There won’t be many opportunities to see the
Melvins and Miley Cyrus on the same bill, as
they are tonight. Indeed there hasn’t been any
demand for such a collision of worlds, ever. But that’s
how far the influence of Chris Cornell spread. In this
context it doesn’t even seem weird. Perhaps the most
appropriate reference point would be the Freddie
Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992. Back then, many
Queen fans nodded in approval as the likes of David
Bowie, Robert Plant and Roger Daltrey fronted their
beloved band, but were a little more suspicious of
Seal and, especially, George Michael – until, that is,
the former Wham! singer opened his mouth and
sang Somebody To Love and stunned the audience.
It’s possible that Cyrus’s performance at tonight’s
Chris Cornell tribute will have a similar impact on
her career, in as far as she impressed a whole new
set of music lovers. What is perhaps surprising is
just how powerful and raw her performance is,
particularly when fronting Temple Of The Dog for
a hair-raising Say Hello 2 Heaven. Sometimes life just
throws out curve balls, and you have little choice
other than to sit back and marinade in the glorious
ridiculousness of it all.
Tonight is, of course, all about celebrating Cornell’s
life. The Melvins, Metallica and the Foo Fighters play
short but very sweet sets that combine their own
songs with Cornell’s, but the overall vibe is one of
humility, of paying respects.
The Melvins play proto-punk ditties by
Malfunkshun (With Yo’ Heart, Not Yo’ Hands) and
Green River (Leech) alongside three of their own
monstrous stoner-punk hammer blows, and finish
off with Soundgarden’s Spoonman, frontman King
Buzzo wisely opting to miss out the higher-pitched
lines completely.
Dave Grohl looks charged up and near-rabid with
frustrated energy as he leads the Foo Fighters on to
the stage and they blast through No Attention, from
1996’s Down On the Upside.
Incidentally, kudos to Foos guitarist Pat Smear for
putting in a typically powerful performance, despite
losing Germs bandmate Lorna Doom today. No
mention from the stage is made of Doom’s tragic
death, one assumes because it would detract from
the meaning of the night, but she must be on Smear’s
mind; she’s on ours, too.
The Foos then play two covers that Soundgarden
had previously made their own, Devo’s Girl U Want,
and Cheech & Chong’s Earache My Eye, before Grohl
is left along on stage for a heart-wrenching rendition
of Everlong that he appears to struggle through just
a little due to an understandable lump in his throat.
Jack Black introduces Metallica to the stage,
though some minor delays allow him to sing
Spoonman a-cappella and briefly jam One with James
Hetfield. Metallica standards For Whom the Bell Tolls
and Master Of Puppets are sandwiched between two
Soundgarden songs from their debut album
Ultramega OK: All Your Lies and Head Injury.
“We like the very, very first album,” Hetfield says.
“The first couple – extra-good. Nothing bad about the
others but, y’know.” And that attraction makes sense,
because the raw, wild abandon of those early records
suits Metallica, even if the thrash titans are a little
longer in the tooth and grey around the ears these
days. Whatever, the four songs fly by (despite Lars
Ulrich fucking up the intro to Head Injury and forcing
a restart), and the band are in fine, crunching form.
Between the full bands, various musicians pop on
to play one song and then disappear again. Rita ‘wife
of Tom Hanks’ Wilson croons Cornell’s The Promise,
although not particularly
impressively. Better is Josh
Homme’s attempt at
Johnny Cash’s country
interpretation of Rusty
Cage, introduced fittingly
by John Carter Cash.
Maroon 5’s Adam Levine
(alongside Stone Gossard)
puts in a surprisingly touching rendition of Seasons,
the song Cornell recorded for the Singles soundtrack,
before Toni Cornell pays tribute to her dad alongside
Ziggy Marley with Bob’s Redemption Song. And Ryan
Adams, accompanied by Don Was on double bass,
plays a brief set, the highlight of which is a quite
beautiful rendition of Fell On Black Days.O
f course, the sets by Cornell’s three bands
have the already enthusiastic audience
screaming like high-school kids on the
waltzer, and Audioslave are on fire. And seeing Tom
Morello and Brad Wilk joined by Sabbath’s Geezer
Butler and Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell for Cochise
is a genuine thrill. Juliette Lewis, a fantastic garage-punk frontwoman, is less impressive singing Be
Yourself, before Dave Grohl bounds on to fire through
the closing Show Me How To Live.
That rotation continues through Temple Of The
Dog, with the aforementioned Cyrus, plus Fiona
Apple’s All Night Thing and a predictably roof-ripping
Hunger Strike the highlights. The latter, incidentally,
features folk singer Brandi Carlile making her second
appearance of the night, having sung with Audioslave.
She makes a third appearance for the final song of
the evening, performing Black Hole Sun with
Soundgarden. No other band could have closed out
this night, and it is both incredibly sad and kind of
beautiful to see Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben
Shepherd on stage as Soundgarden for what we have
to assume is one last time.
Before that, vocalist Taylor Momsen of the Pretty
Reckless impresses on Rusty Cage, Drawing Flies and
Loud Love, while Marcus
Durant of garage rockers
Zen Guerrilla (and also,
of late, the MC50 band)
swaggers through
Outshined and Flower,
and MC5/MC50
guitarist Wayne Kramer
comes on stage to riff, as
does an unannounced Peter Frampton. Foo Fighters
drummer Taylor Hawkins does a remarkable job
belting out The Day I Tried To Live, filling in for Faith No
More singer Mike Patton who had to cancel his
appearance due to sickness.
Following Black Hole Sun with Brandi Carlile, Thayil
and Cameron – and Cornell’s guitar – generate 10
minutes of glorious feedback to see us off, as they
always have done. And with that, tonight’s tribute to
Chris Cornell is all over.
But not really, because if this evening proved
anything, it’s that Cornell’s music will always be with
us, and that means he will too.Words: Brett Callwood Photos: Ross Halfin‘If this evening proved
anything, it’s that
Cornell’s music will
always be with us.’
I Am The Highway:
A Tribute To Chris Cornell
Los Angeles The Forum
Stars celebrate the life of the late Temple Of The Dog/Soundgarden/Audioslave man.
CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM 109