Artist : Soundgarden
Support : Graveyard
Venue : Brixton Academy, London
Date : 18/09/13
It has been a very, very long time coming. Since reforming last year to a more than rapturous reception whilst playing two UK dates at Download Festival and a headline slot at Hard Rock Calling during June & July, tonight is something a little more special. Soundgarden play their first sold out ‘intimate’ show in the UK at the coveted Brixton Academy, for the first time in what seems to be… well, let’s just say a very long time!
The atmosphere in the crowd tonight is very much one of a positive, joyous, and downright chilled atmosphere where everyone seems to be walking around in good spirits and a smile on their face. There is a variety of age ranges here tonight as well, ranging from the younger generation of Soundgarden fans, to the ladies and gentlemen who were in their prime when the Grunge revolution ignited in the early 90’s, to the even elder statesmen in their 60s! This is just a great testament to show how many generations of people Soundgarden have genuinely inspired and influenced. On another rather bizarrely obvious note, for the first time in 13 years whilst going to gigs, I notice that this audience actually smells great!
Seriously, like every show you are going to go to, you expect the scent of sweaty bodies, spilt beer, and of course the body odour from people having a mini-workout in the pit, right? But for some reason, the whiff of cleanliness ranging from deodorants, fragrant perfumes, and musky aftershave, and of course the smell of fresh Jack Daniels, was apparent all night. I have never ever experienced this at any show in my life. Again, a highly bizarre observation to make… but this had to be mentioned. I always knew rock and roll sounded great, but I never knew it smelt so good as well?!
Anyway… the only support band that is here tonight is the brilliant retro-rock and roll swoon of Swedish quartet Graveyard. Never having heard of them before, I had no expectations whatsoever. Which in most cases is probably the best way to approach a new band having no preconceptions about what you are about to see. So it is safe to say that I was extremely delighted at the choice of support!
Whilst Graveyard have a very slightly timid stage presence, they keep their heads held high and take the time to have a little chat with the audience in between playing some rather damn great old school rock and roll with a modern heaviness. The vibe I get resonates along the lines of musical influences like Blue Oyster Cult, The Doors, Boston, and other classic hard rock and psychedelic bands, to the modern sounds of and twists like The Warlocks, The Datsuns, and The Icarus Line.
Graveyard ploughed their way through a solid set of tunes ranging from their singles ‘Hisingen Blues’ to ‘Goliath’, with a sea of curious onlookers looking like they really are digging it.
The addition of a really cool dim-light presence for their lighting rig on stage, acts as some almost very moody and atmospheric touch, which actually compliments their overall presence on a larger stage, making the performance a lot more three dimensional and visually exciting as well.
So it would be very safe to say that Graveyard won a lot of converts tonight, whilst I cheekily observed the merchandise table activity during the break (lots of their shirts flying out). It was just some really damn cool, old school, raw rock and roll with a modern twist.
So my message to Graveyard… Tack för en fantastisk prestation, Du vann över mig som ett fan ocksÃ¥! Se dig i Storbritannien verkliga snart, killar!
So fast forward to 9pm, the entire venue is absolutely rammed to the rafters. Not with the usual hustle and bustle where people are spilling their drinks trying to rush to the front and all that, just a casual and laid back audience who have come to witness the true return of Soundgarden, whilst meeting a load of new people and kicking back to appreciate some quality rock music.
The lights go out… and I must actually say that the introduction was just so simple yet mega cool.
You know what you see in films and in the cliche rock performance… the lights go down, and the white spotlights are rotating and moving all over the stage and audience with the intro music in the background, whilst the crowd is going rapturous awaiting the arrival of the headline band? That is exactly what happened. I know it is a really simple thing to notice, but I have never seen that in a concert before. I thought it was one of those things that was just a staple to a concert cliche!
Regardless, each member of Soundgarden came on to a very warm welcome and kicked in to a scathing version of ‘Spoonman’, to which the sound was bloody huge. Everyone just looks so laid back and cool as hell on stage. Matt Cameron displaying just why he is one of those respected and greatest drummers of the past 20 years, Ben Shepherd grooving out and prowling the stage on bass, Kim Thayil effortlessly looking like a don in his trilby hat and impressive beard combo, whilst making a good core of the audience want to give up playing guitar… because he is just that damn good. But of course, how can we forget frontman Chris Cornell? Somehow managing to defy age (assuming he must have mad a pact with Satan himself for eternal youth), he does not look a day over 25. More importantly, he still sounds just as great on vocals as he ever has done, making him a remarkable singer, and possibly one of the finest singers in rock music in general.
The band smash through a very, truly solid near 2 hour (encore included) set, which is filled with some choice cuts from their extensive back catalogue, as well as some songs from their great new album ‘King Animal’.
With this, their stage production includes a really lovely touch of visual projections for sets of songs, which the curtains at the backdrop open up to reveal some sweet imagery, including artwork which ties in with the visual concept of their new album, some more mosaic and symmetrical imagery, as well as some elaboration on their ‘Badmotorfinger’ artwork too. It was a great dynamic which complimented some of the songs really well in the live setting.
Other tracks which received such rapturous ovation was the grind and dirge of ‘Outshined’, ‘Black Rain’, ‘Let Me Drown’, and ‘Rusty Cage’. Although at times there was a couple of minor inconsistencies which were noticeable.
Some of the things that led to the minus factors about their show was a particularly drab version of ‘Black Hole Sun’ Do not get me wrong, it was totally cool… but Cornell’s vocals were just a bit slack compared to how they usually should be in the song. That and there was a couple of notation slip ups on guitar too, which is funny as this is arguably one of their ‘easier’ songs to play!
There was a couple of times where the set seemed to drag out a tiny bit, but that can be excused as this is Soundgarden. They can play whatever the hell they want and we should feel pretty damn grateful. But also I felt that while he was very receptive and communicative with the audience, Cornell’s stage presence when not playing guitar was quite subdued. I am not however condoning that he should channel back in to the Cornell of 20 years ago, I just thought there could have been somewhat more of a bit of raw energy within the stage presence.
Regardless after a good 1 hour and 45 minutes of non-stop bloody good hard rock music, Soundgarden have closed the night with an everlasting impression as to why they are one of the most highly respected bands in rock music in the past quarter of a century. I feel that with a little more stage presence and a bit more tightening up, this could have been spectacular.
Overall, a great set from Soundgarden and Graveyard (individually and respectively), with a buzzing atmosphere within the audience. That is another band on my shortlist of artists that I have not seen, but now have!
Glad to have you back, Soundgarden. Do not leave it too late next time to whet our appetites!
Score : 7.5/10
Review by: James Matthews
