Chris last played Portland's Roseland Theatre in October 2007. By all accounts this solo show was another cracker.

Searching With My Good Eye Closed - Gasoline - Gun - Moth -No Attention - No Such Thing - You Know My Name - Arms Around Your Love - Can’t Change Me - When I’m Down - Set It Off - Show Me How To Live - Call Me a Dog - I Am the Highway - Fell On Black Days - Black Hole Sun - Doesn’t Remind Me - Blow Up The Outside World - Watch Out - Superunknown - Be Yourself - Scream - Reach Down - Ground Zero - Like Suicide - 2 Drink Minimum

by missbe

... the show started with the band Cleveland. Their lead singer was kick-ass and they ROCKED the joint! Such a great way to start the evening! They played a half-hour long set and it was soooooo goooood! I think the lights went down about a quarter after 10 and the magic started: Chris came out looking AMAZING as always along with the rest of the band-also looking pretty amazing if I do say so myself. This is where I start to have a hard time because I get excited and almost over stimulated-it makes it hard to stay on track! Obviously. So there is the band and Chris only 3 feet away. My heart was pounding out of my chest! Wendi was the first to get Cornell love…we all had our hands out and he reached out and grabbed her hand…I wasn’t sure my eardrum would ever recover, but I was so stoked-incredible! And it just got better from there. He spent a lot of time on our side. I got some finger grabs from Chris in there, which was a dream come true up to that point. Got to bump metal signs with Cory and then finally got a full on hand grab from Cornell. He has the softest hands on the planet I swear!! So they are just pulling out songs left and right: Searching With My Good Eye Closed, Moth!, Show Me How to Live, Watch Out, and on and on, and then we get the acoustic set. So I am figuring he’s going to do Black Hole Sun and I am the Highway, which he did, but I flipped my lid when he started out with Fell on Black Days! Incredible done acoustic! It was….amazing. And we got to hear Thank You also, which is one of my FAVORITES! The acoustic set was fantastic. I think he ended that set with Doesn’t Remind Me and the band kicked in about half-way through. Then it was back to the hardcore jamming. So many amazing songs! Reach Down, Can’t Change Me, GUN!!!, Call Me a Dog, Superunknown-which Chris spent much of the time running back to Sutter’s drum platform where he had the lyrics…with the size of the catalog he’s got, we can’t blame him for having to cheat a little, but Cory was thoroughly enjoying giving Chris a hard time about the whole thing. Cory is so great! He has such incredible energy and interacts a lot with the crowd.

So at some point during the second half of this amazing show, Chris was totally rocking out and I could tell he was singing right to someone in the crowd behind me when he started pointing at me and the rail…at first I was like, Holy Shit! Chris Cornell is communicating with me, then I was trying to figure out what he was trying to say. So I move my hand off the rail, look down at it, and then look up in time to see Chris’s boot coming right at me! He steps onto the rail and his leg was leaning right up against me! Can you say out of body experience? I swear I just wanted to freeze time right there. I pretty much had my hands all over the poor man…but who cares? I was in the moment and I didn’t do anything inappropriate! ;) After a bit he came back and leaned down and was singing right to me and holding my hand! OH MY GOD! What did I do to deserve this amazing experience? I love Karma and the powers of the universe! KICK ASS! It is kind of a bummer because I got so caught up that I can’t remember the songs that marked these specific moments, but I can close my eyes and be right back at that very spot. The show was incredible. The guys were on spot…the guitar solos during Reach Down were phenomenal! I mean I was totally blown away and it was cool to see Chris enjoying his sideline time while jamming out to Yogi and Peter’s incredible talent. The song’s just kept coming and coming…some real treats in the mix! I think that Laurie put up a set list so you’ll have to check it out. If you have never gone to the Roseland to see Chris you must put it on the To Do list-you will not be sorry! Anyway, sorry for the babbling. It’s almost been a week and I still get all amped up when I think about this amazing show.

