There’s a mantra that exists for many songwriters and musicians. It says that the best songs aren’t the ones with grandiose production or catchy hooks, but—when stripped down to just a singer and a guitar—still move the listener with their beauty and honesty. This mantra may have been exactly what brought Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell to the Orpheum Saturday, playing a sold-out stop on the new leg of his Songbook Tour.
The show was kicked off by Sri Lankan-American artist Bhi Bhiman. Looking and sounding like a Nightwatchman in training, his lyrics occasionally bordered on silly. Yet, beneath his trucker’s cap, one could see that Bhiman was a man with a lot to say, delivering a collection of political numbers armed with nothing more than a shining Gibson and the age-old weapon of “three chords and the truth.” He also knew how to lead a crowd, getting the audience to whistle along while closing his set with a cover of Dire Straits’ “Walk of Life.” It set the stage for a great night of acoustic guitar and rock ’n’ roll music.
Cornell came out to a thundering crowd of rock-on symbols and pumped fists. An excited look on his face, he joked about marijuana laws, told stories of his time on the road and awkwardly introduced more politically charged songs.
Leaning heavily on Audioslave deep-cuts like “Dandelion,” as well as the occasional solo number, Cornell surprisingly didn’t play anything from Soundgarden until a half-hour into the show. He finally obliged with a beautiful version of “Halfway There,” a track off of Soundgarden’s latest release, King Animal. Congratulating the crowd on being one of the few crowds to “get the song’s message,” Cornell busted out “Fell on Black Days” and “The Day I Tried to Live”—a pair of Soundgarden favorites that whipped the crowd into a fury.
After Soundgarden hits and an awkward combination of U2’s and Metallica’s “One,” Cornell introduced the next song as a “tribute to a dear friend.” This tribute, dedicated to singer Andrew Wood, took the shape of Mother Love Bone’s “Man of Golden Words.” It was an emotional performance, and Chris Cornell poured his heart into a few chords and the words of his close friend who died far before his time. This fittingly led to a Temple of the Dog set. Songs like “Wooden Jesus” were almost too much for this grunge fan to handle and easily overshadowed the hits-laden closer—save a powerful performance of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life.”
Rolling out on a customized stingray bicycle, grin on his face, Cornell happily obliged his audience to an encore. He introduced his new song, “Misery Chain,” and covered another Beatles song, “Dear Prudence,” which failed to stand up to “A Day in the Life.” The finale came with “Blow Up the Outside World,” during which Cornell used the pedal board in front of him to produce a psychedelic breakdown that did more than “blow up the outside world”—it shattered it.
That mantra, highlighting the musician as nothing more than a person with a guitar, holds a lot of power. Sure, many songs that I loved as rockers may not have been perfect as acoustic songs – but it’s impossible to deny what kind of effects songs like “Man of Golden Words” carry when it’s just a singer pouring his heart out over the strings of a guitar. An artist’s songbook is only as strong as the songs within, and—with the Songbook Tour—Cornell has proven with nothing more than a set of pedals and an acoustic guitar, he might have one of the strongest repertoires.
