Chris seemed a little shaky at the start of the show but by all account quickly found his stride and delivered a show which included a first performance (on this tour, anyway!) of Superunknown's title track.

If you have the complete set list in order, please contact me!

by jill

I have to admit, I had a moment of doubt and faith when Chris Cornell took the stage Sunday night at the Cleveland House of Blues. Cornell usually makes a magnetic rock star entrance, whether intentional or not, and commands your complete attention, drawing you into his web. Not so on Sunday. He started off with Let Me Drown sounding off key and looking displeased. I was afraid. Would the man who has gained control of his voice on this solo tour slide back into inconsistency? Has the grueling schedule proved too much? Would the vocals go on to sound scratchy and flat?

thanks to Jill for the photo

Absolutely not. As he dug into Outshined, it was apparent that the vocal malfunction was just a minor mishap out of the gate. His voice was as good as it has been reported in every city of the tour, the best it has been in his career in terms of clarity and consistency. It did, however take a few more songs to regain that comfortable, fun-spirited stride that has been so predominant throughout this tour. The camaraderie between him and his band mates is as easy as if they had been together for years.

They do have a formula: an electric show, followed by Chris strapping on the acoustic, followed by more electric. But Cornell mixes it up in every city, which is a blessing for the fans who make the pilgrimage to see him multiple times, myself included. This time he played a few songs I have not had the privilege to have heard this tour: Superunknown (a first for the tour!) Call Me a Dog and Ty Cobb. Of course, Ty Cobb has the propensity to start some major slam-dancing, but the crowd was relatively well mannered. Chris gave them much to sink their teeth into, however, drawing from a wealth of much loved favorites from his grunge days, (Rusty Cage, Black Hole Sun, Fell On Black Days) and collaborations from Temple of the Dog to his first solo album and Audioslave. He additionally infused some Zeppelin with Thank You and a snippet of Whole Lotta Love. The band imprints their own style on all these songs, notably Cochise which highlights a different, but exemplary guitar interpretation. They shine on the new material from Cornell's new solo album, Carry On, lifting it from very good to great. Arms Around Your Love and Billie Jean take on an ethereal persona live. You Know My Name and No Such Thing just rock harder when these boys are working it for the crowd.

Also part of the Chris Cornell Traveling Circus are the clown acts where guitar pics fly in tandem with good humored barbs and guitar strings are plucked and snapped until they break ceremoniously. Meanwhile Chris Cornell moonwalked to Billie Jean, joked to the crowd about a city icon (the Cleveland Indian), and gossiped mischievously about musicians who get botox treatments. All in all, a very satisfying feast for the senses. When near the end of the show, Cornell’s voice DID crack, he laughed unselfconsiously, and so did we.

by tonerkin

Chris came out black tee shirt and black skinny jeans....hair pretty messy and a scowl on his face. He just launched into Drown me and the first couple of songs I was a little concerned because he just seemed to be very cranky.

Yogi looked quite dapper in a fedora (it was the cutest I have ever seen him), Peter was in an orangish Johnny Cash shirt I believe, Jason...looked like Jason. And Corey is a getting to be a lean mean bass machine!!!

thanks to jill for the photo

Once again it is so damn fun to scream at the top of your lungs "fuck you all" during Ty Cobb. When he sang the lyric "Close the door and pull the shades And climb the walls" during overfloater I got this strong sense of how far he's come since the time he'd written that line......I do believe he is in a good place and it shows in his playfulness with the band, his depth of feeling in the songs and his magnificent voice that can just pick you up and take you away to places you don't normally go.

By chico

After rocking out to Earl Greyhound it was time yet again to wait for Cornell et al to come out and rock the house. Like all my Cornell concerts before, I was really anxious for the show to start. You’d think that the anxiety would lessen after being to so many concerts but you’d be wrong. The only thing that broke me from this trance was a drunk bastard who thought he had the right to push his way to the front and grope a girl who was had gotten there early and was so excited to see her idol. The crowd united and got security to get him the hell out of there which was great. No one wants one asshole to ruin their opportunity to see the most unique voice in rock history.

