After an acoustic radio session in Houston the previous day, Chris's first public show in Texas on this tour saw the live debut of Scar On The Sky plus another Euphoria Morning song, Mission. Guitarist Peter Thorn wrote in his blog: "Someone threw a t-shirt onstage that says "Chris Cornell is my hero" which Chris bestowed upon me seconds later - I donned it proudly for the encore, haha."

Spoonman - Original Fire - No Such Thing - Say Hello To Heaven - Like A Stone - What You Are - Rusty Cage - Seasons - Scar On The Sky - Can't Change Me - Redemption Song - Doesn't Remind Me - You Know My Name - Outshined - Fell On Black Days - Loud Love - Sunshower - Cochise - Your Soul Today - Hunger Strike - Black Hole Sun - Mission - Jesus Christ Pose

thanks to Paul for the photo

by Future Dwight

"Chris performed Scar on the Sky by himself with an acoustic guitar. It was very Cornell-ish, if that says anything. It didn't sound like it, but it had a Sweet Euphoria feel to it - the same vibe. He also indicated that Outshined was written as a message to someone who was no longer alive, a person he had "written many songs about". I can only assume he meant Andy Wood. He said it was a way of saying to that person that "I'm not doing too well, right now". An interesting side-note, I think. Anyway, after a long drive back home, it's now after 5am. Time to go count some sheep to the rhythm of the war drum. All in all, fucking amazing show. Like A Stone was also played. Oddly enough, it sounded better than when Audioslave played it live. I have to give Cornell's band a lot of praise for their performance. They learned 40 songs in a few weeks. Not bad. The drummer is definitely giving Matt a run for his money, which became evident during JCP, and that's coming from a loyal member of the Matt for President tribe."

By Leah

"Now THAT was an awesome show...travelled 9-10 hours to see it with my dad...almost had a wreck, too...but the show was amazing...we were practically at the rail 5-6 feet from the stage, in between Chris and Peter Thorn...great batch of songs...my dad loved that he played "You Know My Name", and I was glad to hear that he can still belt out the classics, especially "Say Hello 2 Heaven"...but people were pissed that he didn't play "Billie Jean" Sad ...he sounds as good, if not better, live than in the studio...I got a t-shirt, too...and I've never headbanged so much, or gotten a slight whiff of so much pot, in my life...and this will probably be my only opportunity to sing with Chris Cornell...haha...wonderful, wonderful experience..."

By eddievedder (no, not that one...)

"The highlight of the show was Loud Love. It sounded amazing. During the instrumental break they totally cranked it up and they got super super heavy and rocked out extremely hard, the crowd was really digging it then it came back to "I want something to explode!" It was amazingly hard and intense. Setlist was a lot of the hits overall. No Down On The Upside unfortunately, but it was all excellent, really wanted to hear Zero Chance. Crowd where I was standing was lame, lot of talkers. The band was really good and hard. What you are sounded great, he said it was one o fhis AS faves but they never played it much, now he can play it every night. I prefer Seasons without the band, but they rocked it. Chris' voice sounded strong and brilliant, I was wrong, he is far from done, he sounds a lot better than he has in recent years. He had a lot of nice things to say to the crowd."

thanks to Paul for the photo

by Scapgf

"Ok, so I have heard nearly every Audioslave boot there is and saw them twice in 2005. Then I have heard every boot from this tour. Well, I can say with absolute certainty that the boots do NOT do his recently improved vocals justice...at all. On Hunger Strike he did something that I have NEVER heard him do on ANY boots from the past 2 years...he went for AND reached the super high notes that are on the album version that he has recently shied away from attempting. I was floored! It was VERY solid.

