Courtney Love introduced the Virgin Prunes at the ‘Gavin Friday and Friends’ event in Carnegie Hall on October 4th. She did so eloquently and passionately, explaining how she came to know of them and what they meant to her life. What follows is a close approximation of what she said and it includes a brief introduction by U2’s manager Paul McGuinness:

Paul McGuinness

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I’ve known Gavin and his band the Virgin Prunes for as long as I’ve known U2 and for quite a while in the early days the Virgin Prunes were the obligatory opening act for U2, so I saw them many times. Perhaps more often than I liked. And on one occasion… the Virgin Prunes had some extreme theories: Dada, Theatre of Cruelty, things like that, which didn’t always mix with the… the rock and roll. But on one occasion I do remember after the performance, excellent performance, given by the Virgin Prunes, Bono arrived in time for the U2 gig and he said to me: Why are the audience in such a bad mood? And I said: Well, Bono, it might have something to do with the fact that your friend Gavin has just been throwing pigs entrails over them. They were a very unusual band and one of their earliest fans was Ms Courtney Love…

Courtney Love

Hi. I’ve never actually even been inside Carnegie Hall. I wasn’t asked to do this show, I demanded to do this show.

I didn’t expect the task of introducing one of the most important precious figures and bands and siren call that framed my rock and roll life for better or for worse. Nor do I have any idea of who I am speaking to, so I will just simply speak my truth about Virgin Prunes and about Gavin Friday.

Continue reading Courtney’s speech

This is the setlist of ‘Gavin Friday and Friends’ as performed at Carnegie Hall.

Act 1

1. Apologia – Gavin
2. Children Of the Revolution – Gavin, Flo & Eddie, Bono, The Edge, Herb Macken
3. I Want To Live – Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton, Flo & Eddie, Maurice Seezer
4. He Got What He Wanted – Gavin, Antony, Maurice Seezer
5. Paul McGuinness memories of the Virgin Prunes
6. Courtney Love memories of the Virgin Prunes
7. Sweethome Under White Clouds – Gavin, Guggi, Dik, JG Thirlwell, Herb Macken (piano), Maurice Seezer (on drums!)
8. Caucasian Walk – Gavin, Guggi, Dik, JG Thirlwell, Herb Macken (piano), Maurice Seezer (drums)
9. Thief Of Your Heart – Martha Wainwright, Maurice Seezer
10. Ballad Of Immoral Earnings – Gavin & Maria McKee, Maurice Seezer
11. The Light Pours Out Of Me – Gavin & Courtney Love
12. Mr Pussy – Gavin, Scarlet Johansson & Rufus Wainwright
13. Benares Song – Gavin & Rufus Wainwright
14. A Rainy Night In Soho – Shane MacGowan, Maurice Seezer
15. Falling Off The Edge Of The World – Gavin, Maria McKee, Joseph Arthur, Jenni Muldaur, Flo & Eddie

Act 2

1. Cabaret / Money – Joel Grey
2. Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves – Gavin & Joseph Arthur, Jenni Muldaur
3. You Take Away The Sun – Gavin
4. Patrick McCabe reading from first chapter of Breakfast On Pluto
5. King Of Trash / 21st Century Boy – Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton and Flo & Eddie
6. Knives In The Drain – Lydia Lunch
7. Caruso – Gavin & Eric Mingus, Maurice Seezer
8. ‘Red’ ( a Poker Face improv) – Lady Gaga
9. Angel – Gavin, Antony and Flo & Eddie
10. Love Is Just A Word – Gavin, Chloe Webb and Flo & Eddie
11. Another Blow On The Bruise – Gavin & Edge
12. Time Enough For Tears – Andrea Corr, Gavin
13. The Last Song I’ll Ever Sing – Bono, Maurice Seezer
14. Improv – Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn
15. Sonnet 40 – Gavin, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn, Larry Mullen, Edge, Shane MacGowan
16. Sweet Jane – Gavin, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, The Edge, John Zorn, Larry Mullen, Edge, Shane MacGowan, Bono, Flo & Eddie, Maurice Seezer
17. Jean Genie – Gavin, The Edge, Bono, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, Eric Mingus, Courtney Love, Jenni Muldaur, Flo & Eddie, Andrea Corr, Herb Macken, Shane MacGowan (playing Bill Frisell’s guitar upside down) etc, etc

The band:
Doug Weiselman – musical director, arranger, clarinet, saxophone
Thomas Bartlett – keyboards
Steven Bernstein – trumpet, arranger
Knox Chandler – guitar
Bill Frisell – guitar
Hank Roberts – cello
Erik Sanko – bass
Jim White – drums

And while you are enjoying the slideshow, remember it’s Gavin’s 50th birthday today… come add your wishes (no registration required).

