Chris Cornell
By: Glennie Rabin - ModernRock.com
He may not have the fury and velocity of Soundgarden, but Chris Cornell, the band's former frontman, proved that he has not lost the intensity and energy with his new solo effort. On his tour date in Washington, DC, Chris crooned and wailed as powerfully as ever, reclaiming his status as a solid, emotive singer-songwriter.
Chris remarked on stage that the DC performance was the first show during his solo tour where everyone in the audience was standing up. He played to a sold-out crowd, which packed the bi-level Nightclub 9:30, a revamped and relocated incarnation of one of DC's oldest and dearest nightspots. The performance was the third stop on a brief club tour to promote his first solo album, Euphoria Morning, which was released on September 21, 1999.
Chris has left Soundgarden behind-a split that occurred in 1997-and has brought on a new band consisting of Alain Johannes on guitar and backing vocals and Natasha Shneider on keyboards and backing vocals (both of the band Eleven), as well as Ric Markmann on bass and Greg Upchurch on drums. The fivesome exhibited genuine stage chemistry, the animated Natasha sharing almost as much of the stage presence as Chris. One highlight was a spare duet performed by just the two of them, entitled "When I'm Down," off Euphoria Morning.
The material itself often was more ballad than powerhouse rock a-la-Soundgarden, but Chris's signature throaty crooning and powerful songwriting still endure. And, what's more, Chris has emerged from Soundgarden dust with a more introspective, personal style. Chris maintained another bit of his grunge-hero past, too. The look. An army green tank top and black jeans clung close to his lanky body and greasy strands of hair and a goatee framed his face. Only a few members of the audience still sported the early '90s uniform: the flannel long-sleeve.
During his hour and fifteen minute set, Chris played mostly new songs from the intimate and soulful Euphoria Morning, but also returned to old favorites such as "Like Suicide," off Soundgarden's Superunknown, and one of his first solo efforts, "Seasons" off the Singles Soundtrack. "Like Suicide" was missing a certain effectiveness without the element of Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil. But, Chris did add an interesting spin to the tune, an eastern flavor that recurs on Euphoria Morning. Although the crowd was always most excited to sing along, the new, unfamiliar material drew equal praise.
For his encore, he performed a playful, bluesy tune from his Temple of the Dog project, entitled, "All Night Thing." But, alas, it wasn't an all night thing. The show ended with a sorrowful, melodramatic ballad off his new CD, entitled "Steel Rain."
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