Photo by Phil Bonyata - see more here
This show saw the first performance of Audioslave's Out Of Exile on this tour - and movingly, the first performance since 1999 of Wave Goodbye, Chris's tribute to his late friend Jeff Buckley. Jeff shared the bill with Soundgarden at 1994’s Summerfest in Milwaukee, so perhaps that was the reason for the choice of this city. In the cellar venue, a bat tried to get in on the act - maybe it was looking for Ozzy to get its revenge.
Let Me Drown - Outshined - Show Me How to Live - Out of Exile - Safe and Sound - No Such Thing - Can't Change Me - Wave Goodbye - Say Hello to Heaven - What You Are - Rusty Cage - Fell On Black Days - Until We Fall - Finally Forever - Like A Stone - Doesn't Remind Me - Cochise - Spoonman - Be Yourself - Slaves and Bulldozers - You Know My Name - Sunshower - Burden in My Hand - Black Hole Sun
by Jill
The venue was not air conditioned or well ventilated. It was a hellhole from the start, and everyone was sweaty even before the boys hit the stage.
It was apparent from Juliette Lewis that the sound in the place got lost in the ceiling and made things muddy. I can't even tell you what her music sounded like. It could have been neo punk, but she was also utilizing some curious Mick Jagger moves. Enough about her.
The boys came on and did a prelude that I did not recognize. I am sorry about that, please try to find out what that was. Again, the sound at the venue stunk. But Chris came on and blew us away with Let Me Drown! So unexpected! Other unexpected things: Wave Goodbye, Out Of Exile and the original acoustic version of Wide Awake! Very, very nice. Even through the bad sound you could hear him hit all the highs and the scream at the end of Wide Awake didn't sound like a wounded wolf. It was primal and strong. He owns the stage, but is so generous at sharing it with the others.
Peter blew us away with an extraordinary solo during Slaves and Bulldozers and of course, Yogi's signature solo has become Black Hole Sun, which he has made his own. Jason Sutter is a complete madman and any drum aficionado would be standing and cheering to his Spoonman solo. Note to Chris: please, please play Sunshower as an acoustic. Finally Forever was so touchingly dear it made me wish again we could be privy to those secret wedding pictures. Sigh.
Chris does a marvelous job of mixing ballads that let our minds and souls rest, then picks us up with the likes of Rusty Cage or No Such Thing and tears down all the walls with the surge of his mega-vocals. There was only one encore, but it was more than enough. The band played for over two hours, possibly 2 and a half. It is incredible. He is so dynamic, it is hard to believe he did it yesterday and will do it again tomorrow in Chicago. In previous years, I would be worried for him and his precious vocal cords, but rest assured, that time has past.
Photo by Phil Bonyata - see more here
by Ray
First of all I'd like to say...wow...and thanks again, Jill, for getting all of this together and making it happen...these are my exact words to Chris, "Chris, I've been waiting 15 years to tell you this...you are nothing short of fucking amazing. Thank you so much for 20 years of wonderful music. God bless you and your family. Is it cool if me and my wife can get a picture with you?" As you can tell by the pic, I was pretty much in shock. It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life.
thanks to Ray for the photo
The show opened with the band jamming out a bit, and then of course, enters the legend himself...and the whole place explodes. Chris starts the show with the first track on "Superunknown" (Drown Me), and then bursts into "Outshined" of course from Badmotorfinger. Those are the only two I remember in order because I was very much rocking out and becoming instantly hypnotized by the power, the energy, and outstanding vocals...what a truly amazing performance. I envy anyone who gets to go to multiple shows because I know I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
by Nancy
I hope Chris is still sleeping off last night's show, because he fucking earned it. I'd be sleeping too if I didn't have to be at work--obviously not working very hard ;o)
I was at his Minneapolis show in April, which was amazing. This was amazing as well, maybe more so because he performed at least two hours in incredible heat and humidity. Couldn't convince him to take his shirt off, though--something to do with his 43rd birthday coming up on Friday? (The rest of the band weren't so shy.) He was soaked through and through.
