Photo Gallery: Chris Cornell @ The Chicago Theatre

The golden pipes of Chris Cornell filled the equally ornate confines of the Chicago Theater Tuesday. On tour to support his excellent new solo record Higher Truth, the evening proved to be both generous in quantity (the setlist was in the neighborhood of 30 songs) and diversity. The material that Cornell performed was an equal mix of songs culled from the entirety of his career as the lead singer of Soundgarden (“Rusty Cage,” “Fell On Black Days,” “Black Hole Sun” and “Blow Up The Outside World”), Temple of the Dog (“Hunger Strike,” “Say Hello To Heaven” and “Call Me A Dog”), Audioslave (“Doesn’t Remind Me,” Wide Awake” and “Like A Stone”) and some intuitive and surprising covers (Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You,” Sinead O’Connor’s (written by Prince) “Nothing Compares 2 U” and a completely reworked version of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” that found Cornell constructing his own lyrics over Zimmerman’s original musical score). As a host, he came across as affable, personable and incredibly giving of his time and spirt.

He joked, shared stories, shook hands with audience members and even considered some requests. By evenings end, even his Adonis-like vocal chords where simply no match for his Herculean personality and warmth.

Words and photos by Curt Baran

 

Tags: Chicago Theatre, Chris Cornell, Soundgarden

Category: Featured, Monthly