Thursday started out as a gorgeous spring day here in Seattle. The cherry trees are blooming and downtown was buzzing with a rumor about a super secret Soundgarden show at the Showbox. Diehard fans spent hours tweeting, digging and looking for some confirmation of this, finding it rumored on a few different blogs and news outlets, such as local radio station 107.7 the End’s Harm’s blog and Billboard.com.
We all waited anxiously into the next morning, Friday dawning bright and sunny with a chance of Soundgarden tickets. 10 a.m. brought thousands of fans frantically refreshing the Ticketmaster link, hoping that they would be one of the lucky few to snag a ticket. Anyone lucky enough to be on the Soundgarden newsletter list was emailed the password to the Ticketmaster login (and was promptly retweeted, facebooked, texted and transmitted through other social media), selling out the limited number of General Admission, standing-room-only tickets in under five minutes. (It has been touted as 3.4 minutes, but the actual time has been unannounced by Ticketmaster or the Showbox as of yet.) I happened to be sitting at my daytime desk job, along with four of my other colleagues and my boss, all refreshing and hoping to get lucky. Thanks to Twitter and a well-timed Ticketmaster update, I managed to snag a single ticket to possibly the most sought-after Seattle show this year, Nudedragons (a carefully crafted anagram for Soundgarden).
Seven o’clock found me walking across the infamous 1st and Pike intersection in front of Pike Place Market and the location of my all-time favorite Seattle venues: The Showbox at the Market. Personally, I have been to over a hundred shows at the local landmark, and everything about it was perfect for a reunion show for a local band such as Soundgarden. The brilliant marquee proclaimed “Nudedragons: Sold Out” and the line was already around the corner when I arrived. A typical spring shower added just another reminder that the show was a true Seattle show- Seattle fans, Seattle band, Seattle venue in the heart of Seattle. The fans were a good mix of older, grunge era rockers and the next generation of 20-somethings who have heard the band on radio stations and in their parent’s cars as kids and teenagers. Everyone waited patiently through the incredibly stringent bag check and past the signs proclaiming “no cameras, no video, no audio, NO exceptions.” Since the tickets were Will Call only, the usual scalpers were replaced by fans with signs scribbled in black Sharpie on free copies of the Seattle Stranger that said “Let me be your +1! NAME YOUR PRICE!” and “Do you need a date? I am a HUGE FAN!” Venue security carded everyone and weren’t allowing “Hand-offs” of tickets, so if you paid for the show, you were the person who got in- no exceptions. Fans waited patiently through the long lines and were rewarded with entrance to the iconic venue for yet another long wait.
Upon walking in, the general floor was virtually empty, leaving both bars incredibly packed. The crowd mingled, twittered about the excitement, facebooked about running into old friends and chatted in knots of two or three. Over the next three hours, the excitement continued to build (and the now drunken revelers were wandering around to add to the crowd). There were a lot of familiar faces, including most of the members of Seattle-based Black Houses (new era grunge) sitting on the floor, and were rumors of other famous Seattle musicians such as founding Soundgarden bassist/former member Hiro Yamamoto, Mark Arm, and Kurt Bloch, to name a few. Also, localite Tre from Epidemic Presents was lurking about, along with Sub Pop frontman Jonathan Poneman. With a lot of familiar faces and a barely packed floor, there must have been no more than a thousand people in the venue, including the staff (which were incredibly numerous for such an exclusive show). After the almost agonizing three hour wait, the energy was truly incredible, and Chris Cornell stalked out onto the stage and began one of what will be one Seattle’s most historic shows to date.
Over the next ninety minutes, it became very clear that Soundgarden did not lose their touch during their 13 year hiatus from the stage. The band was all smiles during this “rehearsal show” for their upcoming August Lollapalooza gig. If the band felt any animosity towards each other, there were no telltale signs of it on stage as they all rocked out during their incredible two hour set. The fans moshed, head-banged, and sang along, having a ball as the quartet rocked their socks off. Security wandered through the crowd, making sure no one was taking video, pictures, or audio, even shining a light on my phone when I was tweeting about the show. Honestly, I have NEVER seen Showbox security be that tight, but considering the circumstances, it was understandable.
Soundgarden picked up right where they left off 13 years ago, sound-wise, and with the growing out of Chris Cornell’s signature curly locks, the show had the feel of the early ‘90s. Cornell’s voice was a little rusty through the beginning of “Spoonman” but managed to find its way back to where it belonged and continued throughout the rest of the set without complication, sounding just as good as they day Ultramega OK was released. The guitar riffs were spot on and edgy, the bass loud and thumping, grunge at its finest thanks to Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd’s flawless finger work. Accompanied by legendary Matt Cameron’s amazing drumming, the floor of the Showbox was literally vibrating. They played loud enough that you could hear two blocks away, and security was doing crowd control out front for fans that wanted to try to catch a tiny bit of the show. “Rusty Cage” was perfect in its own gritty manner and “Outshine” was brilliant as the day it was recorded, starting just after one of my favorite quotes of the night.
Chris stepped up and stated, “This is technically a rehersal. If we f—k something up, we are going to go back and do it again, until we get it right.” For as many musicians and diehard fans that were standing on that floor right then, it was the icing on the cake for a brilliant show.
The lighting was simple and bright, hues of blues and orange to make even the most amateur concert photographer swoon, but alas, no cameras allowed. The band treated it as a rehearsal, not necessarily as a show. There was a little banter occasionally, but for the most part, the band came out and did what they do best- played for almost ninety minutes STRAIGHT, a full eighteen song set of older songs and some rare materials. According to Cornell, “We aren’t playing stuff that we stopped playing in 1997. We are playing stuff we stopped playing in 1990.” The list of songs is quite impressive and is lacking a few of their more “popular” and well known songs, such as “Black Hole Sun” and “Jesus Christ Pose” were surprisingly missing from the set list and may have disappointed some of the younger crowd present. They closed with a noteworthy rendition of The Door’s “Waiting for the Sun.” The entire show was near perfect with a sense of historic significance- something Ear Candy’s Travis Hay noted as well. After the Lollapalooza show in August, many are wondering if there will be a tour announced or what is in store for the future of Soundgarden.
Combined with the reunion show of Mother Love Bone at the Showbox on Wednesday night, there are more than a few Seattelites wondering about the resurgence of grunge in Seattle again. With great grunge bands such as Black Houses floating around, it wouldn’t be a surprise. As for Soundgarden’s future, I am hoping for another show here shortly, and agree with Mr. Hay that Bumbershoot would be the prime time to do so, and a great place for a tour kickoff as well. However, if this is truly their comeback, they have made it very plain that they would be calling the shots, and last night’s show serves as one heck of a welcome back from the Emerald City grunge crowd.
Set List:
Spoonman
Gun
Searching With My Good Eye Closed
Rusty Cage
Beyond the Wheel
Flower
Ugly Truth
Fell on Black Days
Hunted Down
Nothing to Say
Loud Love
Blow Up The Outside World
Pretty Noose
Outshined
Slaves and Bulldozers
Encore:
Get On The Snake
Big Dumb Sex
Waiting for the Sun (Doors Cover)
Written by: Annastasia Gallaher
