I have,its good..I liked it last night..but liked it more when I thought it was a new tune..lol
I decided to I needed to "reaquaint" myself with Down on the Upside.....to "reintroduce" myself to it,lol.
Its very good....I remember this being the first release where I felt a few of the songs sounded similar.
Besides the popuIar classics Pretty Noose,Rhinosaur,Blow Up..,Burden...I really like Overfloater,Switch Opens,Tighter&Tighter & Applebite.Boot Camp I knew from I-5...but the studio is really good as well.
I seem to prefer the slower tunes....second half is better than I remembered...
He should go both nights.....I should have,Im pissed that I didn't....Cornell mentioned MSG the other night,I couldn't make out what he was saying.....I hope they play a bunch more this year,and go back in the studio.
I agree.....IMO,right now..today...Soundgarden are light years better than PJ....Matt C should give them his notice of resignation...2 gigs in July ? They can get Jack Irons back for that weekend...lol.....
It would be nice to go tonight as well but tickets went VERY quickly. I think I was lucky to go after the Saturday show instead of the Friday show initially as I may have been shutout altogether! Also, as much as I dig Soundgarden, if I don't attend two PJ shows (as in Sept 2011) I'm not attending two SG ones.
All of the above said, King Animal is indeed better than any PJ record since Yield. It's excellent. The songs are well-written and the music is very cohesive. The past four PJ records simply sound like a bunch of songs thrown together. Mind you, some of those songs are outstanding as well.
The show opens, without any “warning” with the pre-recorded intro to “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” – fans (many who are attempting to order drinks at that moment turn around attempt to get closer, if humanly possible to the stage) and then they break into the song itself. It’s an epic opener – we all loved it.
I avoided looking at Friday night’s setlist so I wasn’t sure what they might (and might not) play. Some songs were “givens” but I wasn’t too sure of “Jesus Christ Pose” was – it’s the song I wanted to hear most. I was glad they played it early so any worries I might have had were gone and I could enjoy the rest of the show – and boy did I ever.
They kept the energy going with “Spoonman” – the crowd went absolutely nuts for this one – young fans, older fans, female fans, etc were going ape over this one. They nailed it.
Things calmed down ever-so-slightly when they broke into a new one, “By Crooked Steps.” Let me tell you, this is a fantastic song from a fantastic album. It really is right up there with BMF and Superunknown. Admittedly, it will never have as much “meaning” to me as the other two (I’m not as impressionable as I once was) but every song on King Animal is a winner.
Next came an oldie but a goodie, “Gun.” This is one intense song which sounds much better live. I’m really glad I did a little extra homework by listening to some of the 1980’s catalog as it made seeing the live performances that much more enjoyable. Also, Ben Shepherd was on fire during this show – and especially during this song. It was so cool how he used his bass as a mock sniper rifle during the outro. This guy seemed to be enjoying himself immensely during the show – and man is he ever a big guy. I used to think he was a bit dork back in the day – I wouldn’t mess with him now!
“Rhinosaur” is next - a good song but maybe not a great one. The crowd wasn’t as into this one, although they played it very well. Maybe “Pretty Noose” would fit nicely here. I wonder why they don’t play that one very much anymore.
At this point I was thinking they needed to play a big one – and you don’t get much bigger than “Outshined” – awesome performance. I was so glad to hear it live! Near the end of the song, Cornell goofed a bit on the lyrics but the band backed him up beautifully and the song ended just fine.
Time for a new one, no? “Taree” it is and man, Cornell belted that one out. I thought of you for a moment, Ed, when this one came on. I know you love it. Great performance.
For whatever reason, when “Taree” ended, I thought now would be a great time to play “Fell on Black Days” – and they did! It’s one of my favourites from Superunknown and they didn’t disappoint. What I also liked was as this one faded out, they went right into “Blow Up the Outside World.” What a combo that was!
