thanks to bmrsnr14 for the photo
Like The Roundhouse in London, Cains Ballroom is an historic venue - and perhaps it's the places full of atmosphere and history that especially inspire Chris and the band. By all accounts this was another of those dates when they were on absolutely top form, making this another memorable night. Chris swung from the rafters and donned a custom "Call Me A Dog" T-shirt
Intro Instrumental Jam - Let Me Drown - Outshined - Show Me How to Live - No Such Thing - You Know My Name - Say Hello 2 Heaven - Be Yourself - What You Are - Rusty Cage - I Am the Highway - Fell On Black Days - Preaching the End of the World - Call Me a Dog - Wide Awake - Like a Stone - Doesn't Remind Me - Cochise - Spoonman - Arms Around Your Love - Can't Change Me - Pushin' Forward Back - Hunger Strike - Black Hole Sun - Jesus Christ Pose - Burden in My Hand - Seasons - Superunknown - Slaves & Bulldozers/Whole Lotta Love
by bmrsnr14
Oh my god, what a show! I thought I knew what to expect walking into the Cain's after seeing him in Nashville last May, but Chris Cornell managed the blow my head off for the third time. As much as I really hate to say it, he looks like he's having more fun than he ever did with Audioslave. To start 'er off, I arrived at the Cain's at 2:30 and camped, chatting with a few other dedicated fans who were waiting for the doors to open. I almost didn't get my ticket, the guy at will call couldn't find it for a while, but I got it. This was by far the longest concert I have ever been to. Roughly 30 songs over 3 hours. Incredible.
Things got a little weird here, during the solo, the guitarist broke FIVE of his strings (I personally thought it was staged, but whatever), and while he was getting them put on, Sutter went on a 5 minute drum solo. The rest of the guys kept throwing picks at him trying to mess him up, heh. Then Chris hooked the mic stand against the awning (I mean what the hell at this point right?), and started singing this really slow and very creepy song. And it ran right into Whole Lotta Love. Seriously? I don't think ANYONE predicted that one, absolutely insanely awesome concert.
by djonesok
What I kept saying over and over last night was, you have GOT to be kidding me. I was blown away. I am 38 years old and have been to sooo many concerts in my lifetime, from Pearl Jam to Merle Haggard and I have to say I have never had my expectations exceeded like at Cains in Tulsa. The band was amazing, Chris' voice sounded nothing short of perfect! If I was single I would try to be a roadie with the band just to see them play on a regular basis,ha!
Congrats Chris and the band. I don't know what's going on in your life, be it not smoking or drinking or be it love from a child and family, but keep it up, it is MORE than working my friend!
thanks to dinosaurbones for the photo
by tonerkin
Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa OK was built as a garage back in the 1920's and converted to a nightclub later in the 20's. It became a mecca for"hot hillbilly music" or "hot string-band music." when people came to dance to live bands. My friend, Candy and I (who I met on the old Somms list back in 1995) got there early but decided we needed nourishment before we got in line. So we walked down the street to a Mexican joint and had tacos and beer. Back in line there was a buzz in the air. People seemed generally excited about the show and after an intial conversation with the guys in front of me(who were admiring our vintage Soundgarden shirts) several people started asking me about prior shows and what was he singing and how did he sound.
Once inside the Cain I could see the "ballrooms' former life in the steel trusses in the tall celiing. That concerned me because I thought the sound would roll around up there but I was assured that was not a problem. There were large black and white photos of old artists like Bob Wills, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams etc. Really cool old place. The dance floor was GA standing and there were a few bleachers set up along the walls. We snagged a seat on the top bleacher. Once again in conversations I had with people around me.....pure excitement to be seeing CC. Lots of cowboys, Indians and big haired women......it was GREAT!!!
Earl Greyhound played a another well done set and the crowd really loved them. Jason was out walking around in the crowd during the Earl's set. I called to him and said hi and he acknowledged me. Maybe he was looking for a cowgirl!!!!
Chris and the band came out and the place exploded. By far this was the most enthusiastic audience I have seen this tour. They were vocal and adoring. And Chris awarded them with a great show. His voice was a little ragged in spots (mostly the screaming parts) It just sounded like maybe he was getting a bit of a cold or something but he was really high energy and very playful.