by angela

Chris!!! Your show last night in Portland, OR was AAAAMAZING!!!! I've seen you a few times and have loved each show but Holy Rock Gods! Totally lost it when you came on for first song and did Soundgarden!!! Blown away! Thank you thank you!! (and the Band kicked ASS!) PS: Fuck the nay-sayers -- you're place is SOLID as a Rock GOD!!! Just keep playing your music.

by todd

Ii just wanted to say a special thanks to Chris and the boys for making my son's first concert a very special one that he will never forget. The show was fucking epic!!! We met will and corey going in the back before the show and they shook my son Monte's hand. I told them that it was his first show they were very nice to him!! During the show Corey came over and gave him a pick and looked at him and smiled alot and same with Will, he looked at him quite a bit to let him know that he saw him and waved and after the show came over and handed him his set list. Then Jason came over right before the encore and gave him a drum stick!! Chris came over a couple of times and Monte slapped his hand, and during Watch Out was singing right to Monte which was so cool. So thanks again for taking the time to make it a special night for all of us!! We were rocking out on the rail all night. My son did not know the words to a lot of the Soundgarden stuff but he gave it the old collage try! Chris sounded amazing as always, the set list was so good.

by bw3434

I just got home from Portland and I have to agree that was one hell of a show...I have to say the crowd energy was FAR better then last years show and things got nice and hectic down in front for a while. Nothing like a shoe to the face from a crowd surfer....ah the good ol days:)

by fB2Blk

I've got to say that I didn't enjoy this show as much as last year's. Last year felt more spontaneous (including the 5 or 6 songs that were played that weren't on the setlist). It also felt like the band was having more fun last time. This doesn't mean the show was bad... it was still a good show. Last year was easily a 10/10, so I knew that it would be impossible to live up to that standard. The stuff from Scream is definitely better live than the studio recordings, but I still feel it lacks depth. Chris Cornell appeals to me as a tremendous vocal talent and an inspirational songwriter... Scream's material doesn't seem to showcase either of these attributes as much as, say, EM. Cornell is still amazing and I'll be right up against the rail for the 3rd time when he returns to the Roseland. Nothing could keep me from his shows.

Saw Chris Cornell at the Roseland last night. Best concert I’ve ever seen. The venue was perfect; not too big, not too small. I was up close and personal, sharing a few “wow, he’s singing right to me” moments. They played for two hours straight—Audioslave, Soundgarden, and solo stuff. The crowd loved it. CC and band seemed genuinely gracious, having a great time, and expressing appreciation for the fans. They were excellent performers, giving the audience their money’s worth. And that voice was as strong and roaring as ever.

I see that Cornell is doing some commercials for Verizon, along with T.V. theme songs. Even though this is a weird blend of branding/art/commercialism, I’m OK with it. Branding and entertainment are so intertwined, it’s impossible to separate them. In her book No Logo, Naomi Klein wrote that in 1996, Molson and Miller Beer held its first Blind Date Concert, where the beer companies staged these “secret” band concerts in smallish venues to create anticipation and keep the beer names on everyone’s mind. The rock stars who played the concerts rebelled in “sad little ways,” including Cornell (playing with Soundgarden on the Blind Date Tour). He said, “Yeah, we’re here because of some fucking beer company…Labatt’s.”

Chris Cornell selling out? Perhaps. But I’m reminded of the lyrics in Tool’s Hooker with a Penis :

I met a boy wearing Vans, 501s, and a dope beastie-tee, nipple rings, and new tattoos that claimed that he was OGT, from '92, the first EP. And in between sips of coke he told me that he thought we were sellin' out, layin' down, suckin' up to the man. Well now I've got some advice for you, little buddy. Before you point the finger you should know that I'm the man, and if I'm the man, then you're the man, and he's the man as well so you can point that fuckin' finger up your ass.

Indeed, we are all the man. And Chris, I still want you to come to my birthday party.

- Ardent Shanty, Poetry, Writing and Arts in Oregon

Searching With My Good Eye Closed - thanks whiteearthyakamagirl

Watch Out (extract) - thanks ChocolateThunda

Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2008