I was loving all of these classics but I figured it was time for them to play a few more from King Animal. On my ride downtown, I made sure I gave an extra listen to the second half of the album and my efforts paid off as they played “Halfway There” and “Eyelid’s Mouth” – both sounded great. However, I think the performance of “Non-State Actor” topped them both – I loved the flag video they showed in the backdrop during the performance.
The crazy part of all of this is that we were only halfway into the main set!
Now to appease the hardcore fans by playing the high-octane “Drawing Flies,” the heavy “Hunted Down,” and the best pre-BMF song, “Loud Love.” I, somewhat surprisingly, really enjoyed hearing this older tunes – and you know who might be the coolest guy in rock? Kim Thayil. He calmly and slyly just shredded through the whole concert, almost giving a knowing wink at the audience.
Once these songs were done, they quickly jumped back into the new record and played an outstanding performance of “Worst Dreams” – I really like this song. I was so impressed by the efficiency of this band. They appropriately acknowledged the audience throughout the show but spared us any ranting and focussed on the music.
As I mentioned before, I didn’t know what they had played the previous night so I wasn’t too sure if they’d play one of my favourites from Superunknown, “They Day I Tried To Live” but they did indeed. It was one of the most well-received songs of the night with everyone was singing along (well screaming along) the whole time. I loved it.
I was wondering if/when they were going to play “Been Away Too Long” and it came next. It’s a great straight ahead rocker – kind of like their “Vertigo” without the butchering of a foreign language.
Now things got interesting...lesser-known classics like “Head Down” were great. Sure, I probably like other songs better but this tune really shows how versatile the band was – make that IS. “Burden in My Hand” got people singing again (nice!) and “Superunknown” was a very pleasant surprise.
I read that they hadn’t played “Fresh Tendrils” very often back in their 1990’s hey day – not too sure why as it sounded phenomenal.
“Blood on the Valley Floor” - one of the “heavier” tracks from King Animal was next. It sounded very good but maybe should have come a little earlier in the set. The main set closed with another lesser-known great from Superunknown, “4th of July.” This is a great song and a great main set closer. I really enjoyed it. I will take this moment to say I would have been even more thrilled if they’d played “Like Suicide” (a song with a similar mood) instead. I guess that serves me right for not attending the July 2, 2011 show, where they played “Like Suicide!” Live and learn.
They played a “usual” four-song finale but I was surprised that they filled it with mostly lesser known songs. “Flower” opened – a great early song whose studio version needs a remastering. Is it on Telephantism? I figured that they were done with Down on the Upside but out came “Dusty,” one of the best songs from the album that wasn’t a single.
“Rusty Cage” crowd got everyone, me included, very excited. CLASSIC. It was great. A solid performance of “Beyond the Wheel,” surprisingly ended the show. Admittedly, I was a bit (unpleasantly) surprised that it was over after this one. I’m sure it pleased the VERY hardcore fans but I was hoping to get “Slave and Bulldozers” – which closed the show Friday (Like I said earlier, I didn’t know this at the time.)
A few final points:
1. What a show! One of the best I’ve ever seen! I remember thinking after the 2011 PJ show that U2 should take some pointers from them. After last night, now I’m thinking PJ should take some pointers from SG! Their no-nonsense, straight-ahead approach was fantastic – and being in a small venue really added to the whole experience. Sure, I would have loved to have heard songs like “Let Me Drown,” “My Wave,” “Room a Thousand Years Wide,” “Hands All Over,” the previously-mentioned “Slave and Bulldozers,” and even “Black Hole Sun” but then I guess I should have gone on Friday (all played then).
2. I have yet to mention Matt Cameron. He was AMAZING – seemed really “at home.” Sorry PJ, I think you’d better ask Jack Irons if he want to come back for a while.
3. Speak of Pearl Jam (again), I hope Soundgarden finds it in their hearts to “do a Pearl Jam” and release the soundboard recordings of these shows. Pearl Jam has spoiled me and I am hoping that the connection between the two bands leads Cornell and company to get their live work out there! It’s THAT great!