A bit of a communication breakdown affected the smooth running of the meet-and-greet at this show, but street team local heroes Janet and Stacey got to meet Chris in the end! Chris obliged a couple of fans by swapping their vintage T-shirts for his own and the setlist reveals that Burden In My Hand was a late substitution for Carry On's Safe And Sound.

thanks to stacey for the autographed setlist - if you have the complete set list including the acoustic set in order, please contact me!

by stacey

Alright so, I just got back from seeing Cornell in Columbus and it was seriously the best night of my life. I don't even know how to describe it so, I'm just going to tell the whole story.

Okay so, we got there at around 12 P.M. and we were the first people there. So, I go up to the will call window and they say, "Will Call isn't open until 4." So, I hang around until 4 and go back up there. And then they tell me to come back up there at around 5 or 5:30 because I would be on the bands 'guest list'. And they hadn't recieved the guest list yet. So then, stick around go up there, still not there. The doors opened at 7 and they still were not there. So, Janet (my street team leader) calls up people and leaves them messages. And finally we get our tickets but then they tell us that there's not going to be a meet and greet. So, we're both standing there with these confused looks on our faces, wondering why. So, then we finally go inside. My dad and friend Austin saved us a spot front row center. I get up there and the head of security or whatever says, "Hold your hand out. I have something for you." So, I did and he gave me 2 Yogi guitar picks. Made me very happy.

Earl Greyhound finally gets on stage at around 8. They were way better than what I thought they were going to be. Love the vocalist's voice. Not a bad guitarist either. I just like their sound in general. They're different. They played for about 45 minutes or so. Something like that. Then...at 9 Cornell finally comes on. And they start playing the whole "Sunshower" thing and it lead into "Let Me Drown". I was shocked at the fact that every time I had seen this guy he just seems to keep getting better and better. Then "Let Me Drown" went straight into "Outshined". Which is when people started going crazy. Realizing that he plays Soundgarden songs also. So, those were the first two songs.

thanks to desert rose for the photo

Then 6 or 7 songs later, Cornell started to do his acoustic stuff. These aren't in any order but he did: "Call Me a Dog" "Black Hole Sun" "Fell On Black Days" "Preaching" "Like A Stone" "Doesn't Remind Me" I think there was more but, can't think of them at the moment. The songs that made me VERY happy that he did were: "Ty Cobb" "Pretty Noose" "Out of Exile" "Let Me Drown" And then he did "SuperUnknown". Might I add that he was reading the lyrics off of a piece of paper. ha. Oh, and in the middle of "You Know My Name", I held up the Cornell shirt that I bought and he pointed to me and was singing and everything and then grabs my hand and just keeps singing. I don't know how many times we made eye contact. Then he asked me for my shirt. Decided to sign it while he was on stage. Ha.

Last song played was "Slaves And Bulldozers" Which was AMAZING. Of course they started doing it and in the middle Jason had his drum solo. But, he also threw in 4th of July. Which was just...not able to be desribed is was so amazing. So then the concert got over and Janet and I are still standing there and we decide to ask people about it and they tell us to go stand by the ATM machine and wait. And then some other random person tells us to go stand by the merch table. And then we had to pretty much argue ourselves into the meet and greet. Because we didn't have any 'proof' that we won and what not for the street team.

So, I walk in the room and Corey is first. I talked to him for about 5 minutes. Thanking him for a great show and all that jazz. Then it was Sutter. And he started giving us candy bars. Almond Joy and Twix. Ha. And then it was Cornell. And he actually noticed our resemblance. His exact words, "You know, you look a lot like I did when I was about your age.". So then I thanked him for everything. Including the inspiration and influence, that he has made an effect on me. And we started talking about Alice In Chains and everything.

Next was Yogi and he was just kind of joking around with Sutter the whole time so, didn't really get to say much to him. Then it was Peter. I thanked him for everything. And then he gave me a guitar pick. And that was it. Like I said, best night of my life, hands down.

