At End It Benefit: Green Day And Courtney Love's Hole

Concert preview

End It, a benefit for Artists for a Hate Free America, with Green Day, Hole, Weezer, 311, Seaweed, Rancid and Sky Cries Mary; 3 p.m. Sunday, the Arena; $15.50, 628-0888. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Green Day just played Lollapalooza last week at the Gorge, and is already back this Sunday to headline End It, a benefit for Artists for a Hate Free America, sponsored by KNDD-The End (107.7 FM).

The popular new Berkeley-based trio isn't the only hot band on the bill. Hole, headed by Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, will be playing its first show here since his suicide in April, and since the heroin overdose death of its bassist, Kristen Pfaff, in June.

Hole has played only a few times since the deaths, most notably the big Reading Festival in England last month. Critics have been enthusiastic about the performances, including a rave in England's Melody Maker. Hole's latest album, ironically titled "Live Through This" and released only days before Cobain's death, has also garnered universal praise for its punkish, powerful songs and intelligent, darkly humorous lyrics.

Green Day is one of the most promising new rock groups of the 1990s. It's short, snappy, classic rock songs, such as its first hit, "Longview," and the current "Basket Case," have the energy and spunk of British-invasion rock of the 1960s. The young men who make up the band - singer-guitarist Billie Joe, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool - have an infectious spirit that makes their records and videos compelling and exciting.

The band played Woodstock '94 and created a scene with a mud bath on stage. Playing after a rainstorm, the band encouraged fans to throw mud at the stage. Soon the stage was encrusted with mud and the band abandoned its instruments and joined fans who had climbed on stage, slipping and sliding on the stuff. When security tried to restore order, Dirnt was tackled by a guard and thrown to the stage. Dirnt hit a monitor, sustaining arm injuries and damage to three teeth. He required emergency oral surgery, and the band's next concert had to be canceled.

Also on the End It bill is Weezer, a new band from Los Angeles with catchy riffs and strong guitar work. The End has been playing "Undone (The Sweater Song)," a cut off Weezer's debut album on DGC Records.

311, which has a new album out called "Grassroots," is one of many contemporary bands that mix rock and rap. Its sound owes a lot to the bands that originated the idea, including Faith No More and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Northwest bands make up the rest of the bill, including Seaweed, the intense Tacoma punk band that records for Sub Pop, and Sky Cries Mary, the seven-member neo-psychedelic band that records for World Domination.

Artists for a Hate Free America is an organization devoted to battling discrimination and encouraging race relations. One of its major supporters is Pearl Jam, which has donated funds to the group's operations.

The show originally was to be held at the South Sound Speedway in Olympia, but was moved to the Arena.