With that out of the way, we were ready. Finally the curtain was drawn and Cornell with his fro (I personally think that he’s copying the cool chick from Earl Greyhound) came out to Let Me Drown. As with the previous shows I have gone to, they’re on their game although they had to work through some minor audio problems.

With those out of the way, Cornell continued to rock Cleveland where he has been missed since 2005 when Audioslave rocked The Agora. The show was incredible. Cornell had some tricks up his sleeve which he had not revealed in the previous shows that I attended including a full band rendition of Can’t Change Me. I was not fortunate enough to have seen him tour behind Euphoria Morning so I experienced a lot of emotion when he played that song. It was a great moment for me, one that I won’t soon forget.

With the first part of the electric set over, Cornell took the helm with his acoustic guitar. I yelled for him to play Thank You. It seemed that I had luck on my side because he began to play it. He sang beautifully and even the girl (the same girl who got groped) couldn’t take away the moment with her awful singing (God bless her!). He continued on with I Am the Highway which is a song that is better heard acoustically. After playing Fell on Black Days and Like a Stone, he closed the set with Doesn’t Remind Me with the rest of the band coming in half way through the song. Chris showed off his pipes playing after Corey’s bass lines. The man cannot possibly be human.

The guys went on with the electric part of the show and it was so apparent that these guys have become family. They enjoy what they do and the crowd feeds off of them. Chris made some jokes about Yogi wanting to show off his guitar. Yogi showed off his ax and they continued playing Arms Around Your Love with a very different beginning from the album version. I really like what they’ve done with the song. After coming back onstage Chris went on to explain that they were going to play Superunknown for the first time but that he had to read the lyrics because he still hadn’t relearned it well enough. With paper on hand Cornell blazed it.

They closed the set with Slaves and Bulldozers, during which Peter not only broke the chords off his guitar but where they added versions of Overfloater, 4th of July and finally a cover of Whole Lotta Love. They gave it their all for a city that has been thirsty for what my friends Lydia and Dolly like to call as “The Voice.”

Cleveland Free Times

Chris Cornell, House of Blues Sunday, Nov. 11

Looking as if he had just woken up from a nap, Chris Cornell took to the sold-out House of Blues stage to roaring applause Sunday night, obviously still revered as one of the remaining voices of the grunge generation. With his curly locks disheveled, and a bit bug-eyed, Cornell appeared road- worn and tired, causing the opening pair of "Let Me Drown" and "Outshined," two Soundgarden staples, to fall flat. But after the initial false start, Cornell quickly warmed up, spending the next two-and-a-half hours taking everyone in attendance on a 20-year retrospective, touching on the best from his solo catalogue, plus Soundgarden, Audioslave and even Temple of the Dog.

Backed by a competent ensemble of touring musicians who adapted easily to the changes in styles, Cornell mixed things up, interspersing Audioslave's "Show Me How to Live" with a cover of "Billie Jean," the latter transformed into a bluesy, quasi-ballad. With his band wise enough not to attempt to recreate Tom Morello or Kim Thayil's solos, the instrumentation did seem somewhat vapid compared to its original form, but whatever gusto was missing from the guitars, bass and drums was overcome by Cornell's unmistakable voice. "Hunger Strike" and "Spoonman" were both performed nearly perfectly, with Cornell rumbling his lyrics with directed potency, although "Spoonman" disappointingly lacked the closing spoon/percussion/vocal jam.

A mini, solo acoustic set that allowed Cornell to unplug from his band and flaunt his dynamic range, featured an excellent cover of Led Zeppelin's "Thank You," plus stripped-down versions of "I Am the Highway" and "Fell on Black Days." But the true treat was saved for the encore. At his band's urging, Cornell dusted off "Superunknown" for the first time in years, even needing a lyric sheet to help him perform his own song. "Black Hole Sun" then turned into a flannel-lined time machine, which gave way to one final 20-plus-minute jam that began with "Slaves and Bulldozers" then segued into parts of "4th of July," the Doors' "The End" and "Whole Lotta Love," all while Cornell held court with the vigor of an accomplished rock veteran.

- Aaron Mendelsohn, Cleveland Free Times

Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007