Chris Cornell at the Palace, SF
acutejam
Posts: 1,433
Come away from Cornell at the Palace of Fine Arts kinda scratching my head. A very different vibe from the May show at the Fillmore (small standing general admission room). The Palace venue is sweet, great seats, curved bowl type amphitheater, very intimate -- so watching Chris do his thing was much easier.
But then the show itself was WAAAAY more kickback. He actually said he wanted to come back because the last time he was here it was "interesting" playing to a bunch of folks standing around drinking beer. Made me laugh, I've posted how seeing Cornell at the Fillmore was like being in at a backyard kegger with some guy playing soundgarden songs in the corner. This was much closer to Eddie's solo shows, respectful crowd, coulda heard a pin drop during any song. Any bootleg would be KILLA!
And yet the crowd energy wasn't there -- ritzy crowd, fancy clothes, the rattle of jewelry. No singalongs -- no response during Hungerstrike -- pensive version without the accompanyment of Eddie or crowd singin his part. Sure there were the rowdy few, I let out my distinct concert warcry near the end, and Chris actually looked over at me and said, "Hey! That's pretty good! Sounds like a confederate solider's shout...." (Lovin' our 7th row center seats!)
Setlist was more obscure too -- not as many covers, we didn't get Marley or Beatles. Just MJ and JL and Tangerine, woot! No State Trooper.... Preferred the Fillmore set, song selection. But once I got over the sedate nature of the show, man, dreamy land! Man the Audioslave and Soundgarden songs are just awesome shifted down to acoustic format.
And he was freakin HILARIOUS. In between every song he's chatting and busting us up. Folks coming in 3-4 songs in, he reaches over and picks up his red phone (stage prop). "Hey, I've got a phone. You could have called and let me know you'd be late..." Some folks slipping out before the last song, he looks over at 'em, mimics: "C'mon boys, let's get over to that strip club!" Talks to folks he recognizes, complains about his hair but refuses to look like a European Soccer Stud, kept that riff going 'tween a few songs. "If I was a European Soccer Stud, I could kick you in the face and run away, keep runnin' for 2 hours and you'd keel over after about 5 minutes of trying to catch me!"
Little boy lost his tooth and Cornell brought him up on stage and chatted with him, "Now don't freak out, but ALL your teeth will fall out, and you'll grow new ones in their place. That'll happen THREE times over your life..." Hehehe. Kid was a good sport.
Telling a lot of stories about how he wrote songs, how he wrote whole albums -- "I'd celebrate after I wrote a good song. Then three days later I'd be ready to write another!" He mentioned that Hungerstrike was actually the last song he wrote for TOTD. He had nine and just couldn't let that go, had to be an even number -- talked about folks with OCD paying more for beer just to hand over an even amount. I wondereded if he was referencing Andy when he talked about OCD folks and said, "Some folks are just that way...." and slid into Hungerstrike. Not sure why that struck me....
He played nearly the entire show acoustic -- one song on an electric, and the one piano track on vinyl. AND HE PLAYED FOR NEARLY 2.5 FREAKIN HOURS!!! Well, he was on stage that long at least. Few standing ovations, but then sitting again for the music -- no final "rock out" like Eddie's show -- just Imagine.
But man, his voice, just so sweet -- ranging deep and high, soft and screamin'. And he said he had a cold, apologized to the first few rows if he was letting some spit fly -- his kids are sick he said, so if they woke up with a scratchy throat tomorrow, oh well, enjoy your seats!
So, all in all, I'd say the whole "feeding off the crowd energy" was vindicated yet again, as the crowd was so mellow, Chris just shifted into low gear and kept takin us to dreamy land. So very cool to see him in a formal sit-down venue, enjoyed the show more, not getting beer spilled on me, stepping on cups and having plastered folks explain the etymology of a song ... all through a song. Was wonderful to hear each and every note, every strum and inflection. Watching a journeyman songwriter lay it all out there... Awesome!
But then the show itself was WAAAAY more kickback. He actually said he wanted to come back because the last time he was here it was "interesting" playing to a bunch of folks standing around drinking beer. Made me laugh, I've posted how seeing Cornell at the Fillmore was like being in at a backyard kegger with some guy playing soundgarden songs in the corner. This was much closer to Eddie's solo shows, respectful crowd, coulda heard a pin drop during any song. Any bootleg would be KILLA!
And yet the crowd energy wasn't there -- ritzy crowd, fancy clothes, the rattle of jewelry. No singalongs -- no response during Hungerstrike -- pensive version without the accompanyment of Eddie or crowd singin his part. Sure there were the rowdy few, I let out my distinct concert warcry near the end, and Chris actually looked over at me and said, "Hey! That's pretty good! Sounds like a confederate solider's shout...." (Lovin' our 7th row center seats!)
Setlist was more obscure too -- not as many covers, we didn't get Marley or Beatles. Just MJ and JL and Tangerine, woot! No State Trooper.... Preferred the Fillmore set, song selection. But once I got over the sedate nature of the show, man, dreamy land! Man the Audioslave and Soundgarden songs are just awesome shifted down to acoustic format.
And he was freakin HILARIOUS. In between every song he's chatting and busting us up. Folks coming in 3-4 songs in, he reaches over and picks up his red phone (stage prop). "Hey, I've got a phone. You could have called and let me know you'd be late..." Some folks slipping out before the last song, he looks over at 'em, mimics: "C'mon boys, let's get over to that strip club!" Talks to folks he recognizes, complains about his hair but refuses to look like a European Soccer Stud, kept that riff going 'tween a few songs. "If I was a European Soccer Stud, I could kick you in the face and run away, keep runnin' for 2 hours and you'd keel over after about 5 minutes of trying to catch me!"
Little boy lost his tooth and Cornell brought him up on stage and chatted with him, "Now don't freak out, but ALL your teeth will fall out, and you'll grow new ones in their place. That'll happen THREE times over your life..." Hehehe. Kid was a good sport.
Telling a lot of stories about how he wrote songs, how he wrote whole albums -- "I'd celebrate after I wrote a good song. Then three days later I'd be ready to write another!" He mentioned that Hungerstrike was actually the last song he wrote for TOTD. He had nine and just couldn't let that go, had to be an even number -- talked about folks with OCD paying more for beer just to hand over an even amount. I wondereded if he was referencing Andy when he talked about OCD folks and said, "Some folks are just that way...." and slid into Hungerstrike. Not sure why that struck me....
He played nearly the entire show acoustic -- one song on an electric, and the one piano track on vinyl. AND HE PLAYED FOR NEARLY 2.5 FREAKIN HOURS!!! Well, he was on stage that long at least. Few standing ovations, but then sitting again for the music -- no final "rock out" like Eddie's show -- just Imagine.
But man, his voice, just so sweet -- ranging deep and high, soft and screamin'. And he said he had a cold, apologized to the first few rows if he was letting some spit fly -- his kids are sick he said, so if they woke up with a scratchy throat tomorrow, oh well, enjoy your seats!
So, all in all, I'd say the whole "feeding off the crowd energy" was vindicated yet again, as the crowd was so mellow, Chris just shifted into low gear and kept takin us to dreamy land. So very cool to see him in a formal sit-down venue, enjoyed the show more, not getting beer spilled on me, stepping on cups and having plastered folks explain the etymology of a song ... all through a song. Was wonderful to hear each and every note, every strum and inflection. Watching a journeyman songwriter lay it all out there... Awesome!
[sic] happens
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