thanks to Lisa for the photo

The local band Dirty Sweet opened for Chris in this unusual open-air venue and went down well with the crowd. Although there were guest-list mix-ups, those at the soundcheck heard The Day I Tried To Live... and The Roads We Choose featured in the solo acoustic set.

Intro - Let Me Drown - Outshined - Show Me How To Live - No Such Thing - Arms Around Your Love - Be Yourself - Burden In My Hand - What You are - Rusty Cage - acoustic set inc. The Roads We Choose - Doesn't Remind Me - Cochise - Spoonman - Say Hello To Heaven - Jesus Christ Pose - Seasons - Wave Goodbye - Black Hole Sun - Slaves & Bulldozers

by rohit

I know I'm prone to exaggerate, but this was the best show I've ever seen. The fact that I was so close (maybe 5 people deep from the front) and the venue was rather intimate. The addition of Jesus Chris Pose and Slaves and Bulldozers made my night. I had a great time, and although time was short, I was able to meet a few people. I had a great time! I wish I was able to go to the Costa Mesa show, but I let my wife decide what to do next as I thought this fair (considering she isn't a huge rock fan she was impressed by Chris' stage presence).

thanks to Shantasa for the photo

thanks to Lisa for the photo

by s3rdna

What a show it was! Although I love love LOVE Soundgarden and Audioslave, I was hoping for a little more of the Euphoria Morning and Carry On stuff. Other than that, though, the show was amazing and I had a blast. Also I think the band, Dirty Sweet, who opened up for Chris and the guys deserve a mention. They were pretty good too - the lead singer has some crazy dance moves on him!

Overall I was a happy camper at the end of the night seeing as though he hasn't been here since Lollapalooza 04, I believe. My favorite song he did was Say Hello to Heaven. I think when that played the vibe of the concert changed for the better. Oh, and we can't forget how funny Chris was commenting on the venue and the Liz Claiborne sign in back of the stage.

thanks to Lisa for the photo

by catcole

I was fortunate enough to have seen Soundgarden live in Del Mar years ago. Also, Chris live at Copley Symphony Hall touring for Euphoria Morning. The show at Viejas was amazing. He sounded really good and the Soundgarden songs were so satisfying to hear. His acoustic renditions of songs are always wonderful and I can't help but think he should put out an all acoustic album. All the songs he sang that night were great to hear. Loved hearing "Say Hello to Heaven", Slaves and Bulldozers", and "Jesus Christ Pose" I am still waiting to hear "4th of July" live. In my opinion, it's one of the best along with "Like Suicide". Overall, great music by a great artist.

thanks to Shantasa for the photo

by Joyce

Chris came on at 8:30ish. After the first song he said "Hi and thanks for coming" . He said 'Hey, this is a nice place, I've never been here before. It's so nice, I don't even mind the Liz Claiborne sign behind me.' He did prance about the stage - that "grrrr" type commanding of the stage. Mesmerizing.

thanks to Joyce for the photo

He made a lot of expressions while singing. Really put his heart into it. When he was going to play Finally Forever, he said 'This is a song I wrote for my wife. It is on the cd. See, that is what you get to do when you make your own cd, you get to put what ever you want on it.' He frequently looked over to Vicky. She was sitting on the right hand side of the stage. She looked quite at ease over there and you really could feel a connection between them just from their glances.

All of them threw a lot of guitar picks out at the audience. I was watching Chris go about the stage and didn't even notice that one came flying. I felt it hit me in the shoulder. Hard! I realized what it was, turned around and picked up a Yogi pick....it was funny when Sutter did his drum solo, Chris went and threw guitar picks at him and then everyone did.

I don't know how many songs in to the show, Chris was walking around the stage and he says 'Turn the lights up, I want to see everyone! Great! Thanks for coming! Now, I want everyone who is wearing a hat to take it off and fling it in to the air! Just take it and fling it sideways out into the air.' Now, this made me cringe and hold on to my head...I was wearing my SG cap that I've worn for ever and I didn't want anyone to grab it off of my head. Then he says 'Next, those of you with wallets, just pull them out of your pockets and fling them out'.

When Chris was going to sing 'Wave Goodbye' he said it was for his friend Jeff Buckley. That song is so touching, and, for him to sing it acoustic? Wow.

