Photo © Ross Halfin 2007
Chris spent a few days in Iceland and did some promo as well as the show. Photographer Ross Halfin accompanied the band on the trip and took some marvellous photos of the environment as well as Chris onstage, backstage and in transit. The show - the last of this European leg of the tour - got great reviews and made a lot of Icelanders very happy.
Seasons - Preaching The End Of The World - Wave Goodbye - You Know My Name - Silence The Voices - No Such Thing - Arms Around Your Love - Like A Stone - Cochise - What You Are - Show Me How To Live - Be Yourself - Wide Awake - Original Fire - Doesnt Remind Me - - Jesus Christ Pose - Rusty Cage - Outshined - Black Hole Sun - Spoonman - Let Me Drown - Burden In My Hand - All Night Thing - Say Hello 2 Heaven -Slaves and Bulldozers/The End - Whole Lotta Love
by Vanessa
My Saturday couldn't have been more complete. I met Chris Cornell and saw him perform live on stage. What more could a girl ask for?
Chris was supposed to do an autograph session on Friday, 07 September at a local music store, Skifan but it got postponed coz he got sick. It was postponed till the day after. So, as early as 15:00 of a rainy Saturday, my sister Lissa and Iqueued in line and there were already about a handful of people ahead of us.
Chris came in 10 minutes late. He looked like he got the deserved rest he needed. There was a table and chair up on a small platform for him to sit down. The guy ahead of me brought his guitar and Chris signed it delicately. When it was my turn, i asked him if he feels better already and he said yes. Asked him to sign my CDs and forgot to turn around for my sister to take a picture of me with him. I was too star-struck. I couldn't turn away, staring at his face that close. But Igot to shake his hand and talked to him, so all is okay for me.
After dinner, we drove down to Laugardalshöll and just got there on time after they opened the gate at 20:00. It was still raining so it was good that we didn't have to wait outside the hall in the pouring rain. Chris came in about 21:15. He sang Silence The Voices and the crowd was just wild. I can't remember the whole setlist, i'm not good in something like that but it was definitely a night to remember.
He first came out wearing a coat and scarf since maybe he felt cold or something... he had fever the day before.
photo by Jokullin - see more here
After a couple of songs, everything heated up and he took off his coat and scarf, he wore this white shirt. Sometime along the way, someone threw him a plaid shirt and he said that while touring they always have limited clothes and laundry was scarce so people kept giving them their clothes and the band was always thankful for that. So, he took off his white shirt and wore the plaid shirt. The crowd was pleased.
thanks to Vanessa for the photo
At one time also, Chris mentioned the autograph session a few hours before and mentioned that he signed a guy's forehead and that he's never signed a man's forehead before and dedicated the next song for that guy... sorry, i can't recall the song.
Photo © Ross Halfin 2007
Chris' band is such an amazing one. Corey always got the crowd pumped up. Peter and Yogi are great axers. Jason had many thumpin' solos. My sister and i stayed in front of the stage with just 3-4 people in front of us so we were able to get some good photos....the whole two and a half hours was pure bliss. I've waited for 17 long years to see this rock god perform live and all the wait was worth it. Chris promised he'd be back soon. I hope soon is not another long wait. Thank you for the wonderful rockin' evening, Chris Cornell and please come back to Iceland soon.
by Ada
photo by Jokullin - see more here
Just came from the concert in Reykjavik and what a show! He was amazing, everyone talked about how great the entire band was and Chris' performance went beyond all my expectations. Bliss, pure bliss!
I've wanted to seen him perform for 19 years and when I finally did he blew me away! The set was great, a mix of old and new and he was so great with the fans. Everyone walked out of there smiling, happy and rocked out!!!!
Many thanks to you Chris for visiting us and thanks to the band, they were great! Peace from Iceland.
Ross Halfin's entire set of Iceland photos are here and here
The Grapevine
(Reyjavik's English-language newspaper)
photo by Jokullin - see more here
The Cornell Challenge
As a live performer, Chris Cornell is an ontological challenge.
By all accounts, he is a grunge-god, a member of a selected club that includes him, Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain. But, as Cornell himself pointed out, this show covered “a lot of songs, a lot of different albums, different bands, and a lot of different time periods.”
As I watched him tear through songs from his rather industrious career, his early days with Soundgarden, the one-off Temple of the Dog record, and a few Audioslave songs, I was forced to consider the question as to whether watching Chris Cornell and the session squad could recreate with some authenticity the feeling of seeing any of these bands live.
