every word i said is what i mean

Forget what you saw on that Live 8 broadcast--Chris Cornell's voice is not shot. To the contrary, the man still has an amazing vocal range. Which is surprising since he the way he sings seems like it should shred his vocal chords to pieces. And he puts on one heck of a live show, which went on for over two hours and consisted of more than twenty-five songs.

Justin and I were pretty far back in the crowd, but Bogart's is small enough that it didn't matter. They played through a bunch of Soundgarden hits, which were obviously the highlight of the show. Throw in a good selection of Audioslave songs, "Hunger Strike," a couple of his old solo hits and a few too many of the new songs--although not as many as you would think since he has a new album out. All in all, it was a fantastic set list. More songs from Temple of the Dog or Euphoria Morning, or anything from Down On the Upside would have been nice, but they played "Slaves and Bulldozers" so I won't be complaining. The band backing Cornell was fairly impressive, as well. He's has played with some great musicians in the past--Kim Thayil, Tom Morello--so filling those shoes is no easy feat, but the band pulled it off well.

The crowd could have been better. I guess I should have known not to expect much when I entered Bogart's bathroom to find some guy peeing in the sink. There were too many people who seemed to be there to hear "Black Hole Sun" and Audioslave songs, like the guys in front of us who seemed to just be drinking Miller Lite and text messaging on their cell phones all night. The worst part was probably the constant noise; I don't think I've ever heard a concert with so many people chatting the whole time. It was funny when everyone started leaving right after "Black Hole Sun" assuming the show was over.

Spoonman
Let Me Drown
Show Me How To Live
No Such Thing
Be Yourself
Hunger Strike
What You Are
Rusty Cage
Sunshower
Can't Change Me (solo acoustic)
I Am The Highway (solo acoustic)
Scar On The Sky (solo acoustic)
All Night Thing (solo acoustic)
Doesn't Remind Me
Cochise
Outshined
You Know My Name
Billie Jean
Like A Stone
Loud Love
Jesus Christ Pose
--Encore 1--
My Wave
Seasons
Black Hole Sun
--Encore 2--
She'll Never Be Your Man
Slaves and Bulldozers