Photo: Richard Gray
It’s not often you hear the words ‘career-spanning acoustic set’ and don’t immediately want to punch yourself unconscious at the thought of enduring a self-indulgent, barrel-scrape of a set from some long-forgotten who’s seen their royalties dry up since the kids started “doing the downloading.”
Thankfully, Chris Cornell, former frontman of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave, brings about no such desires to self-harm. In fact, his solo acoustic set at London’s Royal Albert Hall is a masterclass in how a classic rock icon can remain refreshing and relevant in today’s rapidly shifting musical landscape.
Despite his 51 years, Cornell is still strikingly handsome, although his wavy flowing locks, now streaked with grey, and his shabby dad get-up place him somewhere on the sartorial spectrum between Chad Kroeger and Frank Gallagher off Shameless. But the moment he opens his mouth and begins to sing in that rich, gravelly howl, his laid back attire becomes irrelevant and the stately grandeur of the Albert Hall seems the perfect home for one of the founding fathers of grunge.
The set does indeed stretch across the wide canvas that is his career and takes in both greatest hits and lesser known tracks from all of his major musical projects to date. And for every three or four self-penned tracks he plays, we’re treated to a carefully curated batch of covers, the first of which is a poignant tribute to Prince in ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.
Throughout the two-hour and then some set, he also drops in The Beatles’ ‘Day In The Life’, U2’s ‘One’ overlaid with Metallic lyrics, Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A Changin’ and Led Zep’s ‘Thank You’ which he dedicates to Jimmy Page who is in attendance and duly stands up to take a bow much to the pleasure of the crowd.
Cornell is a captivating and charming troubadour and proves tonight that he’s capable of much more than just grunge unplugged, and truly deserves a seat in the rock ‘n’ roll royal box alongside his heroes of Plant, Page and Young.
