This was the concert that almost wasn't. I've been known to travel to places to go to concerts, on account that not much really rolls through my hometown that I care to see. But never before have I taken a 7 hour plane trip for a concert, in a city I've never been. So many things went wrong on the trip, so much so the concert almost didn't happen for me. I've never seen Chris live. When Soundgarden was touring I was a teenager and not really allowed to go to shows. When Euphoria Morning and Audioslave were touring I wasn't so much a fangirl that as a poor college student I would spend the money to travel to see the shows. Philly was my first time FINALLY seeing Chris live.

But that said, the concert was the only thing that went right on my visit to Philly.

I arrived at the venue between six and six thirty and joined the queue in the ally. Yeah, they had us line up in the nearest ally instead of in front of the venue. Interesting. But as busy as South Stree is, makes sense in my mind. I was about midway down the ally, waiting for Nicole (euphoria1287) to show up with tickets. I could hear soundcheck, well enough to know that they soundchecked 'Show Me How to Live'. When she showed up there wasn't much more of a wait, which is nice considering it was in the 80s that day.



As expected the TLA is small (I believe they're becoming The Fillmore Philadelphia soon. I've been in the Fillmore Denver so maybe this will help it out). The walls were a deep red colour, the floors wooden. There was a balcony and another fenced off bar area. Not that we were having any of that. As part of the fifth group to be allowed into the venue, I'm guessing on that, we got a pretty decent spot near the left of the stage. Yeah, we were practically underneath The Waterfall. I didn't bring my camera in because their site had said no cameras. We didn't get searched nor did they look in our purses. So I could have taken much better pictures than I did, but oh well.

Anyways, the wait was something like an hour and a half. I've heard some people whine that Chris took the stage late, but I don't really see it like that. Chriscornell.com listed two different start times (8pm & 9pm), so the fact they took the stage at 845pm didn't really phase me. We did have some before show entertainment when the air conditioning unit above us decided to turn on and dump a bunch of water on us. That was lovely.

The only issue with our position in the crowd is the fact we were right next to speakers. When Chris & Co came out with 'Cochise,' I certainly felt it. By the end of the night I couldn't hear a thing. I think 'Cochise' is a good opener. It kinda snaps the crowd into attention. And it was the only song there was any crowd surfing. Any doubts of Chris's ability to scream was pretty much silenced then, which is a bit surprising since it was the first song. But he definitely came out screaming. And there were plenty of monkey face moments within the first song to make me happy.

The next couple of songs kept the audience jumping into he slowed it down with 'Say Hello to Heaven'. I rather liked how during 'Original Fire' and 'Say Hello to Heaven' he glanced upwards, indicating who he was really singing for.



'Seasons' slayed me. I loooooooooove this song. I wish Chris had just done it acoustically himself, but the band wasn't obnoxious. I just wanted to hear it more like the way it was when he recorded the demo in the closet years ago. I felt goosebumps during this song.

'No Such Thing' and 'You Know My Name' pair well. They're both loud, screaming songs. I didn't see the intensity in Chris's face as he had for the Leno version of 'You Know My Name' but I think that was more of a reaction to the audience and the entire show. He seemed to genuinely be having a good time and that always speaks well of a concert.

'Like a Stone' was the audience's singalong song. I've read reviews of other shows where the writers think it's a cop out. I disagree. I think it did do what Chris intended. I think it did showcase the unity of the diehard fans with their singer. And I have to give it to the Philly crowd, that was one of the better singalongs I've heard. But that shouldn't surprise me as Philly is full of "loud motherfuckers", according to Chris.

'Fell on Black Days' was excellent. I must say I was rather impressed with the band's take on Soundgarden songs. I know that musically Soundgarden songs tend to be dense and difficult, but Chris's backing band certainly took them on as their own and played them well. In fact I think the band backs Chris very well. They seem to enjoy each other and look like they're having fun. I do think two guitars is a little extraneous (even though Soundgarden played with two). On songs that need a rhythm guitar, why can't Chris play again?



So the band slips off the stage for Chris's acoustic set. If only he had played 'Can't Change Me' in French. That is by far one of my most favourite songs. But alas he played the English version. At least he played something from Euphoria Morning. I think there's a few others the band would have been just fine playing as well; 'Mission' being one of them. Or Chris could have played 'Sweet Euphoria' acoustically. Anyways, 'Can't Change Me' is probably one of the more accessible Euphoria Morning track, so I am glad he played it.

I am so very glad he played 'Blow Up the Outside World,' and acoustically nonetheless. It's such a beautiful, dark song. It seems so fitting for it to be just Chris and his guitar on stage for this rendition. I think the desperation in the song comes out better that way.

'Doesn't Remind Me' is the band-slipping-back-on-stage song. I think what's most striking of this song was the smiles on Chris's face when the band came back. He was still playing his guitar and moving around on stage with his bandmates. And grinning. Granted 'Doesn't Remind Me' doesn't need three guitars, but the smiles were very good to see.

'Spoonman' was well played, but I still miss the actual playing of spoons during that song. Spoons really aren't too difficult to play, especially if you have some natural rhythm. But regardless it was a deep and dirty Soundgarden song.

