Audioslave
The Audioslave show that I went to Sunday night will rank up there with one of the top shows I’ve ever seen. It was like a good, old-fashioned rock show: it wasn’t overproduced, there were excited fans who knew all the words, there were several instances of tit-bearing, and the set was long and satisfying.
Seether was playing when I arrived. It was a great set even though I was only familiar with their bigger hits.
After a pretty long wait between sets, Audioslave began their set with a curtain drop (another thing you don’t see anymore). It was great and dramatic, and I felt that rush of starstruck-ness that I only get with some musicians.
They started with some new material, then went on to some of their last album’s work. Then the cover artwork for Badmotorfinger dropped in the background and they played Rusty Cage, which I’ll call Highlight Number 1. Next was Spoonman. Then I was pleasantly suprised when they pulled out Hunger Strike, which Cornell sang with Brad Wilk (the drummer). It felt really raw, slightly rehearsed, like Wilk didn’t exactly know how to sing it….but I didn’t mind. This brings up Highlight Number 2: part of the performance seemed like it was in response to the crowd’s boiling over with excitment - Morello would sometimes approach Cornell as if saying, “they’re really into this - let’s give them a suprise”.
When it was time to lay down some Rage material, Cornell left the stage momentarily, which I thought was a little odd. If the former Rage members can play Soundgarden, then how come he can’t sing Zach De La Rocha’s part? He did come back, and did a good job - though you could tell Cornell had to hold back a little with the vocals. The crowd was going nuts and security was pulling out potential moshers right and left.
Then they went back to more Audioslave material. During some of the slower songs, girls got on shoulders and bared their souls to Chris, who would promptly come over for a closer look. Highlight Number Three.
At the end of the set, which was one hour, the crowd was so into getting them out for an encore that it was deafening. After a couple of minutes, Cornell came out with his acoustic and played an amazing acoustic set including Black Hole Sun and some of his songs from his solo release. The other members came out to finish off Change: Highlight Number Four.
They played some more Rage, and some more of their own content. The encore lasted a full hour, making it definitlet Highlight Number five It was absolutely amazing.
Chris Cornell sang his heart out to us. His voice is so amazing it made me have chills in the hot Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Tom Morello’s amazing guitar skills and energetic performance was so exciting to witness (last time I saw him with Rage, I couldn’t really see much). Tim Commerford makes me want to play bass, and Brad Wilk’s beats left my bones vibrating well after the show had ended.
They are a phenomenal performing band. Cornell looks around the audience like he actually sees the faces and sings to them. They seem like they are truly excited to be there. I know I was. Highlight Number Six.