Photo by MK Butler - used by permission

Chris wowed his family-orientated fans and dismayed the rock & roll traditionalists by bringing his two toddlers on stage to help him sing No Such Thing. Later, he dedicated an acoustic Finally Forever to his wife Vicky and slipped a bit of Led Zeppelin's In My Time Of Dying into Slaves and Bulldozers.

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 - Can't Change Me - Finally Forever - I Am The Highway - Like A Stone - Doesn't Remind Me - Cochise - Spoonman - Ty Cobb - Say Hello To Heaven - Jesus Christ Pose - Seasons - Wave Goodbye - Black Hole Sun - Slaves And Bulldozers

by merrill

These guys do genuinely play like a band that's been together for a long time. They are tight and are having a blast on stage and that's really apparent to the audience. I don't think that, at least from the audience perspective, that you ever got that feeling from Audioslave. You don't even need to hear CC say that this is the best time he's ever had touring, it's really obvious.

Photos by MK Butler - used by permission

by vonmoishe

I had a great view - first balcony, center, front row. I saw him back in April. Dare I say that he sounds even better now?!?! The clarity of the high note from Slaves & Bulldozers, when he sings "bleed your HEART out" was astounding. All throughout the show, it seemed like he was screaming just because he could. And it sounded good.

Being a Zeppelin fan, it was cool to hear him throw in a bit of In My Time of Dying, where Robert sings "Jesus, don't make it my dying bed...If my wings should fail me Lord...meet me with another pair..." Very cool. He mentioned how he wrote Finally Forever for Vicky, and how he sang it to her at their wedding. He said that it's always good to write a song that people will use at weddings, and then pretended to count a stack of bills with an evil grin.

Run, don't walk, to the nearest Chris Cornell concert and have a freakin' blast.

Thanks to sweetlady for the photos - see more here

Chris Cornell Steps Out of His Bands' Shadows ... But Not Too Far

Photo by Patty - see more here

It's a common rock and roll story: A band breaks up, the lead singer goes out on his own, and he feels the need to make a break with his past. He'll limit the number of the band's hits he'll play during his shows (or refuse altogether to perform any of them). And he'll exhibit an attitude to his fans of, "I'm a new artist now."

Well, Chris Cornell, the former lead singer of the Seattle grunge pioneers Soundgarden and the supergroup Audioslave, is not that guy. Just the opposite. Cornell's sold-out, two-hour set at the Beacon Theater last night was weighted heavily with songs from his former bands. Mixing in radio staples with more obscure fan favorites, Cornell kept the crowd on its feet throughout the night, singing and head-bobbing along. When the audience took over the vocals on a solo acoustic take of "I Am the Highway," Cornell seemed genuinely impressed, widening his eyes and quickly injecting a shocked "nice" before starting the next verse.

It was clear that Cornell did not harbor even a hint of resentment over playing the music of the last nearly 20 years of his career. On this tour, he has made major changes to the set from night to night, drawing on a Pearl Jam-like large reservoir of songs from his past that he could pull out at any given show. Last night featured radio hits like "Black Hole Sun" next to more obscure offerings like "Slaves And Bulldozers."

While Cornell seemed more than happy to relive the music of his Soundgarden and Audioslave days, it was hard not to see how much he has matured and grown. Anyone expecting to see the manic, long-haired presence who owned the stage at Soundgarden shows in the 1990s would be surprised at what they observed last night. Cornell, looking more like a Hollywood actor than a rock musician in salon-approved tousled short hair and a fashionably distressed ensemble of a sequined black T-shirt, jeans and boots, was decidedly laid back, spending much of the night standing in the center of the vast, unadorned stage, mostly crouching and singing his heart out. When he did move around, there was a relaxed, go-with-the-flow feel to his demeanor. He was emotional and passionate in his singing, but he didn't force histrionics that might have felt forced at this stage of his career.

Cornell interacted with his tight, energetic and young four-piece backing band like he was the big brother, clearly in charge but also proud of what the guys were doing. It was telling that in a show billed as "Chris Cornell," there was not one but two extended drum solos (the first coming in the middle of "Spoonman"), and nobody seemed happier about it than Cornell himself. The band was like the greatest Soundgarden and Audioslave cover band in the world, which might sound like an insult until you consider that Cornell was singing with them. Since bands tour all the time now with only one or two original members aboard (and often, not with the lead singer), by comparison, the songs from Cornell's past did not suffer all that much from the change in musicians behind him (as great as those two bands were).

