Soundgarden at Hyde Park
Hard Rock Calling 2012:
Soundgarden
Iggy & The Stooges
Cold Chisel
Hyde Park, 13 July 2012
There was mud galore and it rained heavy into the night but this was a glorious show and I cannot even tell you the thrill to see and hear Soundgarden back together. And of course Iggy Pop was as wild and entertaining as ever. All in all it was completely worth standing in the pouring rain for.
I have attended rainy festivals before (although never anything as bad as some of the Glastonbury weekends in recent years, there's no way I could hack that) but weather-wise this year's Hyde Park shows were the most miserable I've ever been to, much worse than Neil Young's headlining concert a few years back when it rained constantly all day but suddenly the sun came out when old Shakey took to the stage.
When we arrived, well-prepared with wellies and raincoats, it was actually dry and clear and Aussie legends Cold Chisel were rocking away on the stage. I must admit here, I had absolutely no clue who Cold Chisel were before this show but it became immediately clear upon seeing them that they had been around for quite a while. It turns out that they are the band that spawned Jimmy Barnes, who I vaguely remember being popular in the 80s and releasing some songs with INXS. He recently reunited with Cold Chisel and, despite being huge down under, this was the band's first show in the UK in over 30 years. They definitely had some hardcore fans at this show, I saw Cold Chisel t-shirts aplenty and people singing along to the songs. To me it just sounded like pub rock, albeit of the superior kind, but they seemed to put on a good, powerful show if that's your thing. But for me, it was the next act I was far more excited about.
I saw Iggy & The Stooges for the first time a couple of years back (the post about it is somewhere on this blog) and they blew me away with just how raw, dangerous and exciting they were even after all these years. We were taking bets before Iggy Pop arrived on stage just how few clothes he would be wearing and he didn't surprise any of us when he leaped on stage, despite the weather conditions, shirtless but thankfully wearing a belt this time (last time his jeans became horribly close to dropping to his knees) and looking very tanned. Iggy is pretty amazing for his age, he's 65 years old and still jumping and contorting his leathery body into weird shapes while dancing around. That said, one hilarious moment came when Iggy, while trying to get closer to the audience (he likes to do that), asked the security guards to carry him over to the barrier, "I don't want to get muddy" he said into the mic. Pretty funny for a guy famous for doing so many crazy and disgusting things on stage in the past. The band itself didn't sound as incredible as in the Hammersmith Apollo, partly due to the sound (The Stooges just sound better really, really loud) but they were still pretty fantastic, blasting us with songs like Raw Power, Search And Destoy, I Wanna Be Your Dog, No Fun and I Got A Right. Surprisingly too (for me anyway) there were a bunch of Iggy Pop solo songs thrown into the mix too, tracks like Kill City, Johanna and Beyond The Law, and to be honest they all sounded as good as The Stooges numbers. I think Iggy was a bit frustrated with the lack of craziness in the crowd though, he kept shouting "wake up!" and one point he bent down to a moody looking young man in the first row and after singing "I'm going to make you love me", stroked his face and said, in a big fuck you way, "Even you kid." Don't mess with Iggy! It was made even cooler seeing Led Zep's Jimmy Page at the side of the stage grinning all the way through the set and apparently Robert Plant was there too, but sadly I didn't see him.
I was also gutted to miss The Mars Volta headlining the second stage, who I adore and I'm sure were absolutely amazing, but their set started midway during The Stooges and ended just before Soundgarden's and I was afraid I wouldn't make it back in time. Certainly I wouldn't have got such a good spot as I did right in front of the stage. So that was definitely disappointing, just knowing they were playing nearby, but hopefully it won't be too long until I see them again anyway as they are one of my favourite live acts.
