Went to see
Soundgarden at the Academy in Birmingham on Saturday.
Now this was almost a life-long dream for me as I'd been a fan since my teens and never been able to see them. Tickets sold out on the first day and after seeing the venue, I'm not surprised, it was nowhere near as big as I expected. I'm sure they could have sold out a venue twice the size easily. No bad thing, of course because it was pretty intimate.
So firstly, let me say that musically they were superb. You'd expect them to be excellent given how long they have been around and the fact that their albums are so good, they really are master musicians and any fears that Chris Cornell had lost his voice soon vanished! It was a strong set as well (although I was hoping for '4th of July').
I
really want to tell you that it was one of the greatest gigs I'd ever been to but in truth, it was quite sad. As good as they were (again, they were excellent), they barely moved on stage and I can only imagine that in their earlier years, they would have had more energy about them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting backflips but they did look like a band approaching the end, doing a farewell tour for the fans. Certainly not '
going through the motions' but not as passionate as I had expected them to look.
Brilliant music though and they'll always be one of my favourite bands of all time, glad I got the chance to see them.
Set:
Let Me Drown
Spoonman
By Crooked Steps
Been Away Too Long
Worse Dreams
My Wave
Get on the Snake
Non-State Actor
Pretty Noose
Burden in My Hand
Blood on the Valley Floor
Black Hole Sun
Blind Dogs
Taree
Eyelid's Mouth
Fell on Black Days
Blow Up the Outside World
Rusty Cage
Encore:
Jesus Christ Pose
Slaves & Bulldozers
Soundgarden - Burden In My Hand
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