Stepping onto the stage with his capable but anonymous four-piece backing band ripping into Soundgarden’s “Spoonman,” Chris Cornell immediately invited comparisons to the impressive ensembles he’s been part of in the past (Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog), and seemingly set his audience up for disappointment. But although every guitar solo was a reminder that there was no Kim Thayil, no Tom Morello, no Mike McCready on the stage with Cornell, the singer proved that his remarkable voice and the songs that he had an important role in creating (often as the sole songwriter) were more than enough to satisfy.
Cornell first seemed a little awkward, interacting stiffly with his fellow musicians, but he soon loosened up, likely bolstered by the large crowd’s enthusiastic response to so many familiar songs. By the sixth number, Temple of the Dog’s moving “Say Hello 2 Heaven,” the whole place was clearly on Cornell’s side, no matter who else there was onstage with him. And he earned it, too, putting his all into material spanning almost 20 years of his career, from the 1990 Temple of the Dog album through six songs from his forthcoming sophomore solo release, Carry On.
The two-hour-plus show was largely a hit parade, but it was a unique chance to hear all of those hits in one place, and Cornell and his band played them with enough fidelity to please the hardcore fans, without trying too hard to re-create every single note. The new songs mixed in well enough, although you could hear plenty of audience chatter during less familiar numbers, especially a solo acoustic segment featuring new tune “Scar on the Sky” along with “Can’t Change Me,” from Cornell’s 1999 solo album Euphoria Morning (a nicely understated version of Audioslave’s “I Am the Highway” fared best during this part of the show).
Aside from a slowed-down, bluesy version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” (which will be on Carry On), the night featured few surprises. It was Cornell’s reliability, though, that made it a success.