This clip has been making the rounds: Hole performing “Celebrity Skin” live in 2010. Engineer J.M. Ladd was hired to record the set “and was then left standing with a hard drive and an invoice no one seemed to want.” So he’s decided to share the audio with us, four years later. It’s just Courtney and her guitar, and it’s not very good. But is it as bad as some other well-known poor performances?
The gold standard for unauthorized board recordings has to be Linda McCartney performing “Hey Jude.” Like Ladd, the engineer pulled a total dick move by isolating Linda’s vocals. And the results are cringe-inducing.
Let’s not forget Kanye West on SNL, either. And it’s not even an isolated track: this was his actual performance of “Love Lockdown.”
We won’t even bother diving into this year’s MTV VMA performances. Seen alongside these two train wrecks, does Courtney’s performance still sound as bad? Are there any other big-time live flubs we’re missing? Let us know.