When they came out for the encore, Yogi and Peter came out without their shirts on. DAMN IT but after the freakin' hot day, it was no longer hot and Chris did not take off his shirt. Even in the crowd, it wasn't hot. Oh, and Chris' shirt, it may be a designer type, but, it was a black t, I think it had a slight v-neck, and it had a rosary down the left side in white and blue shadowing, the beads being skulls. I loved it.

Shantasa had heard they closed the show with Black Hole Sun playing over and over {Peter and Yogi set that up}. They took off from the stage and we were there waiting for being told where to go for the M&G. It was a bit confusing trying to get the gang together for the meet and greet, there were a lot of people, for the M&G and also for the after concert thing. They organized us and reorganized us. Finally we were in a line heading back to the tables where the band was sitting. The tables were set up along the walkway in between Liz Claiborne and Coldstone. I kept trying to get in the back of the line with the people from the Forum, but they kept making us move. I ended up behind one woman from the board but lost track of everyone else. While we were standing there in line, who walks by but the lead singer from the opening band, Dirty Sweet? I stopped him and told him that they were great and that we were planning on checking them out soon. The band had a really good sound, reminded us of Jet. Definitely rock. And definitely great music.

So, I get to the table. First it is Yogi, then Peter, then Chris, then Sutter and finally Corey. I took a few pictures of Chris while I was waiting. I heard them talking about guitar picks and how they were flying and I said 'Hey, I got hit by one!' and both Chris and Yogi look at me and Yogi says 'Oo, sorry...' and Chris said 'Really? Good. That is what is what we were aiming for'.

Finally I am at the table. I hand Yogi a picture to sign and he and Peter were like 'Hey! This is an early picture.' Yogi said 'Well, we can sign right above our heads...' and I apologized for it being small but when I blew it up to 8X10 it lost clarity. I told them they did a great job and I thanked them for the show and for signing the picture.

When I got in front of Chris I had it all figured out...well, until I got in front of him. I was going to introduce myself and also introduce my husband {that didn't happen either}. I had a handful of pictures and I was looking him in the eyes talking to him and saying 'First off, I have this letter that I would like you to read?' and he takes the envelope and puts it to his forehead like he was reading it through the envelope and smiles 'Oh, chuckle chuckle, wow', and he did this for a bit and I laughed and said 'No, really, if you would, Vicki can read it too but just don't lose it!!' and then I said 'Well, I have a bunch of pictures and I don't expect you to sign them all but if you could....' and he said 'Well I can't sign anything if you don't give them to me'. {this cracked hubby up}

So I laid them all down and he got busy signing away. I was so flustered, I didn't organize it all and I even handed him the review my sister had given me that morning that I had in a plastic page and when he got to it he was like 'What's this?' and I said 'Have you read it?' and he said 'Yes' and I said 'Oh' and then he said 'Wait, did you ask me if I've read it or would I like to read it?' and I said 'Have you?' and he said 'No' and I asked 'Would you like to?' and he said 'Oh, can I have it?' and I said 'Sure, there are probably a thousand others out there saving it for me'. {duh, that was a dumb reply, you know one of those? I have tons'} and he said 'Thanks'.

I then shook his hand and thanked him for the wonderful show and if I said anything else I can't remember. The line manager took our picture and I moved on. I got to the end of the table and Corey and I go to pick up my picture they'd all signed for me and he says 'Oh, this is yours?' and I said Yes. We chatted for a minute and I mentioned I had a friend in Australia and he says 'Hey, we're going there, you know.' and I said 'yes, that's awesome'.

The group picture is funny. They had fun with it. Their hands were idle for a bit before I showed up with it, I guess. Everyone had a Chris photo, they'd given us one . Hubby paid more attention to what they were doing and I do remember seeing them huddling over the picture and laughing but I was a bit off. They were drawing little pictures on it. Rick said they were flies. It is funny. Chris even signed that one, so it is perfect.

thanks to Joyce for the signed photo

It was an awesome night. I don't know what else to say. He was real, he was beautiful. Oh, I did ask him where he got his shirt because I loved it {and I did, would have preferred if he'd taken it off} and he looked down, feeling his jacket, realizing it wasn't the shirt and he said he didn't know, his wife had gotten it for him. Oh, and I also had told him his wife was pretty awesome, how she was so generous with him. He said 'yes, she's great'.

Rusty Cage - thanks amysndiego

The Roads We Choose - extract (thanks fuddy21)

Local street team lead Shantasa at the meet-and-greet

Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007