Very different set list from Mnpls, which was nice. He played a few songs for the first time ever, he said, such as "Wave Goodbye" and others I could remember if I weren't so damn tired. I loved finally hearing "Say Hello to Heaven" live. Drummer Jason had a relative in the crowd, so it was a very drum-centric performance which, as a shitty drummer, I really appreciated. Impressive drum solos, and great rendition of Slaves and Bulldozers right before the encore. It was pretty difficult to hear Chris when he talked on the mic, which was frustrating. He did a pretty entertaining "Public Service Announcement" in favor of the old SG song "Full on Kevin's Mom" which someone kept flashing a sign for. It would be interesting to see if he played that somewhere, eventually.
Despite the heat and cigarette smoke, the crowd energy was great--which Chris really got off on. Us 40-somethings risked broken hips as the young 'uns occasionally broke into crowd surfing or moshing. Chris kept a close eye on things when they started to get nuts but no one seemed to get hurt. Pretty tame compared to the good old days.
Surprise of the night (besides Slaves and Bulldozers) was the opening act, Juliette and the Licks. Apparently I wasn't the only one who didn't realize that Juliette is Juliette Lewis. Some know her as an actress (she was great in Kalifornia) but all I could think of was "She fucked Brad Pitt!" It was kind of distracting.
Great show, and I hope for everyone's sake that they have central air at the Chicago venue tonight. The heat did take a toll on Chris, and he went low on a couple of parts, but he still blew us all away.
Read more on Chris's midwestern shows at Nancy's blog My Own Private Idaho
by Johnny Marshmallow
I saw Chris Cornell at The Rave's Eagle's Ballroom last night. Chris is a golden god. He is awesome in every way. He is the reason I became a musician, and seeing him yesterday completed me in a way. I told Dez as we left "This has been a life altering experience" and she said "Life altering?" and I said "This concert has set something in motion in my head, that will lead to me making tiny little decisions in my life that will altimetry accumulate up to a life changing decision. I don't know what that is yet, but today is responsible."
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Cornell shows no musical bounds
Range, color of voice shines with just acoustic guitar
Photo by Phil Bonyata - see more here
Chris Cornell would appear to be at a crossroads.
The former frontman for Soundgarden was one of the defining voices of grunge in the early 1990s. After that party ended, he joined the remnants of Rage Against the Machine and had another successful run fronting Audioslave. Last year, he parted company with Audioslave vowing never to play with them again.
About a month ago, he put out a solo album, "Carry On," which carried on to a modest peak of No. 17 on the Billboard 200. On Friday, Cornell will turn 43, not exactly prime time for grunge frontmen.
So when Cornell came to the Eagles Ballroom at the Rave on Tuesday, there was something at stake. Certainly he had to be gratified by the apparent full house and the warm reception he found in Milwaukee. It was striking how healthy and fit he looked even at 42, compared to the wane and frazzled guy fronting Soundgarden at Alpine Valley ages ago.
The set didn't give a clear notion of where Cornell is bound musically. He opened with Soundgarden tunes "Let Me Drown" and "Outshined" but veered to Audioslave's "Show Me How to Live." The new solo album wasn't exhaustively mined but showed up in pieces such as "No Such Thing" and the first encore, "You Know My Name."
"You Know My Name" is a surprising change of direction for Cornell. It's the title sequence song from last year's James Bond hit "Casino Royale." Like most good Bond themes, it has an aura of high gloss danger wrapped in a booming pop production.
As grunge visionaries go, Cornell always has veered more toward the heavy metal side of the genre than the frenetic punk side. "Show Me How to Live" had the floor of the Eagles throbbing to the cadence of hundreds of pumping fists. But a little past the show's halfway point, Cornell shifted gears and performed several songs without the band, accompanied by only his acoustic guitar. It's in that context with dark laments such as "Fell on Black Days" that the full color and range of Cornell's voice shines forth. Surprisingly, he didn't perform his radically downbeat recasting of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean."
