Vail Daily concert review: ‘We are Soundgarden, and we are back’

Fans prayed they’d see the day, but Chris Cornell spent years promising they wouldn’t. Despite that, the grunge-metal gods are back. And they’re still “badmotorfingers.” With an almost full moon rising behind the Red Rocks stage, Cornell, his long hair blowing in the warm night wind, held his guitar overhead and triumphantly proclaimed, “It’s been a long time. We are Soundgarden, and we are back.”After opening with “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” from 1991’s “Badmotorfinger” and the Grammy-winning “Spoonman,” that much was more than clear.It’s something fans have been waiting for since the group broke up in 1997, and those fanatics, some as faded as the band shirts they wore – Flaming Lips, Tool, Pearl jam and the like – weren’t left wanting more Monday night at the sold-out show, which drew fans from around the country. The crowd ranged from teenagers who weren’t alive when they threw the Seattle grunge scene into the spotlight in the late ’80s/early ’90s, along with contemporaries Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam, to people who still remember shedding tears when the foursome broke up because of creative differences.Cornell and his cohorts – guitarist and founding member Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd -gave fans everything they hoped for and more. Cornell played his frontman role to near perfection, getting the crowd clapping, singing (the whole crowd sang in unison “Blow Up the Outside World” from the band’s last studio album) yelling and lighting up.”Smoke it all so you don’t get busted on the way home,” Cornell said, referencing the contact high he joked the high altitude would help the band get. And it was clear he was talking about the usual joints glowing around the venue and not the meth some seemingly normal 20somethings next to us started hitting. Despite our unfortunate neighbors, the show exceeded expectations, shredding our eardrums and proving to everyone present that, without a doubt, these punk rock/heavy metal maestros have still got it. The 20-plus setlist ranged from grunge-heavy “Jesus Christ Pose” to the well-known hits “Burden In My Hand,” “Fell on Black Days,” and “Black Hole Sun,” though the band changed them up. An eyeball (along with other album art throughout the night) projected onto the rock face behind the stage blinked and looked around as Cornell wailed through a spot-on rendition of “Pretty Noose” and one of the band’s favorites, “Superunknown.”Though the band played the natural amphitheater back in the day, Cornell seemed to appreciate it more this time around.”It’s beautiful,” he said. “We played here before, and maybe a little bit was lost on us. It’s f—ing amazing.”It couldn’t have been too lost on him, though, since Red Rocks was one of the original four shows announced on this reunion tour. Cornell’s voice was unbelievably in tune – it probably sounded better than any performance they ever played back in the ’90s, when he would chug Jack Daniels backstage. He’s mature now, and his voice sounded like the best recorded tracks from months in a recording studio, yet it was live. The band closed out its four-song encore with “Slaves & Bulldozers.” After giving it all they had, a sweat-drenched Cornell and Cameron walked off stage as Thayil and Shepherd stood in front of speakers, letting the feedback echo off the rocks even as they walked off the stage. Shepherd chucked his bass over his head as he exited, knocking over a light in a possible nod to the 1997 Hawaii show where he did the same, though then it was reportedly because of frustration over equipment failure and this time more likely in exaltation.Though Cornell has said Soundgarden will release a new studio album in spring 2012, there weren’t any new tunes Monday, just a solid hit parade that left fans exuberant as they marched out of the amphitheater, ears ringing for what will likely be days to come.High Life Editor Caramie Schnell can be reached at 970-748-2984 or cschnell@vaildaily.com.