Hope to see you again sometime Cornell! You're my hero. And my one and only inspiration in life. Thanks for all the great memories!

thanks to stacey (left) for the his photo with chris at the meet-and-greet

by cornellfreak78

The show was unbelievable. Chris has to be one of the best live acts I've ever seen... We showed up around 4pm and the only other people there were sweet euphoria and his crew. I was so dang jealous that they had m&g passes..then Desert Rose shows up..and they had m&g passes!! Man, I was kicking myself in the butt for not signing up for the street team! I can't complain though. We were front row center on the rail, two feet from Chris the whole show. Got the old hand slap, got a drumstick and multiple guitar picks.(they were flinging them all over the place the whole show!) The coolest part was after he signed Euphoria's shirt I was standing there holding my old Badmotorfinger shirt, shouting "old school man, old school" He grabs my shirt, puts it on the mic stand. Takes his freaking shirt off, and PUTS MINE ON!!!

thanks to cornellfreak78 for the photo

I was in shock, the crowd was screaming, my buddy was grabbing me and shaking me going "holy sh*t man, holy sh*t!" He played three songs with my shirt on, including the classic Rusty Cage! It was unreal. Then right before they went offstage for the "intermission" he handed it back to me. Soaked in sweat and everything!LOL! That shirt is now hanging on my wall with my other Chris memorabilia. Chris played for almost 3hrs! He sounded great. Ty Cobb, 4th of July!!!, Superunknown!, Call me a dog was also a highlight because he really nailed the high parts at the end. The crowd would just erupt whenever he hit those notes. All in all it was an amazing experience, wish I had the cash to follow him for the rest of the tour.

by mozzer644

I took my 11 year old son to his first rock show. And let me tell you, It Fucking Rocked!!! Hands down one of the best I have ever seen. Greg Dulli comes close and I thought would always reign supreme but then Chris came along. These are moments that dads hope for and Chris you more than came through! Thank You! Earl Greyhound gave Alexandr a free shirt to honour his first show. Just a perfect night. Thanks again! I hope to see you again with him.

thanks to nanci for the photo - see more here

Columbus Dispatch

Mellowed rocker belts out anthems

thanks to cornellfreak78 for the photo

Eddie Van Halen plays guitar. Bela Fleck plays banjo. Chris Cornell sings.

If you've ever watched a seven-foot-tall man dunk a basketball you'll understand the effortless way the rock vocalist simply opens his mouth and wails.

Last night in the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion, the former Soundgarden and Audioslave front man's freakishly mighty instrument was in full effect. For two-and-a-half hours Cornell channeled classic-rock throats such as Robert Plant, Ian Gillan and Paul Rodgers, as well as every church-shaking gospel singer on the planet.

During the stop on a fresh leg of his first solo tour since 2000, a tour to promote the new adult-contemporary rock album Carry On, he and a four-piece band of young musicians played songs that span most of his career. Nothing from Cornell's late-‘80s pure-"grunge" period was heard.

thanks to nanci for the photo - see more here

But between the Soundgarden and Audioslave fare last night Cornell included , the galloping anthem that served as the theme song of the most recent James Bond vehicle Casino Royale, and a handful of songs from Temple of the Dog, the one-album group of the early ‘90s that included Cornell and members of Pearl Jam.

After hair-raising versions of Outshined, Let Me Drown and Spoonman, as well as a bluesy take on Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, a solo acoustic set featured I Am the Highway (Audioslave), Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden), Call Me a Dog (Temple of the Dog), Fell on Black Days (Soundgarden), Preaching the End of the World (1999 solo album Euphoria Morning) and Like a Stone (Audioslave).

Cornell's shirtless encore session featured the swinging slab of psychedelic rock Superunknown, the ballad Seasons, Burden in My Hand (a melodic sing-along about a murder in a desert, or so it seems), the pile-driving Slaves and Bulldozers and a run through Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love.

Other than playing a lengthy but not bloated 150-minute set, and other than watching Cornell perform with a group of anonymous and rambunctious musicians who spent as much time performing as they did flinging guitar picks at one another and the audience, the main thing that stood out last night was Cornell's disposition.

thanks to nanci for the photo - see more here

In Soundgarden, especially early on when the band was playing clubs, Cornell and his band mates hit the stages and settled into brontosaurian, tinnitus-cultivating dirge-metal pockets. The concerts seemed more like battles between the musicians and the audience – and among the musicians themselves – with Soundgarden usually trudging off stage to the blare of feedback.

But in 2007, as Cornell's music has mellowed (try the new Michael Boltion-esque Arms Around Your Love), so has Cornell — somewhat anyway. For what it's worth, the guy was gracious, playful and seemingly genuinely happy to be in Columbus, Ohio, on a weeknight.

- Aaron Beck, Columbus Dispatch

desert rose and her son with chris at the meet-and-greet

Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007