Now, Soundgarden and I go back a long way. I was a fan back in the 90s and they are actually one of the first bands I ever went to see live although back then it was in the tiny Camden Underworld (amazing how far they have come!). When they split in the late 90s it actually seemed the right time for them end things, especially going out on a high note, but the fortunes of the each band member since then have been decidedly mixed. Ben Shepherd and Kim Thayil dropped out of music completely (apart from Thayil popping up on a Boris album), Matt Cameron of course probably got the best deal, becoming the drummer in Pearl Jam, which he still is (the lucky man in rock, without a doubt) and Chris Cornell seemed to start off well with his first solo album, Euphoria Morning, but then briefly joined the generic Audioslave, had a hit with a Bond theme then made a really terrible bid for true mainstream fame by teaming up with Timbaland. I think every Cornell fan breathed a huge, huge sigh of relief when it was announced that Soundgarden were getting back together, because honestly, back in the 90s he was not only amazingly cool but just completely awesome too. I know I wasn't the only one willing him to be fantastic again and tonight I really did get my wish.
Starting out with the atmospheric Searching With My Good Eye Closed, it was truly exciting to hear them back together and they all looked so damn cool: Cameron as youthful as ever, Shepherd sporting a great full beard and his crazy hair, Cornell all in black looking slim and handsome with his hair long and a whispy wild beard and best of all, Kim Thayil, my absolute favourite member of the band, his now graying hair tied back under a woolen hat but pretty much looking every bit as badass as I remembered.
Aside from a gritty, beautifully heavy version of Louder Than Love's Gun pretty early on, the first half of the set seemed to concentrate on getting all the obvious songs out of the way, the big "hits" if you will: Spoonman, Jesus Christ Pose (this sounded incredible by the way with Shepherd in particularly a true awesome beast on the bass), Outshined and, of course, Black Hole Sun. The last song, despite being their biggest hit, is actually one of my least favourites but something pretty magical happened when they started playing it, the heavens seemed to open and it just began to pour with rain. Obviously watching a concert in the rain isn't the ideal conditions but at the same time it was pretty special to hear Cornell croon "black hole sun, won't you come and wash away the rain" in the middle of the downfall. "Hyde Park looks best in the rain," Cornell jokingly told us, "anyone can go to a park when it's sunny!" which is true in a way, it definitely made the show far more unique. Maybe because they are more than used to the rain, coming from Seattle, Cornell wasn't afraid of getting wet either, wandering often down to the audience and it struck me how much more of a showman he had become over the years, rather than the moody frontman of the early 90s but working a stage and a crowd that big, it's definitely a good thing, especially when the rest of the band remain typically stoic throughout (and that's why I love them).
The rain actually seemed to made them play even better bizarrely enough and they kept taking it up a gear, becoming more and more compelling with each song. I was particularly excited to hear Hunted Down, from their first EP Screaming Life, which still sounded edgy and intense even on such a huge stage and I sung along to every word. They kept the energy on high with tracks like Drawing Flies, Ugly Truth (again, magnificent), My Wave and the deep, Sabbath-esque heaviness of Beyond The Wheel, with Cornell screaming powerfully above it all and Thayil alternating between, beautifully weird chords to thrashy, punky guitar to proper grungy metal. I had heard rumours that Cornell's voice had lost some of its power but to my ears it sounded as great as ever. I guess some people want him to sound exactly as he does on the records but live, part of the appeal for me, is that it does sound rawer and on the whole he seemed to reach most of the high notes.
There were softer moments, like the melodic Blow Up The Outside World and the mournful Fell On Black Days (one of my favourites from their latter day career) but mostly they were content to rock out. Cornell told us that this was show revisiting their past, for playing songs from all of their previous albums, and that next year they are releasing a new album and would be back to play new material (which is awesome news indeed). This probably explains why they didn't play their first single together in years, Live To Rise, but to be honest I was more than happy to revel in the past and hear all my old favourites (although I was sad that neither Hands All Over or Loud Love were played but it's a pretty small complaint).
They ended the main set with 4th Of July, which is a great track but a bizarre closer I must say, thankfully they returned in the rain for two numbers that finished the show on a truly epic high note: a rip-roaring Rusty Cage, which had everyone singing along (a brilliant thing considering the lyrics!) and a fantastically building Slaves And Bulldozers, which was a perfect reminder of just why Soundgarden were my favourite band all those years back. The song ended on a huge wave of feedback with each member leaving the stage as their part ended until it was just Thayil alone on stage conducting the stage noises coming from his guitar like a scientist. Finally he gave a look and a shrug like, "it's not as weird and noisy as I'd have liked, but it will do", grabbed a beer from a roadie and gave the crowd his first acknowledgement of the night and raised the beer to the crowd. Here's to you too Kim, you and Soundgarden were absolutely fantastic tonight, I'm so happy to have you back!