Second song, Outshined "Lookin' California but feeling Oklahoma" A girl in front had made him a teeshirt....a purple dog with Chris' head photoshopped on the dog's body. Underneath was "you call me a dog" When he started talking about doing a song from Temple of the dog she started waving the shirt. He reaches down grabs it and grins like a cheshire cat, shows the tee to Peter , Cory and Yogi and everyone is laughing cause it's a pretty crazy looking shirt. He takes off his tee shirt(thank you girl in front) and puts on hers. (he wore it the whole concert and than asked her during the encore if she wanted it back and of course she did....what female wouldn't???
chris in the custom call me a dog T-shirt - thanks to dinosaurbones for the photo
During Spoonman when Chris sings...."All my friends are Indians" A HUGE CHEER goes up......I think the Indian Nation was duly represented at the show that night!!! The steel i-beams and struts across the roof caught his attention and he jumped up from the drum riser and grabbed one and swung just like the old days. He stuck the microphone stand up there at one point and stood hands to his side singing into an inverted mic. Sang some crazy scat with Corey during "doesn't remind me" and jumped into the drum kit at one point. The energy from the crowd just seemed to fuel him or maybe it was the disco ball that put into a trance!!!!
For the encore, I jumped off the bleachers and waded into the crowd to dance. The encore was fantastic Burden in my hand, Overfloater, 4th of July medley just haunting, Slaves, Whole Lotta Love.....just so much damn fun.
by nasty nate
Former Audioslave and Soundgarden frontman, Chris Cornell, was in concert last night at the Cain's Ballroom. He played a little bit of everything. Songs from Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog, and his solo work. I was a little surprised by how well Chris sounded live. His voice is spectacular. I don't know how he still has that voice after all these years of straining his vocal cords. He seems to sing every note with all his being. Excellent performance. One of the best concerts I have been to in that kind of setting.
by dinosaurbones
thanks to dinosaurbones for the photo
I'm almost at a loss of words, and my voice. What a spectacular show.....opened with some extended, instrumental Sunshower and then jumped right into the rest of the song. Let Me Drown followed it. His voice right now is freakin' awesome. He is nailing every song and doing so pretty effortlessly. You can tell the whole band is really fusing together well now and enjoying themselves. They feed off the crowd and it definitely shows in their performance. I can't say enough how GREAT he sounds. IMO, he sounds SO much better than when he was performing with Audioslave.
I got one of the picks thanks to a security guard (thanks dude!) Chris only reached out and physically slapped about 4 people's hands the entire night, but me and the guy I met outside were 2 of 'em! More like a hand grab for me. It was pretty cool, even for a straight guy :).
by cjohnston
I was at the Cain's this past Sunday and Chris Cornell was absolutely fantastic. The best show I have seen at Cain's in awhile. He did as promised, played over 2 hours and hit all the songs we knew and some new ones. When Rusty Cage started up the place just exploded and it continued for the rest of the show. I was impressed with the opening band, Earl Greyhound. They had an old fashioned hard rock of the 70's sound to them. It was a great show, one I am going to be talking about for a while!
thanks to dinosaurbones for the photo
by luvphotos
What a wonderful show! My husband and I went and Icould not have had a better time. I am NOT one to lose myself when a person that Iadmire is anywhere close to me, but I totally felt like one of those girls that becomes 'beside' herself when Chris took the stage. All I could say was, "oh my God!" and try to hold my camera still to shoot some vid and photos.
The couple standing next to me gave him the shirt he wore for most of the concert and when he walked over to our side of the stage I swear I almost passed out. his voice is amazing and Iam so thankful I got to see him live before I end up someday pushing up daisies. (I had tickets back in the early 90s to see a Soundgarden tour date and was in such a drug induced fog I missed it, thank God those days are over for me). AND to see him at such a small venue like the historic Cains ballroom was just PERFECT.
