Live Reviews : Soundgarden @ Festival Hall, Melbourne 24/02/2015

Words: Jonathon Besanko

Images: Ben Gunzburg

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Last night was an incredible evening. It was a Tuesday night, but that didn’t stop the many hundreds of people who had congregated outside Festival Hall, Melbourne from coming to see live one of American music’s finest and most enduring acts, Soundgarden. The Seattle-born band were set to play a two and a half hour gig with no supporting act, and despite initial hesitations as to whether they’d be able to pull that off successfully, namely due to a less-than-stellar outing at Soundwave last weekend, thankfully, they did so and more than made up for anything else. Whilst the band was due to take the stage at 8pm, they didn’t actually arrive onstage until only a couple minutes shy of 8.30. I felt this was a bit poor, especially given the fact they had at least an hour since doors had opened to organise soundcheck and tuning of instruments. Still, once lead singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell emerge to a sea of screaming fans old and new, all transgressions were forgiven as the band performed and gave heed to what they do best: play some damn impressive rock music.

Playing a total of 23 songs on the night (including the two encore tracks), the opportunity to play a wide array of music from Soundgarden’s long career was definitely taken advantage of. Opening their set with the first track off their 1988 debut album, ‘Ultramega OK’, and also the only one from this album that would be featured, “Flower” ushered the guys in. With the majority of Festival Hall filled to the brim with fans and happy spectators, Chris Cornell was bowed in by the audience like some sort of worshipped divinity. Taking full advantage of this, Chris ran from either end of the lengthy stage, getting the crowds to cry out; whether they were dead-centre in the floor area, or off to the far left or right in the seated areas. The man knew how to work a crowd, and this wild, happy-go-lucky attitude he brought to his performance was only benefited by the strong dynamic the other band members provided. Where lead guitarist Kim Thayil played his instrument with the soul and practiced hand of a late blues-era guitarist, bassist Ben Shepherd played his hefty, vibrating notes with a quiet profession (before later in the set stomping about in a rhythmic way), leaving drummer Matt Cameron to do his thing in the back.

It wasn’t long into Soundgarden’s set that Chris gave one of the best of his many short speeches that night, talking specifically about the advantage of venues over that of festivals. Whilst he began by expressing his enjoyment of festivals (like that of Soundwave they played recently), he then went on to say, “[There are] no blankets. It’s just people enjoying each others company” – before leading into the light remark about one of the audience members – “Sir, I’m enjoying you!” to which everyone laughed. There was a real showmanship to Soundgarden that I liked, and coupled with the impressive backing screen, lighting, and sound (though the latter did occasionally drown out certain elements when the bass notes truly hit their stride) that painted the band in a lavish mix of golds, violets, and greens, they appeared every bit the rock icons they deservedly are.

Cornell’s vocals were powerful, swimming over the audience. And there was an almost hypnotic stage presence to Soundgarden as they played. They seemed to hold the audience in the palm of their hands for every bit of the show. Whether it was in the showing of rare live tracks such as “Birth Ritual” – which opened with an amusing anecdote from Chris saying this was actually an older song he’d rewritten based on shitty, earlier lyrics – or in the playing of fan favourites such as “Spoonman”, Soundgarden were tight from start to finish.

“We get to do what we do because of you,” Chris later announced, “Thank you for supporting us for so long!” This was met with great applause, and it wasn’t long before the more-than-two-hour set had reached its climax, ending with the encore tracks “Limo Wreck” and “Slaves & Bulldozers”. This then closed out with an almost trance-like vibrato – adopting cues from the end of “Slaves & Bulldozers” – that was carried out by the combined efforts of Chris, Kim, and Ben. As Chris left the stage, Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd carried the note til its final peak; leaving the many people in the crowd to leave the venue looking satisfied.

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