Another sign that things have changed in Cornell's world was apparent in the back-up singers he brought out for "No Such Thing," the killer first single from his latest solo CD "Carry On": His two toddler children. It was cute at first, but I could have done without him spending most of the fast, rocking song sitting on the stage between them, kind of checked out from the performance and more concerned about the kids. A quick intro and return to the wings would have been a better idea.

Cornell dropped a four-and-a-half song acoustic set (the band returned during the fifth number) into the middle of the show, admitting to the audience that he doesn't like watching a guy and a guitar for too long. But he pulled the set off, adding an additional layer of emotion to the Audioslave standards "I Am The Highway," "Like A Stone" and "Doesn't Remind Me."

Cornell's voice is instantly recognizable. His clear but aggressive vocals, equally ready to erupt into a scream or descend into an emotional quaver, helped define the rock sound of the 1990s. His prowess was on full display last night, from the primal explosions of "Spoonman" and "Jesus Christ Pose" from his Soundgarden days to the poignant acoustic renderings of "Finally Forever" and "Can't Change Me" (one of my favorite Cornell-sung songs).

In fact, for someone who recently went through an acrimonious public breakup with his Audioslave bandmates (who have since returned to their original outfit, Rage Against the Machine), there were very few moments in the evening that felt like he was trying to assert any kind of individual agenda. Cornell did play the Audioslave song "Be Yourself," which has been interpreted as a put-down to his former bandmates. And, after completing "Say Hello 2 Heaven" from Temple of the Dog, his collaboration with members of Pearl Jam to honor their late friend and Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood, Cornell expressed how wrong it was that he has been touring for the last 17 years but hasn't been able to play that song.

But, these moments of pique were isolated incidents. Cornell moved smoothly between the aggressive Soundgarden anthems, the introspective and moody Audioslave songs, and his more singer-songwritery solo material. The night did not feel like a show from a singer with two albums (that's how many solo CDs Cornell has released), but rather a retrospective of an artist's long career. The fact that the career spans two bands, solo material and a side project seemed besides the point.

Cornell is at a critical juncture in his career, in his early 40s and without either of the bands that carried him to fame and fortune. Some singers become instant oldies acts, trading on their past successes while giving up any relevance and currency as an artist. Others go the other direction, dropping out of the mainstream industry and following their artistic muses, happy to exist on the fringes. Few have been able to pull off the delicate balancing act that Cornell is attempting, embracing his past while moving to the future.

With several songs from "Carry On," this was not a straight oldies show, and the new material is as strong, if different, from his earlier catalogue. At the same time, Cornell showed respect and affection for the songs that made his career. Based on last night's performance, it looks like Cornell has a chance to pull it off. His balancing act was so good, even the East German judge would have to give him high marks.

The opening act was Juliette and the Licks. While it's doubtful you've heard of this band, you probably know the lead singer, actress Juliette Lewis. She has made a career of playing off-beat or downright crazy characters, and nothing about her performance last night will affect her typecasting. Fronting a generic four-piece L.A. punk band, Lewis basically had a 30-minute seizure on the stage, jumping about, kicking the air and crawling and rolling around, all with a tenuous relationship to the music that was going on behind her. Dressed in a two-feather Native American headpiece, a black tank top, black spandex pants, black stiletto boots, and black knee pads that looked like she stole them from Patrick Ewing, and screaming more than singing the bland songs, Juliette and the Licks was the living incarnation of the term "vanity project." I somehow managed to avoid Keanu Reeves's Dogstar and Russell Crowe's 30 Odd Foot of Grunt. I wish I could have kept my record spotless with Juliette and the Licks. No such luck.

- Mitchell Bard, NYC-based freelance and columnist for WildSound

Photo by Patty - see more here

UnRated Magazine

Chris Cornell: Unleashing The Superunknown

The Beacon Theater – New York, NY, United States – July 31, 2007

"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning." - American Poet Maya Angelou

Chris Cornell has been called the single most dynamic rock and roll force produced by the Grunge Revolution of the early 90's. His distinguishable voice and songwriting helped Soundgarden win two grammy awards for 1994's sonic blitzkrieg Superunknown, Audioslave reach platinum status twice in a row with its self-titled debut and second album, Out Of Exile, and earned him a grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song "Can't Change Me," off his solo debut, Morning Euphoria; and that same voice enticed an onslaught of metal fans to spend the final moments of July head-banging at New York City's famed Beacon Theater as Chris Cornell barked at the moon for a thunderous two hour set.

