Soundgarden Set List from First Reunion Gig

Soundgarden played their first reunion show last Friday April 16 at the Showbox in Seattle. Billed as Nudedragons – an anagram of Soundgarden – here’s the set list. Interesting they stayed away from major hits like Black Hole Sun, and got the other big hit Spoonman out of the way right off the bat!

According to ClassicRock.com, here it is:

1. Spoonman
2. Gun
3. Searching With My Good Eye Closed
4. Rusty Cage
5. Beyond The Wheel
6. Flower
7. Ugly Truth
8. Fell On Black Days
9. Hunted Down
10. Nothing To Say
11. Loud Love
12. Blow Up The Outside World
13. Pretty Noose
14. Outshined
15. Slaves And Bulldozers

Encore:
1. Get On The Snake
2. Big Dumb Sex
3. Waiting For The Sun (by The Doors)

According to a report from MTV.com:

On Thursday afternoon, Seattle radio station 107.7 "The End" began tweeting about the possibility of a "secret" show, and news soon spread that fans on the band's e-mail list would receive information on when and where it would take place. When word got out that a band going by the name "Nudedragons" (an anagram of Soundgarden) would be playing on Friday night, fans began stalking Twitter and Ticketmaster, awaiting the moment that tickets would go on sale. According to local news reports in Seattle, the available tickets sold out in less than 15 minutes.

"That's Kim. That's Ben. That's Matt.," Cornell informed fans, pointing to his stagemates, halfway through the band's almost two-hour set, which included a run of more than an hour of nonstop rock before a short break. "And that's Chris," responded drummer Matt Cameron, bringing a cheer from the hometown crowd, who appreciated the introductions, though they were hardly needed.

"It's a rehearsal, so if we f--- something up, we're probably going to go through it again," explained Cornell, just before tearing into "Outshined," off 1991's Badmotorfinger. From the fans' perspective, however, the show appeared to be a rehearsal in name only, with the crowd holding tight to every note, drumbeat and guitar riff sent their way.

If the throwing of a guitar symbolizes all things rock and roll, then clearly bassist Ben Shepherd is ready to make a go of it. After tossing his bass in what many hard-core fans recognize as the "end" of the band back in February 1997, it probably won't go unnoticed that Shepherd did the same thing to close Friday night's show, in what could be seen as an effort to go back to the way things were — with Soundgarden as the heavy, loud powerhouse that exemplified the early-to-mid '90s.

Soundgarden to Reunite in 2010

In what many music fans will see as the first gift of the New Year, it looks like Soundgarden is going to reunite. Chris Cornell put forth on his Twitter feed: "The 12 year break is over & school is back in session. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!" Soundgarden.com has the same message so it looks legit.

This is great. I never got to see Soundgarden back in the day, but I rank Superunknown as one of a handful of my 'desert island albums,' where every track is excellent, the overall vibe is top-notch and I can listen to the CD over and over again without getting tired of it.

Of course they have loads of other great stuff too but that massive album and the Temple of the Dog CD (not Soundgarden but close enough for me) are the ones I go back to.

Anyway, if this is legit and they do some local shows, I am all over it, rover!

Happy New Year, everyone.

3/4 of Soundgarden Reunite Last Night in Seattle

MTV News reports today that Soundgarden minus Chris Cornell reunited for the first time since 1997 at the Crocodile Cafe (small place!) in Seattle last night. It was the Seattle stop on guitar wizard Tom Morello's Justice Tour. Interesting, as Cornell and Morello were in Audioslave!

But Cornell is on the road promoting his very odd new solo album. Who knows if he would have been there if he could have?

The article winds up:

After the show, when asked how he thought it went, [guitarist] Thayil reportedly said, "Not bad for an hour and a half of practice after not playing together for 12 years. ... It was a lot of fun. We played yesterday for a bit but we know all that stuff by heart so we didn't need to practice much."

The poorly kept secret was widely documented by a number of Seattle scenesters, showing up almost instantly in Flickr photostreams and a set of poor-quality MP3s and videos on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer blog site.