I have attended rainy festivals before (although never anything as bad as some of the Glastonbury weekends in recent years, there's no way I could hack that) but weather-wise this year's Hyde Park shows were the most miserable I've ever been to, much worse than Neil Young's headlining concert a few years back when it rained constantly all day but suddenly the sun came out when old Shakey took to the stage.
When we arrived, well-prepared with wellies and raincoats, it was actually dry and clear and Aussie legends Cold Chisel were rocking away on the stage. I must admit here, I had absolutely no clue who Cold Chisel were before this show but it became immediately clear upon seeing them that they had been around for quite a while. It turns out that they are the band that spawned Jimmy Barnes, who I vaguely remember being popular in the 80s and releasing some songs with INXS. He recently reunited with Cold Chisel and, despite being huge down under, this was the band's first show in the UK in over 30 years. They definitely had some hardcore fans at this show, I saw Cold Chisel t-shirts aplenty and people singing along to the songs. To me it just sounded like pub rock, albeit of the superior kind, but they seemed to put on a good, powerful show if that's your thing. But for me, it was the next act I was far more excited about.
I saw Iggy & The Stooges for the first time a couple of years back (the post about it is somewhere on this blog) and they blew me away with just how raw, dangerous and exciting they were even after all these years. We were taking bets before Iggy Pop arrived on stage just how few clothes he would be wearing and he didn't surprise any of us when he leaped on stage, despite the weather conditions, shirtless but thankfully wearing a belt this time (last time his jeans became horribly close to dropping to his knees) and looking very tanned. Iggy is pretty amazing for his age, he's 65 years old and still jumping and contorting his leathery body into weird shapes while dancing around. That said, one hilarious moment came when Iggy, while trying to get closer to the audience (he likes to do that), asked the security guards to carry him over to the barrier, "I don't want to get muddy" he said into the mic. Pretty funny for a guy famous for doing so many crazy and disgusting things on stage in the past. The band itself didn't sound as incredible as in the Hammersmith Apollo, partly due to the sound (The Stooges just sound better really, really loud) but they were still pretty fantastic, blasting us with songs like Raw Power, Search And Destoy, I Wanna Be Your Dog, No Fun and I Got A Right. Surprisingly too (for me anyway) there were a bunch of Iggy Pop solo songs thrown into the mix too, tracks like Kill City, Johanna and Beyond The Law, and to be honest they all sounded as good as The Stooges numbers. I think Iggy was a bit frustrated with the lack of craziness in the crowd though, he kept shouting "wake up!" and one point he bent down to a moody looking young man in the first row and after singing "I'm going to make you love me", stroked his face and said, in a big fuck you way, "Even you kid." Don't mess with Iggy! It was made even cooler seeing Led Zep's Jimmy Page at the side of the stage grinning all the way through the set and apparently Robert Plant was there too, but sadly I didn't see him.
I was also gutted to miss The Mars Volta headlining the second stage, who I adore and I'm sure were absolutely amazing, but their set started midway during The Stooges and ended just before Soundgarden's and I was afraid I wouldn't make it back in time. Certainly I wouldn't have got such a good spot as I did right in front of the stage. So that was definitely disappointing, just knowing they were playing nearby, but hopefully it won't be too long until I see them again anyway as they are one of my favourite live acts.
Now, Soundgarden and I go back a long way. I was a fan back in the 90s and they are actually one of the first bands I ever went to see live although back then it was in the tiny Camden Underworld (amazing how far they have come!). When they split in the late 90s it actually seemed the right time for them end things, especially going out on a high note, but the fortunes of the each band member since then have been decidedly mixed. Ben Shepherd and Kim Thayil dropped out of music completely (apart from Thayil popping up on a Boris album), Matt Cameron of course probably got the best deal, becoming the drummer in Pearl Jam, which he still is (the lucky man in rock, without a doubt) and Chris Cornell seemed to start off well with his first solo album, Euphoria Morning, but then briefly joined the generic Audioslave, had a hit with a Bond theme then made a really terrible bid for true mainstream fame by teaming up with Timbaland. I think every Cornell fan breathed a huge, huge sigh of relief when it was announced that Soundgarden were getting back together, because honestly, back in the 90s he was not only amazingly cool but just completely awesome too. I know I wasn't the only one willing him to be fantastic again and tonight I really did get my wish.
