have already put some videos on Instagram. Say what you like about people taking videos on their iPhones at gigs, but at least they've got some footage for Courtney's 363,427* other fans that couldn't make it down to Clapton at such short notice.*Official figure taken from Courtney Love's Facebook page.
Advertisement
This is Courtney playing "Malibu".And this is Courtney playing "Northern Star". Until some benovelent soul uploads a video to YouTube the above Instagram clips are the best that we can offer you.Follow Ryan on Twitter: @RyanBassilI Saw Nirvana Play to Two Hundred People. In 2014.