Chris Cornell (July 20, 1964 – May 17, 2017)
"In my time of dying, I want nobody to mourn...
All I want for you to do is take my body home..."
-Led Zeppelin ('In My Time of Dying')
I attended the Soundgarden show in Detroit, MI last night, Wednesday, May 17, 2017...
I had planned on taking my son, but it was a school night and he missed two days last week, being sick...
"We'll catch them when they come back 'round in support of the new album they're working on", I told him...
I picked up by buddy John and we headed downtown... This was to be our 6th Soundgarden show together:
1) 1994-06-12: Clarkston, MI
2) 1996-11-12: Auburn Hills, MI
3) 2011-07-16: Chicago, IL
4) 2013-01-27: Detroit, MI
5) 2014-07-06: Auburn Hills, MI
6) 2017-05-17: Detroit, MI
Upon arriving at the venue, we met up with our other friends, grabbed a beer and got seated as the band was taking the stage... They opened with the first track off their Louder than Love album, Ugly Truth...
(Here's a short video clip I took of that song):
After the opener, Chris Cornell greeted the crowd by expressing his appreciation for "Detroit Rock City"... Then he immediately began getting the audience pumped up by saying, "You people have a lot to live up to with a name like 'Detroit Rock City', so no sitting down... Stand up!!!"
Then he turned his attention to the main floor: "Give the people in the balcony a round of applause!"
The entire theater was suddenly lit up with pure rock exuberance... It was quite a moment, and I found myself immediately swept away in the positive vibes...
They resumed the jams by kicking off with Hunted Down from their 1986 Screaming Life EP... Then it was on to Non-State Actor off 2012's King Animal...
But little by little, I began thinking to myself, "Wow, Chris isn't sounding so good tonight..."
"Well... maybe that's just my usual overly-critical musician ear..."
But by the time they had gone into Black Hole Sun, the four of us were looking back and forth from the stage to each other, saying, "Wow, he sounds really bad tonight... Maybe he's just having an off night?"
(A short clip of Black Hole Sun):
With every song the band played, we could see/hear more and more the struggle Chris was so obviously going through...
The Day I Tried to Live:
My Wave:
Fell on Black Days:
Mailman:
The last song before the band left the stage for the first time was the classic, Jesus Christ Pose... the ultimate jam...
But even though the band played it with tight gusto, Chris' vocals were in really bad shape...
(Jesus Christ Pose clip):
As the song ended and the band went backstage, my friends and I were in relatively good spirits, despite the sad state of Chris' vocals... Even a "compromised" Soundgarden concert is a true wonder to behold... We grew up with these songs... This was our band...
My buddy Steve said, "All I need is to hear Rusty Cage... That's all I'm asking for..."
As the band returned for their encores, he got his wish...
Then it was on to the final song of the night - and of Chris Cornell's all-too-short life: Slaves & Bulldozers...
This song has long been a staple closer in Soundgarden's live history... and for good reason... What a jam...
Ever since its live debut way back in 1991, the band would break it down after Kim Tayil's guitar lead, whereupon Chris would ad-lib some lyrics to whatever song he was feeling at the moment...
He's referenced everything from How Now Brown Cow to Pearl Jam's Alive, to Earache My Eye by Cheech and Chong...
But for the past couple years, it's been the Led Zeppelin classic, In My Time of Dying...
When he referenced this song last night, my friends and I looked at each other with nods of "F*** yes!" approval... I mean, it's Soundgarden referencing Led Zeppelin; how much better does it get than that ?
This was the high point of the show... It's as if one final injection of rock and roll lava entered his soul, and he gave it his all...
And the final applause was deafening...
Then the band exited the stage to the sound of Kim Thayil's orchestrated guitar feedback, which lasted for well over two minutes past the final bows...
After the show, the four of us went next door to Hockeytown for a nightcap and to talk about what we'd just witnessed... Such mixed emotions... This was definitely the most unsatisfying Soundgarden performance we'd attended... I had been texting my son the above clips throughout the performance, and his response pretty much summed it up for me:
"Ouch... That's a favorite of mine... he may need a glass of water."
My friends and I said goodnight and went our separate ways... Then, upon arriving home, I got to the top of my stairs and was struck with the strangest sensation...
Now, let me first say that I am the least superstitious/religious person you're likely to meet... I would say I'm more "spiritual" than anything else, but definitely not prone to flights of supernatural/mystical/conspiracy-theory/etc. fancy... So I ask you to please bear this in mind when you read what I'm about to say next...
As I reached the top of my stairs, I was struck with the awful speculation of, "Man, what if Chris Cornell died? He's one of our only remaining active classic rockers who's still putting out excellent work... What a loss that would be!"
I actually thought this.
"Time for bed", I thought to myself... It was 3 AM...
After only a couple hours of fitful sleep, I awoke at 5 AM with a terrible, strange feeling of anxiety and restlessness...
And so, as I often do, I got on my iPhone and began scrolling my Facebook feed (bad habit, I know)...
It was then that I saw the news... So horribly surreal... So wrong...
As of this writing, the official cause of death is suicide by hanging...
What???
This just doesn't add up... He left behind a wife and three young kids... By all accounts, he was a happy, blessed man...
Why did this happen?
Perhaps as more concrete facts surface, a bit more light will be shed on this question...
In the meantime, at the risk of sounding a bit over-dramatic, this world will never be the same for those of us his music touched so deeply and profoundly...
Personally speaking, he was one of my all-time top artists, and definitely one of my biggest influences... There was no one who could sing like Chris Cornell in his prime... He was a true force of nature... A masterful songwriter as well, and a totally underrated guitarist...
He still had some great work in him, I feel safe in saying...
So sad...
Thank you, sir... Your legend is secure... The world is now a better place, having had you and your gifts in it...
"Please, mother of mercy
Take me from this place
and the long winded curses
I keep here in my head
Words never listen
And teachers, oh, they never learn
But I'm warm from the candle
Though I feel too cold to burn..."
-Say Hello 2 Heaven
Please feel free to respond at:
Ron@Widetrackband.com