photo by Efthimia Panagiotopoulou - used by permission. See more at Chris's official Windows Live Space
Chris was second on the bill to rock legend Robert Plant and some fans hoped there might be a bit of duetting - or that Chris might sing his cover of Led Zeppelin's Thank You - but it was not to be. A lot of the material available on the net is in Greek and difficult to reproduce here, but those who went said it was a great festival show - even if we didn't get to see two of the greatest rock frontmen ever join forces - at least not onstage.
thanks to Peter for the picture
Spoonman - Outshined - Show Me How To Live - Say Hello To Heaven - What You Are - Rusty Cage - Be Yourself - Like A Stone - Doesnt Remind Me - Cochise - Billie Jean - You Know My Name - Black Hole Sun - Jesus Christ Pose
photo by Efthimia Panagiotopoulou - used by permission. See more at Chris's official Windows Live Space
by Jim Konstantinidis
"Having just left from work earlier , I was about to see Chris Cornell live for the first time. I still could not come to realize it!!! Three hours later inside the venue, 37 km from Athens, and carrying a glass full of ouzo, I kept on traveling through the place to find me the best spot for watching one of the most spectacular voices in rock history.
Around 20:00 the first notes from "Spoonman" burst out and there he is 'feeling the rhythm with our hands'… What was about to follow is pure musical ecstasy.
photo by Chris Kissadjekian - used by permission
"Outshined" was the second track , which reminded us of the forgotten grunge-metal days on the early 90's (personally one of my favourite tracks). And then after dynamite No 3, "Show me how to live", everybody slowed down to welcome "Say Hello to Heaven".What a surprise that was instead of "Hunger Strike" Chris chose this tune out of the Temple of The Dog LP and he really delivered!!!
Next on , as the crowd went warmer and the sun was going down, an Audioslave song "What you are" was performed in order to come down to "Rusty Cage", another Soundgarden classic,where the sand in Terra Vibe (the name of the venue) began to rise through the air…and oh yeah Chris Cornell was paying a fair tribute to his past!!
photo by Chris Kissadjekian - used by permission
After "Be yourself", another surprise for me.The band leaves all except from Chris who is given his acoustic guitar and goes on "Like a Stone". Just brilliant.he continues solo with "Doesn't remind me" until the rest members come on stage to give the song the proper rock-sounding finish.
On with the Audioslave stuff - we get "Cochise" with Chris singing and showing very energetic on stage. Following this slightly commercial hit , Cornell is choosing his words to prepare us for the next song. It is a cover from the 80's and it sounds so different , so Cornell-alike that at first I wasn't able to familiarize with it although I knew it was "Billy Jean" from the beginning. The theme from the latest James Bond , "You know my name" is taking us near the end of an unbelievable live show.
photo by Chris Kissadjekian - used by permission
But wait, there were two more to come, even though Chris didn't leave the stage for an encore. Two more Soundgarden jewels … First of all , the crowd's most popular requested "Black Hole Sun" in which Chris works his lungs well on the backing vocals.And then finally the song I was waiting all over the night, the fourth track out of BMF, Jesus Christ Pose sang and played in such a manic way from the whole band that really hit you in the brains!!! Like I ' m driving the nails, nails, nails in the Jesus Christ Pose…"
photo by Efthimia Panagiotopoulou - used by permission. See more at Chris's official Windows Live Space
photo by Efthimia Panagiotopoulou - used by permission. See more at Chris's official Windows Live Space
Rocking.gr
Click here for a review of the show in Greek
Chris with his children Toni and Christopher
photo by Chris Kissadjekian - used by permission
Download an extract from Billie Jean here (thanks Tassos from Thessaloniki)
Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007
