Words by Audra Tracy | Photo by Joe Papeo
Hey New Jersey: hang your heads in shame, because you gave a superbly poor showing at the Soundgarden concert at Monmouth University last night. Where the hell were you guys? Are the grunge fans of our fair state officially too old to come out to a rock show on a week night? Did it cut into your tight schedule of ‘not having fun’?
www.soundgardenworld.com
“Is today the last day of school?”, lead singer Chris Cornell asked a dazed and distant audience inside the half-empty auditorium in West Long Branch. “You guys seem pretty bummed”, he noted in between songs off their latest LP, King Animal.
To the band’s credit, they handled the low turnout like true professionals. Like the anti-Kanye, they didn’t throw a tantrum, or end the show early, or even berate the audience for being so lame. Instead, they did what they came to do, which was celebrate 20+ years of rock n roll history with a career-spanning twenty-seven song set.
Nostalgia set in to the tune of songs birthed from the 90’s grunge scene like ‘Fell on Black Days’ and ‘The Day I Tried to Live’, but new material from King Animal reigned supreme on this night.
How Cornell can scream his head off for two straight hours without needing a case of Ricola to recover remains a mystery, but his epically broad vocal range was definitely on full display. And the ever-stoic Kim Thayil delivered loud and loaded guitar solos with ninja-like finesse, especially during stand-outs like ‘By Crooked Steps’, ‘I’ve Been Away For Too Long’, and ‘Non State Actor’ .
Sure, Soundgarden took the lackluster reception all in stride, but you better believe they won’t be returning to the Jersey shore in the near future. They probably went back to their tour bus after the gig, found a map, and drew a giant X over the Garden State. And can you blame them?
Via setlist.fm:
Let Me Drown
Jesus Christ Pose
Black Rain
Rhinosaur
Spoonman
(with Adam)
By Crooked Steps
Taree
The Day I Tried to Live
Been Away Too Long
Worse Dreams
Superunknown
Drawing Flies
Hunted Down
Ty Cobb
Blow Up the Outside World
Fell on Black Days
Halfway There
Big Dumb Sex
Eyelid’s Mouth
Rusty Cage
Encore:
Black Hole Sun
State Trooper
(Bruce Springsteen cover)
Non-State Actor
Live to Rise
Gun
Outshined
Slaves & Bulldozers
www.soundgardenworld.com
TheWaster.com | Monmouth County
05.15.13
One of the greatest concerts I have ever been to and I have been to alot of shows. I don't know what this writer is talking about as far as half full I was in front of the stage. I am sure if it was held at PNC.
it would have been sold out. But for sure SOUNDGARDEN is on top of there game. All four members are true top musicians. I have been listening to SOUNDGARDEN since they formed. THANKYOU SOUNDGARDEN.
This review was dead on. I heard other people in the audience saying the same thing. One think I might say as constructive criticism is that SG could have assembled their set list better and CC could have been more of a showman in between. The set list tended swing to far on the pendulum. From a listeners standpoint it lacked continuity and it never climaxed or maybe it over climaxed and just used up our adrenaline.
I think overall the audience equalled the dullness the band displayed in between songs but during the songs the band were monsters! But then again, I'm from the generation when music was still considered entertainment.
IMO as ethnic pride began to die down in America the grudge gen aka gen x, mtv generation emerged around the same time and was always a bit void of color and personality. So no wonder why (other than the bold few who moshed) was there much more of a homogenized environment amongst some killer music rather then what a bunch of radicals from the 70's would have made out of that show.
I think its funny that people from the 70s thought of themselves as "radicals" and Gen X as "colorless" and "homogenized". My God, how much longer are we going to have to put up with you people weeping for your lost childhood?
Honey. I didn't lose anything. I'm still living it. š
It irritates me deeply when baby boomers call *my* generation "narcissistic" and calls *us* "colorless" and "homogenized". Its like, "Hey you damn kids! Get off my lawn!". Its the opinion of people who don't even bother to know or learn about my generation–they just like to shoot off their mouths because it makes them sound oh-so-blase in articles about bands that incidentally are bands *of* my generation.
I'm following all of this from across the globe, but are you people even aware of the fact that you had the most amazing and varied set-list of the tour so far? "Black Rain", "Rhinosaur", "Big Dumb Sex", "Gun" + a cover song. WOW.
Even though I was not at this show but wanted to because: Soundgarden, it saddens me to hear that the audience was not into the show. This reminds me of the crowd at the SG Jones Beach show in 2011. Everyone around me and pretty much well into the nosebleeds were DEAD. There were pockets of enthusiastic fans here and there (myself included!) that were relishing in every classic song that was rocked that night. But Jones Beach theater is an awful venue for a band like Soundgarden, in my opinion. If you're not seated in the middle, your ears may get blown out. Also, seating and rock bands, esp like SG, DO NOT always mix well.