Starting out with the atmospheric Searching With My Good Eye Closed, it was truly exciting to hear them back together and they all looked so damn cool: Cameron as youthful as ever, Shepherd sporting a great full beard and his crazy hair, Cornell all in black looking slim and handsome with his hair long and a whispy wild beard and best of all, Kim Thayil, my absolute favourite member of the band, his now graying hair tied back under a woolen hat but pretty much looking every bit as badass as I remembered.
Aside from a gritty, beautifully heavy version of Louder Than Love's Gun pretty early on, the first half of the set seemed to concentrate on getting all the obvious songs out of the way, the big "hits" if you will: Spoonman, Jesus Christ Pose (this sounded incredible by the way with Shepherd in particularly a true awesome beast on the bass), Outshined and, of course, Black Hole Sun. The last song, despite being their biggest hit, is actually one of my least favourites but something pretty magical happened when they started playing it, the heavens seemed to open and it just began to pour with rain. Obviously watching a concert in the rain isn't the ideal conditions but at the same time it was pretty special to hear Cornell croon "black hole sun, won't you come and wash away the rain" in the middle of the downfall. "Hyde Park looks best in the rain," Cornell jokingly told us, "anyone can go to a park when it's sunny!" which is true in a way, it definitely made the show far more unique. Maybe because they are more than used to the rain, coming from Seattle, Cornell wasn't afraid of getting wet either, wandering often down to the audience and it struck me how much more of a showman he had become over the years, rather than the moody frontman of the early 90s but working a stage and a crowd that big, it's definitely a good thing, especially when the rest of the band remain typically stoic throughout (and that's why I love them).
The rain actually seemed to made them play even better bizarrely enough and they kept taking it up a gear, becoming more and more compelling with each song. I was particularly excited to hear Hunted Down, from their first EP Screaming Life, which still sounded edgy and intense even on such a huge stage and I sung along to every word. They kept the energy on high with tracks like Drawing Flies, Ugly Truth (again, magnificent), My Wave and the deep, Sabbath-esque heaviness of Beyond The Wheel, with Cornell screaming powerfully above it all and Thayil alternating between, beautifully weird chords to thrashy, punky guitar to proper grungy metal. I had heard rumours that Cornell's voice had lost some of its power but to my ears it sounded as great as ever. I guess some people want him to sound exactly as he does on the records but live, part of the appeal for me, is that it does sound rawer and on the whole he seemed to reach most of the high notes.
There were softer moments, like the melodic Blow Up The Outside World and the mournful Fell On Black Days (one of my favourites from their latter day career) but mostly they were content to rock out. Cornell told us that this was show revisiting their past, for playing songs from all of their previous albums, and that next year they are releasing a new album and would be back to play new material (which is awesome news indeed). This probably explains why they didn't play their first single together in years, Live To Rise, but to be honest I was more than happy to revel in the past and hear all my old favourites (although I was sad that neither Hands All Over or Loud Love were played but it's a pretty small complaint).
They ended the main set with 4th Of July, which is a great track but a bizarre closer I must say, thankfully they returned in the rain for two numbers that finished the show on a truly epic high note: a rip-roaring Rusty Cage, which had everyone singing along (a brilliant thing considering the lyrics!) and a fantastically building Slaves And Bulldozers, which was a perfect reminder of just why Soundgarden were my favourite band all those years back. The song ended on a huge wave of feedback with each member leaving the stage as their part ended until it was just Thayil alone on stage conducting the stage noises coming from his guitar like a scientist. Finally he gave a look and a shrug like, "it's not as weird and noisy as I'd have liked, but it will do", grabbed a beer from a roadie and gave the crowd his first acknowledgement of the night and raised the beer to the crowd. Here's to you too Kim, you and Soundgarden were absolutely fantastic tonight, I'm so happy to have you back!
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