We left a bit early while Chris and his kick ass band were still playing (I started missing our 2 boys, 24 and 4 months old). The whole drive back to OKC was surreal. He played songs last night that are forever etched on my soul from my youth and to see him literally feet away from me on stage, at a place like the Cains, means so much to me. I will never forget it.
thanks to dinosaurbones for the photo
by blazer72
I'm 32, married, with 2 kids, and have gotten to the point where I hate crowds. But that show WAS FREAKING AMAZING. It was one of the few concerts I'd go to and it was almost perfect. My favorite song is "Sunshower" and was hoping it would make it into the acoustic portion. But, I still had an amazing time and Chris's vocals were right on the money. I recorded to my cell phone, called my house and recorded it onto my answering machine, and recorded it on my digital camera so I could relive how awesome the show was. I'm thinking about buying tickets to fly to the Vegas show. Best vocalist of all time.
A Doctor, A Lawyer, and A Priest
To say that Chris Cornell was part of the collective voice that helped usher in a new era in rock-n-roll in the wake of excess and gluttony that had defined the musical landscape of the 80’s is an understatement. Like many other of my Gen-X peers, I can still distinctly remember hearing the opening sounds of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, Pearl Jam’s “Alive” and Soundgarden’s “Outshined” and the subsequent jaw-dropping state that ensued upon first listen. As the lead singer of Soundgarden, and probably the least popular and well-known of that trifecta, Cornell’s voice is perhaps the least recognizable, but no less distinctive. In fact, he was recently ranked 12th in MTV’s “22 Greatest Voices in Music” survey, edging the likes of Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie.
The performance at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa gave Cornell, who has fronted two of the most popular rock bands of the last 30 years in Soundgarden and Audioslave, opportunity to showcase the amazing voice that he possesses. Cain’s is an older, very storied venue in downtown Tulsa with a very unassuming exterior and an old school dancehall style design, complete with wooden floor, inside (it was an interesting juxtaposition between portraits of the likes of Bob Wills and Tex Ritter on the walls and the modern day rock acts who have more recently graced the stage--see the list here if you don’t believe me).
I was able to position myself stage center about three people deep with an unobstructed view of the entire stage (which is rare considering I usually have some six foot plus drunken frat guy right in front of me) and was thus ready for the festivities to commence. Cornell’s band mates manned their posts and began what amounted to an Also Sprach Zarathustra grunge-style for the new millennium before he entered the stage at about 9:00 with very little fanfare. Dressed in tight grey jeans, black boots and a black t-shirt Cornell looked every bit the part of a rock god incarnate, complete with subtle grin and an arms-spread-wide messianic pose. The crowd erupted and the band launched into a blistering handful of songs from “Badmotorfinger”, “Superunknown” and “Down on the Upside”. Cornell’s band was particularly tight and played with an intensity that really lent a freshness to the songs, while retaining their musical originality all at the same time. Cornell had ultimate command of the crowd, posing for photos, swinging around the microphone stand and even doing a pull-up on the rafter above the drum kit, all of which whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Fairly early into the show, someone in the crowd held up a shirt that Cornell immediately grabbed and laughed at. It had a picture of a dog with Cornell’s head superimposed on it with the words “Call Me a Dog” below. Chris immediately made a wardrobe change and never looked back. Easily a favorite of the first part of the show was when they played “Hungerstrike” sans Eddie. Always wanted to hear this one live and it did not disappoint.
My favorite part of the show was when Chris went into extended acoustic segment. It was here that one could really get a true appreciation for the absolute greatness of his voice. I dare say that I have not heard better—ever. Songs like “I Am the Highway”, “Like a Stone” and “Call Me a Dog” all sounded amazing and right at the end of an acoustic “Doesn’t Remind Me”, the full band came back on stage and finished the song as a full-on electric number and finished with Chris ripping out the strings of his acoustic guitar with one hand on the “…breakin’ guitars” line. Amazing.
In all, the show lasted well over two and a half hours, easily the longest setlist of any show I’ve ever attended. It struck me that in an era of over-produced, cookie-cutter rock/pop songs where the dime-a-dozen singers all sound alike, a guy like Chris Cornell, with all that he’s contributed in the past and all that he represents in the present, might, if only for a few hours, be a savior of sorts of the future of rock-n-roll. Jesus Christ Pose indeed.
- Dentist (guest reviewer and photographer)
See the original entertainment blog from which this review comes
Fell On Black Days - thanks classikmetal2007
Cochise - thanks bc
Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007