Went to the Meet and Greet and he was very cool about it. I was talking to some of the band members next to him and I said, "yeah, just wanted to say to you guys that I really appreciate y'all doing this after playing such a long show, you must be exhausted." Cornell just looked at me and goes, "Actually, it's all the crystal meth we are doing!" and everyone started laughing."

by youknowmyname

"My husband and I saw Chris Cornell at the Palladium in Dallas, TX, and then attended a meet and greet afterwards. First off, Chris has the most amazing voice - high notes, low notes and everything in between was crystal clear. He rolled through Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog and his own music with ease. Sobriety agrees with the man. Great show with a awesome back up band. He played three encores. Crowd was crazy! The meet and greet was a little subdued by bodyguards with lots of rules (got to keep the stalkers away) but once you got to meet the band, all were genuinely happy and very friendly. They signed numerous items and made small talk. Besides having an unbelievable voice, Chris is as georgeous in person as the photos you see."

thanks to Greg for the photo

by terri

After being a Chris Cornell and Audioslave fan for four years, and seeing them live twice, I must say this was truly a magical night for me. I was so excited to finally see him performing again. And what a show it was! He sounded better than I'd ever heard him before. His voice has definitely improved. And he looked so darn happy to be there! The highlight of the concert for me was when he sang Say Hello To Heaven. I never thought I would ever get to witness that. I swear it brought tears to my eyes!

I was one of the lucky ones to win the meet & greet. What a great bunch of guys! They were all so friendly. But the most precious thing to me was actually meeting Chris. He was very soft spoken & quiet. But, when he looked at me right in the eye, he made me feel like I was the only one in the room with him. And, yes, he is just as handsome in person as you would expect.

thanks to Terri for the photo

Chris Cornell carries on

By MIKE DANIEL / Staff Writer, The Dallas Morning News

Solo gig pleases fans but has mostly old work

Photo by Jason Janik, Dallas Morning News

Chris Cornell's voice and the songs remain the same.

That's what the former Audioslave and Soundgarden singer proved during his sold-out solo concert at the Palladium Ballroom on Friday. Whether that's a satisfactory result depends on expectations and history.

Being one of two remaining voices of Seattle's grunge era is a weighty status that Mr. Cornell has attempted to relegate to a closet since joining Audioslave in 2001.

He first tried being a solo artist with the 1999 CD Euphoria Morning, which amounted to a commercial and artistic hiccup.

But the 42-year-old is trying it again. He left Audioslave in February after becoming the first American male to sing a theme song for a James Bond movie ("You Know My Name" for Casino Royale). But, this go-round, he's sober, has a family, lives in France and is as much in control as he's ever been.

We'll find out how competently he's channeled his formidable songwriting skills when Carry On is unleashed in June by A&M/Universal Records. But, in the meantime, this prerelease concert validated him as one of rock's top singers. The 21-song, 105-minute gig was masterfully structured, opening with the Soundgarden staple "Spoonman" and hitting most of the highlights of his 23-year career. He even reached back to his 1990 major-label debut for "Loud Love."

He's lost little of his inflection and range, stopping short of piercing cries only in Temple of the Dog's "Say Hello 2 Heaven" and a few other spots. His upper ranges become raspy and brittle in places, but that's the only major sign of wear.

It was unfortunate that his backing band paced most songs a few beats per minute slower than normal. The effect made more lumbering singles such as Soundgarden's "Fell On Black Days" and Audioslave's "Doesn't Remind Me" sound lazy and bromidic.

The show didn't solidify his stance as an enterprising performer. Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, he was disarmingly laid-back and unanimated.

He displayed clean, brisk and adroit acoustic-guitar chops on three midset numbers, including a lovely cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song." That skill bodes well for the toned-down, singer-songwriterlike material that's rumored to fill Carry On. Which made this show curious. Not counting "You Know My Name" he delivered only three of his new songs (and only one from Euphoria Morning, "Can't Change Me").

Sure, fans want to hear the hits. But Mr. Cornell needs to rejoice more in his own music. He should (and he'd better) when the full Carry On tour launches this summer.

Reprinted from the Dallas Morning News, April 30 2007

(links may not be permanent)

Can't Change Me (thanks Vince)

Spoonman (thanks Vince)

Like A Stone (thanks Vince)

Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007