Through out his career, Cornell has been lucky enough to play with some great musicians, in particular, guitarists with a unique style, such as Kim Thayil and Tom Morello, whose sound is not easily replicated. Would it be the same without them? Or would the Chris Cornell entourage share a similar fate as the latest reincarnation of Guns N’ Roses?
It turns out that the session squad (I can’t recall the name of a single group member, although Cornell took the effort to introduce them all twice) did a good job with these songs. For the most part. It was mostly during the delivery of songs from Soungarden’s Badmotorfinger, in particular the fast paced Jesus Christ Pose and Rusty Cage, that Thayil’s presence was missed. The more traditional-riff based Outshined came through fine, and the night’s version of Slaves and Bulldozers was actually very cool.
Obviously, when Cornell performed songs of his two solo albums this was not a problem. And about halfway into the show, he emerged with an acoustic guitar and played a few songs solo, including an inspired version of Fell on Black Days. It was not a problem then either. In fact, I would have loved to see him perform a solo set entirely.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Chris Cornell has sole writing credits for almost every major song that Soundgarden released, besides writing most of the Temple of the Dog album, and contributing heavily to Audioslave; so in a way these will always be his songs, regardless of who he elects to play them with.
So, was it a good show? Yes, it was actually. Cornell is a great singer, backed by a capable band, performing both new material and songs that have stood the test of time remarkably. But more than anything, it just made me wish I had been old enough to see Soundgarden play in their heyday.
- Sveinn Birkir Björnsson, The Grapevine
Ross Halfin
Great show, even better than the Roundhouse. The same set with good lighting. It did feature a rather homoerotic element when Yogi and Pete came out together dripping sweat and naked from the chest up. Chris was the only one dressed after the show and I took photos. The band were like Las Vegas male strippers - looking for work...
- Ross Halfin, Diary, September 8
Rjóminn
Ég gekk inn í Laugardalshöll um klukkan 20:45 eftir magnţrunginn dag af spennu, adrenalíni og óreglulegum hjartslćtti. Ţegar inn var komiđ stóđ fólk í röđum viđ hina ýmsu bása af krćsingum og bolasölum en mest var ţó röđin í mjöđinn og reykingaplássiđ úti fyrir.
Ég, ásamt góđum vinum, rölti inn í salinn fullur eftirvćntingar og fékk mér sćti í bođsmiđastúku sem var búiđ ađ setja upp fyrir neđan stúkuna. Allt var klárt fyrir alvöru rokktónleika međ stćl. Cornell lét áhorfendur ekki sitja lengi í sćtum sínum heldur rauk á sviđ rúmlega 21:20 viđ mikinn fögnuđ gesta.
Cornell hóf kvöldiđ međ lagi sínu, „Silence The Voices“, af nýjustu sólóplötu sinni Carry On. Rödd söngvarans var óađfinnanleg og greinilegt var ađ hér vćri um einn besta rokksöngvara samtímans ađ rćđa. Prófađi ég ásamt nćrstöddum vinum ađ loka augunum og var röddin ţađ góđ ađ okkur fannst viđ vera heima í stofu međ risahljóđkerfi ađ hlusta á plötuna, frekar en ađ vera á tónleikum. Eftir ađ hafa heilsađ fólkinu keyrđi hljómsveitin beint í Audioslave-slagarann „Original Fire“ og komust ţá tónleikarnir almennilega í gang.
Var kvöldinu fylgt eftir međ nćr öllum slögurum sem hćgt var ađ hugsa sér. Hljómuđu ţá „Outshined“, „Jesus Christ Pose“, „Rusty Cage“ og „Slaves and Bulldozers“ af plötu Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger, frá árinu 1991 en athugulir áheyrendur hafa líklega tekiđ eftir örlítilli vanvirđingu Cornell viđ hinn látna meistara Johnny Cash ţegar hann hóf ađ jóđla „Rusty Cage“ međ kántrýfíling seinna meir. Deila má um ţađ hvort ţetta hafi veriđ saklaust grín í alla stađi eđa vanvirđing. Fyrir ţá sem ekki vita bjó Johnny Cash til ábreiđu af laginu á einni af plötum sínum. Cornell hefur ávallt látiđ út úr sér ađ hann sé mjög heiđrađur af ţessu framtaki Cash en hver veit? Óvćntasta lag kvöldsins var hins vegar lagiđ „Wave Goodbye“ af plötunni Euphoria Morning frá árinu 1999. Samdi Cornell lagiđ til vinar síns, tónlistarmannsins Jeff Buckley sem drukknađi áriđ 1997. Lagiđ hefur ekki oft heyrst á tónleikum allt frá tónleikaferđalagi Cornell áriđ 1999 vegna útkomu Euphoria Morning. Gladdi ţetta harđa ađdáendur mjög og létu ađdáendur Buckley vel í sér heyra ţegar Cornell hvatti fólk til ađ nálgast tónlist hans. Reif hann ţá međ sér ađdáendur enn frekar.