"This part of the show is about you," explained Cornell as he sat on a stool armed with an acoustic guitar and a microphone. "It's about how long you can listen to a guy with a guitar on a stool," and while his stool and guitar appeared randomly throughout the show concert goers who filled the three tier theater were treated to a tour de force of Cornell's 19 year rocking resume that included classic Soundgarden hits such as "Outshined" and "Rusty Cage" off 1991's Badmotorfinger, more recent Audioslave chart toppers like "Be Yourself" from 2005's Out of Exile, the energetic "Cochise" off Audioslave's 2003 debut, and enlivened versions of "No Such Thing" and "Arms Around Your Love" from his most recent solo album, Carry On.

Photo by Patty - see more here

With two guitarists, a bass player, and a carbon copy of John Bonham on drums by his side Cornell credited his band with giving him the ability to tour with these famous songs. "It's because of these guys I can do it," exclaimed Cornell. "So they mean a lot to me," and they didn't let him down for one minute as the lead guitarist spent most of his time on stage morphing between Kim Thayil of Soundgarden and Audioslave's Tom Morello. A tough job considering both Thayil and Morello are exceptional guitar players whose styles are not easy to replicate unless you are, well, them. The band managed to preserve the energy of Soundgarden's "Outshined" before running guitar solo crazy to finish Audioslave's "Be Yourself."

Throughout all these songs Cornell, sporting a modest black T-shirt with a sparking design on the back, appeared comfortable with his band as he ran around from one side of the stage to the other, giving hi-fives to almost everyone in the front row. There was even a touching moment early on in the show when he brought his three year old daughter, Toni, and two year old son, Christopher, on stage to hold the mic as he belted out the closing verse of "Outshined."

Photo by Patty - see more here

After testing the crowd's early 90's Soundgarden history with a forceful rendition of Badmotorfinger's "Rusty Cage" Cornell broke out the stool and acoustic guitar to play unplugged versions of "Can't Change Me," off Morning Euphoria, Carry On's "Finally Forever, and Audioslave's smash hit "Like a Stone," from the debut album. "Like a Stone" ended with Cornell relinquishing his vocal duties to enthusiastic audience members as they sang, in unison, the lyrics "I'll wait for you there, like a stone."

Some of the more memorable moments of the show's second half included a tribute to Robert Plant and Jimmy Page as Cornell demonstrated his vocal range by ending Audioslave's "Doesn't Remind Me" with melodic screams the were immediately mimicked by the bass player's skilled technique; the unforgiving power of Soundgarden's "Spoonman," which blasted the crowd with G-Force intensity; the lighters and cell phones that illuminated the dark theater as Cornell crooned the Temple of the Dog hit, "Say Hello 2 Heaven;" and the cataclysmic wall of sound finish that ended with an ear piercing scream sounding similar to a banshee about to catch its prey.

Before the encore, audience members waited in wonderment to hear what songs Cornell might pull out of his bag of classics. Whispers among fans began to circulate: "Black Hole Sun," no, no "Original Fire," no, "Fell On Back Days," no, maybe "Superunknown," but Cornell surprised everyone by bringing back the stool to sit on as he sang a tranquil version of the song "Seasons," from the Singles movie soundtrack (1992), which Cornell, alongside Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, both had cameo appearances in. He then dedicated Morning Euphoria's "Wave Goodbye" to the late Jeff Buckley before ending with Superunknown's smash hit "Black Hole Sun" and Badmotorfinger's "Slaves and Bulldozers." The show came to a close with a five minute drum solo that would have made John Bonham and Keith Moon very proud.

Watching Cornell and his band wow a packed audience of hardcore fans for almost two hours straight showed me that this young rocker of 43 still has enough juice left in him to bang out another ten years worth of hits. Although legendary bands like Soundgarden and Audioslave are few and far between we as fans should recognize and appreciate the fact gifted artists like Chris Cornell have the ability to create timeless sounds that can be enjoyed by fans of all ages. His vocal prowess and songwriting depth has propelled him to rock god status, and although his original fire may be gone, incredible music coming from Chris Cornell still carries on.

- Sam Frank © 2007 UnRatedMagazine.com

No Such Thing (with Toni & Small Chris) - thanks sweetlady76

Finally Forever - thanks sweetlady76

Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007