Opening for Cornell was Juliette and the Licks, probably better known as actress Juliette Lewis' punk rock band. That probably sounds fairly odious on the surface, but Lewis clearly won over the crowd. She comes on stage with a single feather in a headband like a punk Pocahontas and throws herself totally into the role of punk-rock banshee. Her status as a musician will probably never overshadow her Academy-Award nominee credentials as an actress, but as a movie-star moonlighting venture, Juliette and the Licks rate several cuts above the mean.
- By DAVE TIANEN, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Concert Livewire.com
Cornell gets licked
Photo by Phil Bonyata - see more here
Having been frontman of two of the biggest bands in the last 15 years with Soundgarden and Audioslave - Chris Cornell finds himself on the outside looking in. Audioslave members jumped at the chance to rejoin with mercurial frontman Zack De La Rocha to ressurrect the mighty Rage Against the Machine. That left Cornell in the unemployment line. It was no surprise that Cornell's canon would cull heavily from the vaults of the two previously mentioned bands.
Looking rock star cool in a white t-shirt, tight jeans and tan boots Cornell, at 42, hasn't seemed to have aged a bit since his heady days with Soundgarden.Chris Cornell Opening with "Let me Drown," Cornell and his hired hands seemed to flounder a bit looking for their groove. Things picked-up quickly with Soundgardens' "Outshined" and Audioslaves' "Show Me How To Live." While Cornell's undeniably powerful voice gave the songs' backbone - the spirit was missing - vacated by the pedigree and caliber of musicians in his previous bands.
Touring behind his second solo album - Carry On - Cornell has reached into the untested waters of lighter rock and soul balladry. "Safe and Sound" and "You Know My Name" were perfect examples of why Cornell needs to stick with hard rock. Awkward lyrics mixed with clumsy musicianship sunk the songs right out of the gates. Even "Can't Change Me" and "Wave Goodbye" off of 1999's crisp Euphoria Morning fell flat musically. Cornell's voice soared over and ultimately flattened the lackluster rhythm section. More Soundgarden classics ("Rusty Cage," "Spoonman" and "Black Hole Sun") along with Audioslaves' "Cochise" rounded out the evening's jagged trip down memory lane.
Openers Juliette Lewis and the Licks shone much brighter with a show built on rock star abandon and wonderfully fuzzed-up guitars. Lewis' movie star status is set in stone with such modern film classics as "Natural Born Killers," "Kalifornia," "Cape Fear" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." Although her film career has somewhat floundered since she starred in those great films from the late '80s to mid '90s - she apparently has another role left in her - rock 'n roll star. "Inside the Cage" from 2006's Four On the Floor exploded like a stick of dynamite. Lewis growled and snarled the lyrics as she pranced and prowled the stage like a menacing leopard. Her vocal range, while limited, was choke full of rock 'n roll piss and vinegar. Lewis looked the part as well with black spiked high heels, black and white striped form-fitting pants with knee pads, yellow fishnet shirt and two Indian feathers striding atop her ample mane.
Other scorching numbers from Four On the Floor were "Sticky Honey," "Get Up" and "Hot Kiss." Lewis has picked apart the eccentricities of P.J. Harvey and the brute passion of Patti Smith and is rebuilding them into something all her own. Closing the short and fiery set with the broken down soul of "You're Speaking My Language," from the album of the same name, Lewis and company busted down the song's core structure and let the shattered pieces fall where they may.
- Phil Bonyata, Concert Livewire.com
Wave Goodbye (video extract) - thanks angischy
Say Hello To Heaven - (video) thanks angischy
Fell On Black Days - (video) thanks angischy
Can't Change Me - (video) thanks angischy
Like A Stone - (video) thanks angischy
See the Chris Cornell Concerts site for an audio recording of this show
Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007