Superunknown frá árinu 1994 er líklega allra frćgasta plata Soundgarden og gaf hann ađdáendum ţeirrar plötu allt sem í raun var hćgt ađ vonast eftir. Lögin „Spoonman“, „Let Me Drown“, „Fell On Black Days“ og súpersmellurinn „Black Hole Sun“ fengu öll ađ hljóma ţetta kvöldiđ. Ađ vísu smellti hann í „Fell On Black Days“ óstuddur međ kassagítar og sleppti nokkrum köflum. Í ţessum einleikskafla tónleikana lék Cornell lög frá öllum ferlinum ef svo má segja. Hann hóf einleikinn á laginu „Wide Awake“ af plötunni Revelations međ Audioslave frá árinu 2006. Lagiđ, samiđ til fórnarlamba fellibylsins Katrina í Ameríku, var hér flutt í nýjum búning viđ góđar undirtektir. „Preaching The End Of The World“ af Euphoria Morning fékk svo sinn tíma í ţessum einleik meistarans ásamt Temple of the Dog slagaranum „All Night Thing“ frá árinu 1990.
Gestir tónleikana létu svo í sér heyra ţegar hann renndi í Audioslave lagiđ af ţeirra fyrstu breiđskífu frá árinu 2002, „Like A Stone“. Söng í raun öll Höllin međ meistaranum en megniđ af gestum rćddi um ađ hafa frekar vilja heyra lagiđ í sinni upprunalegu mynd. Undirritađur gat hins vegar ekki kvartađ. Tónleikarnir keyrđu svo allt í botn aftur ţegar Cornell lék lagiđ „Doesn´t Remind Me“ og smellir „......I like Reykjavik.....“ inn í texta lagsins. Hljómsveit kvöldsins stóđ vel undir vćntingum og léku félagarnir Jason (Trommur), Peter (Gítar), Yogi (Gítar) og Corey (Bassi) lög Cornell og hans fyrrum félaga af stakri snilld.
Kvöldiđ var sérstakt í alla stađi og ţakkađi Cornell fyrir sig eftir ađ hafa lokiđ hinu rokkandi brjálađa „Jesus Christ Pose“ af. Steig hann svo aftur á sviđ ásamt hljómsveit sinni nokkrum mínútum síđar eftir uppklapp áhorfenda. Dyggir ađdáendur Cornell hafa eflaust veriđ međ ţeim fáu sem könnuđust viđ lagiđ „Seasons“ úr kvikmynd Cameron Crowe, „Singles“. Undirtektir voru ekki upp á marga fiska og hefđi í raun veriđ sniđugra ađ renna í annađ lag heldur en ţetta sem uppklapp, ţótt lagiđ vćri ákaflega vel flutt af bćđi söngvaranum og hljómsveitinni. Skipar lagiđ einnig sérstakan sess hjá undirrituđum. Loks tók kvöldiđ enda eftir rúmlega tvo og hálfan tíma, međ frábćrum trommueinleik Jason Sutter og lagabútum frá The Doors og Led Zeppelin. Enduđu ţeir tónleikana á „Whole Lotta Love“ eftir Zeppelin. Furđulegur en skemmtilegur endir á stórkostlegum tónleikum. Gaman var einnig ađ sjá lífsgleđi söngvarans á tónleikunum ţar sem hann klćddi sig m.a. í skyrtu sem fleygt var upp á sviđ, nćldi sér í myndavél sem tilheyrđi áhorfanda og smellti af áhorfandanum mynd og tileinkađi einnig lag til drengs sem hann hafđi áđur um daginn kvittađ á enniđ á. Hér eftir fylgir listi yfir lög kvöldsins en undirritađur saknađi ţó „Limo Wreck“ og „Loud Love” eftir Soundgarden, „Sunshower“ eftir Cornell, „I Am The Highway“ eftir Audioslave og frekara efnis af Euphoria Morning en ekki getur mađur fengiđ allt sem mađur vill og hef ég engan rétt til ađ kvarta yfir ţessu lagavali ef út í ţađ er fariđ.
- Daníel Guđmundur Hjálmtýsson, Rjóminn (Do you speak Icelandic and English? If you can translate, contact me...)
Be Yourself - thanks IcelandVisitor
See the Chris Cornell Concerts site for an audio recording of this show
Photo © Ross Halfin 2007
Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007