As he had in previous shows, Chris dedicated 'Safe and Sound' to everyone involved with VA Tech. I always find it interesting when artists dedicate songs to people at concerts, especially when it's likely they aren't in attendance. But in this case it was more heartfelt than just giving a shout out to someone and hoping they hear about it through the grapevine. I wish my ears weren't ringing so much by the time we got to this song. It took me a little bit to muddle through the internal feedback to hear Chris singing. It is a beautiful song and I can't wait to hear it better. And he showcases his voice's ability with it. That's one of my favourite things about Chris: he screams and he sings and both sound just as natural coming from him.

Unfortunately I can't listen to 'What You Are' seriously any more. That's my own fault, after using the song on that tribute video that I made when Chris left Audioslave. I'm sure the song is performed well.

I would like to see Chris do 'Rusty Cage' acoustically as well. Don't get me wrong, I love the full band version, but I would like to see his take on his own song stripped down. Johnny Cash did it so well and now that Chris has matured as an artist it would be interesting to see how he could turn his own song.

At this point the band leaves the stage, the house lights come up, the exit music comes on. It seemed weird. Really weird. But there was exit music and house lights on. So surely the concert was over.

Not.

Someone in the band got someone's attention and out they all came again. This was a definite YAY! moment because not only did they play 'Burden in My Hand' but also another new song. As this is more or less a promo tour, new songs are good.

I have to admit when they were playing 'Burden in My Hand' I kept thinking about the video for it. I just couldn't get it out of my head. Which would probably explain why I was smiling like a goon. One of my favourite things about Soundgarden songs is how deep and dirty they sound, which I know I mentioned already. If you've ever been to Seattle, it makes sense. Granted Seattle itself is a very clean city, but there's such dirtiness rumbling under the surface of Seattleites. It might be the oft gray skies. Not real sure on that.

'Ghost' is another track I'm looking forward to hearing more of. I think it's definitely singer-songerwriter in styling. I couldn't really make out the entire story of the song at first, but it's definitely one of those that catches you. Not all Chris's songs are that accessible at first listen. This is one that I sang for awhile afterwards, even though I don't know all the words.

Anyone who knows me well, knows I am not fond of 'Black Hole Sun.' I cannot explain why at all. I think it could have something to do with the video. When the song came out, I babysat my cousins who had Harlequin Great Danes like the one in the video and I never liked those dogs. So for whatever reason, there's a negative connotation for that song in my mind. That prefaced, I believe I like the song a little more after seeing it live. Not that I'm going to go get it tattooed on me somewhere, but the haunting quality of the song plays well live, even full band.

When the band took off this time, I don't think anyone was really believing the concert was over. And after losing our closer spot with the last false ending, we weren't moving. Which is good because we got two more songs out of them.

'Hunger Strike' without Eddie is just... different. Not to say it's bad, but I prefer it with Eddie's gravelly voice. It would be nice to hear them sing that song together again, with as much as they've changed in the past 17 years. But Chris was beautiful in it.

I am so very glad the show ended with 'Slaves and Bulldozers'. 'Jesus Christ Pose' would have been even better... or 'Fourth of July'.... or 'Like Suicide'. But I've only heard that they're playing 'Jesus Christ Pose' currently. Anyways, 'Slaves and Bulldozers' was an excellent closer. It was powerful and gritty. And Chris definitely went out on a strong note.



The band overall is good. The drummer kinda reminds me of Dave Grohl. He doesn't seem to hit as hard, but has that vibrancy at times. And according to Chris, he was wearing Phillies underwear (though how Chris knew, we won't discuss). The guitarist we were closest too was great. I can't say much for the bassist (he wore a Phillies hat!) nor the other guitarist because I couldn't see them. But overall I think they complemented Chris well.

Was it the best concert I've ever been to? No. The venue didn't impress me, the crowd wasn't as rowdy as I was hoping (but as the crowd was older than I expected, that's not a big surprise. This is the first concert I've been to in awhile where I didn't feel so much older than most in attendance.), the sound was good but not great. Will I see Chris in concert again? Hell yeah. Some artists sound better on CD, in studio. Some sound better live. Chris doesn't really fall into either category because I think he sounds great in both formats. It was a good night for Chris and I most certainly will be in attendance at a future show (provided he plays closer to me. I'm not flying across the country again for a concert like that.).

It gets a 4.5 out of 5 stars from me.


Set list:

Cochise
Original Fire *
Outshined
Say Hello to Heaven
Seasons *
No Such Thing *
You Know My Name *
Like a Stone
Fell on Black Days *

Acoustic set (Just Chris and his guitar):
Can't Change Me
Blow up the Outside World *
Doesn't Remind Me

Spoonman *
Safe and Sound *
What You Are *
Rusty Cage *

encore one:
Burden in my Hand *
Ghost *
Black Hole Sun *

encore two:
Hunger Strike *
Slaves and Bulldozers*

RAR file containing audios of all * songs. As it is live audio it's not pristine, but it's pretty good. I had issues with batteries and memory, so there's only 16 songs. But that's 16 more than none! :)


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