More photos

From: The Irish Times, October 3, 2009
By: Brian Boyd

PROFILE GAVIN FRIDAY: He led an elite group of avant-garde chancers that included Bono and The Edge. A host of stars, including U2, will take the stage in New York to celebrate the former Virgin Prune’s 50th birthday

LYPTON VILLAGE was a little known area in Ballymun, Dublin. It only ever existed for a few years during the 1970s. Its residents included Fionan Hanvey, David Evans, Paul Hewson and Derek Rowan. You could never find it on a map because it was a virtual village – a psychological place of escape for its inhabitants. Lypton Village had its own laws: art, music and weirdness were good, everything else was bad. It had its own language and its members were christened with new names – which is why Fionan Hanvey, David Evans, Paul Hewson and Derek Rowan are better known today as the musicians Gavin Friday, The Edge and Bono and the artist Guggi.

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‘I still don’t know what to say about it,’ Gavin tells U2.com’s interviewer, then proceeds to talk about his 50th birthday celebration at Carnegie Hall for quite a bit:

Question: What have Laurie Anderson, Andrea Corr, Courtney Love, Lydia Lunch, Maria McKee, Shane MacGowan and Rufus Wainwright got in common with Larry, Bono, Edge and Adam. Answer: They’re all fans of Gavin Friday and they’re all taking part in a one-of-a-kind show in New York next week, set to raise funds to combat AIDS in the poorest countries.

An Evening with Gavin Friday and Friends, on Sunday October 4th at Carnegie Hall in New York, is curated and produced by Hal Willner, someone with an unrivalled track record in one-off musical events inspired by maverick artists from Leonard Cohen to Kurt Weill, Tim Buckley to Thelonius Monk.

Gavin, of course, has been hanging out with the members of U2 since before they were the members of U2 and is invariably to be found with them in the studio when an album needs to be finished… or out on the road, when a tour is about to kick off. Right now, he’s working on songs for his own next solo album due in 2010. We caught up with him in Dublin to find out more about the Carnegie Hall show:

“Believe it or not, this was not born in my head. I think I was on some kind of TV show, maybe 12 years ago, and I was asked about my musical ambition and I said I’d love to play Carnegie Hall before I’m 50. That was the seed of all this. Then earlier this year a gang of us went away for a day to celebrate the 50th birthday of Guggi and at the party, Bono, who turns 50 himself next May, said to me, ‘Do you know what you’re doing for your fiftieth ?’ I said I didn’t have a clue and that I’ll probably run away to avoid the attention. He said he did know what I was doing, that I was playing Carnegie Hall.”

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Announcing a very special (RED) Nights Event – A Concert Series That Saves Lives

Hal Willner presents:

An Evening with Gavin Friday and Friends

click to enlarge

Featuring Laurie Anderson, Antony, Elizabeth Ashley, Bono, Adam Clayton, Andrea Corr, The Edge, Flo & Eddie, Joel Grey, Bill Frisell, Guggi, Scarlett Johannson, Courtney Love, Lydia Lunch, Patrick McCabe, Maria McKee, Shane MacGowan, Eric Mingus, Larry Mullen, JG Thirlwell, Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright, Chloe Webb, Plus Special Guests.

Sunday 4th October 2009
Carnegie Hall – New York City
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

Tickets go on-sale Wednesday,
September 16, 11AM EST
Available at CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800
www.carnegiehall.org and the box office.

Ticket price breakdown:
Parquet $250 (front & center) & $150 (left & right)
First Tier $150
Second Tier $100
Dress Circle $90
Balcony $70 & $35

A portion of the proceeds goes to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. www.joinred.com/rednights

• Read a Q&A with Gavin about this event

Gavin Friday, Guggi, Bono, Michael Stipe, Brandon Flowers, Dave Gahan and others tell the story of Anton Corbijn, “the ultimate insider who now finds himself outside the Hollywood system” in Shadow Play: The Making of Anton Corbijn, a documentary by Josh Whiteman now making the rounds on the festival circuit.
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