Review: Chris Cornell

Photos by Bill Brownlee/Special to The Star

Chris Cornell owns a definitive bombastic rock voice. This superhero power has been employed for both good (with Soundgarden and on a handful of undervalued solo albums) and evil (with the crassly commercial Audioslave).

Even as he experimented with a few new skills Wednesday at the VooDoo Lounge, Cornell's epic voice remained consistently thrilling.

For two hours and 15 minutes -- an excellent value proposition for the approximately 600 fans on hand -- Cornell sang in a refreshingly wide-ranging variety of styles.

He's touring behind "Scream," a Timbaland-produced album. Rather than detracting from his performance, the R&B-enhanced material sounded vital. During new songs "Time" and "Ground Zero," the rock concert was radically transformed into a dance club. These liberatingly transcendent moments proved that "Scream" is more than a noble experiment. Cornell is to be commended for injecting fresh ideas into an often stagnant hard rock landscape resistant to change.

Without the presence of these innovative concepts, the concert would have resembled a grunge-styled exercise in nostalgia. Not that that's a bad thing. Much of the predominantly 30-something crowd cheered lustily for the songs that provided the soundtrack to their high school and college years. Powered by Cornell's voice, songs like "Spoonman," "Hunger Strike" and "Burden In My Hand" still have plenty of gas in the tank.

Cornell's able if somewhat anonymous backing quartet rocked hardest on a beefy version of "Cochise" and a frenzied "Rusty Cage."

The decibel level seemed a little higher than usual inside the VooDoo, making the two solo acoustic songs in Cornell's lengthy performance especially welcome. His earnest renditions of the Beatles' "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" and Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" served as a nice break. Cornell's now-familiar rethinking of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" was also compelling.

In fact, Cornell could do no wrong Wednesday. His unpretentious, man-of-the-people persona was completely winning. Cornell fist-bumped fans, encouraged sing-alongs and crowd surfed during "Black Hole Sun." It's all in a night's work for a superhero.

Crash Kings are a welcome throwback to a moment in the '80s when it seemed like every other band were acolytes of the Police. Their convincing cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" aside, the Los Angeles-based trio was an odd choice for Cornell's opening act.

| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star

Comments

[Susie]

I wasn't there, but, is it REALLy that edgy to morph into R&B and have an album produced by Timbaland??? I mean, can he no longer write really solid rock material.

I know artists strive to keep creating, but it sounds a bit American Idol-ish to me. You lost me at Timbaland. No way.

[Bishop Nelson]

I listened to the album w/ Billie Jean on it and had to turn it off 3/4 of the way through. I can only imagine the new material is even worse. Heard him interviewed on NPR and knew the end was here for a former King. The guy has pipes, but I'm not gonna buy his new records. To call this a groundbreaking turn in one's style is to ignore the fact that Cornell is done in rock music and decided to sell pop records to buy cigarettes and pay his mortgage. RIP Chris Cornell. I used to love you.

[Bubba]

I didn't attend CHRIS CORNELL either. Didn't think it would be worth the money. Last time I saw him was at Verizon in 2003 with AUDIOSLAVE and I wasn't THAT impressed. Glad to see that he did play some SOUNDGARDEN material. Those guys really need to reunite, like everyone else has.

[Bubfan]

Bubba is my fav poster on this board. I AM NOT being smart ass, I am paying a compliment.

I have never met a Bub I did not like.

Cheers bro, I mean
Cheers Bubba

[pete]

Somebody call Kim Thayil. We need an intervention.

[Gary Dean]

How Did Billie Jean sound ?

Wonder if David Cook who played the same night at Ameristar sang Billie Jean too.

Go figure same song same night 2 different artist

[SidTripp]

I was concerned about the show myself,wondering what I would see, but he put on a rock show. I was 2nd/3rd row center stage, at times the vocals were a little low but besides that the sound was good.

With his newer stuff, he didn't go the album version,he added more of a rock edge to it.

I was impressed, the didn't slow down and performed to the crowd for the 2 plus hours. I would recommend the show.

[Bubba]

Bubfan, thanks for the compliment. A LOT of readers simply don't have the b*lls to express what they REALLY think. Often, I'm SO BRUTALLY honest it actually hurts. Example: I was thinking about writing the KC Star's letter dept. about Susan Boyle - but WHAT'S the use? If they don't agree with EVERYTHING you say in a letter, they likely won't use it. GEORGE CARLIN was right - many Americans CANNOT handle reality. Too many of us STILL view everything thru a pair of rose-colored glasses. Bubba muttered it.

[Baby Bird]

"a lot of READERS....."

You see Bubba, it's not really about the testinal fortitude of these "readers". Rather, it's the fact that they cannot read beyond a 5th grade level. Similarly the young clerk at Target was baffled by the intricacies of cashier mathematics when I handed him $20.10 for a tab of $8.09. You had me at George Carlin Bubba. Preach on.

[VegasCrackerman]

Ok...enough of the comments from people who DIDN'T even go to the event.

The show was great...CC and Company put on a fantastic show with a setlist made up of not only old hits but also new stuff.

Cochise, Spoonman (with Good Times, Bad Times tag) and Black Hole Sun all got the crowd amped up and moving around...I for one had an amazing time and will see CC next time he graces the KC area!!!

Also, damn good pic of Cornell, got any others???

[Krstal M. Ethewzer]

"these "readers". Rather, it's the fact that they cannot read beyond a 5th grade level."

....boy, do some people like to generalize. What a short-sided synopsis of people on this blog. Idiot.....oh, and as soon as I heard Timbaland's name in the same sentence as Chris Cornell, that ended my association with Chris and his music.