Chris Cornell & Aerosmith - Hyde Park Calling, 24 June 2007

UPDATE: The Chris Cornell Fan Page has used an extract of my blog review on its page! Mine is the 2nd fan review after "james". Check it out!!

Chris Cornell Setlist: Spoonman - Outshined - Show Me How To Live - You Know My Name (with David Arnold) - Hunger Strike - What You Are - Arms Around Your Love - Rusty Cage - Cochise - Like A Stone - Doesn't Remind Me - Let Me Drown - Black Hole Sun - Jesus Christ Pose

Check out this short Youtube video of Hunger Strike with Chris holding his two kiddies:

ORIGINAL POST:

Matt & Ad - Fallen Rock Stars?
The "Let's Put The Left-Over Fried Chicken In The Empty Cup To Save For Later" incident
The oldest rocker granny
Andy's response when asked what he thought of the festival beer prices
I got really close to Chris Cornell, not
Me before Chris Cornell
Me, after Chris Cornell
We got even closer to Aerosmith
Mud galore
Welcome to an English festival where rain is guaranteed. So much for avoiding Glastonbury. I arrived at Hyde Park in my sensible footwear and managed to bypass getting my bag checked by security so I was pleased that I succeeded in sneaking my small £2.99 bottle of rose in (nevermind that later I had to fork out £18 for 2 glasses of Pimms, let me relish this small victory of beating the system! Rock & roll!). Hyde Park was heaving and there were old and new rockers everywhere. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the nature of the festival but I was not getting a good vibe from this crowd.

I didn't check out the other bands who were playing as I was only there for 2 reasons: Chris Cornell & Aerosmith, although from what I heard, The Answer were pretty good. When I initially bought the tickets, only Aerosmith had been announced to headline. When it was subsequently announced that Chris Cornell was the second headliner, I nearly broke out in plaid shirts!

After constantly nagging everyone that we had to get closer to the stage before Chris Cornell came on, we battled the crowd and got to about 500 metres from the stage. Not too bad, but considering that I'm quite short and there was a sea of umbrellas obstructing our view, we still couldn't really see the stage. By this time, the rain was pouring down in a steady stream. Although I had my umbrella with me, there was no point and I was already soaked so I discarded it. When Chris finally came onstage, it was pandemonium and everyone started screaming "PUT YOUR UMBRELLAS DOWN WE CAN'T SEE!!" and in unison, everyone dropped their brollies; it was like an unwritten understanding that if we're gonna get wet, let's all get wet together. There was one girl next to me who didn't put her umbrella down which resulted in a near fight when one rude man got aggressive with her but because he was such a complete cunt, everyone told him to fuck off and told her to keep her umbrella up (for the record, she only had her umbrella up so that her mate could find her and when she did, she put it down to the cheers of the crowd).

Chris Cornell, Rock God Extraordinaire, 42, still looked good and never sounded better. He kicked off with "Spoonman" and then went into a rollicking performance of "Outshined". Then, the moment I was waiting for for about 10 years of my life. I have to divert slightly here to give a quick background story. Way back in the 90's when the whole Seattle grunge rock scene exploded, I was into the likes of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden et al. I had a bootleg CD of a compilation of live Pearl Jam performances but it didn't have a songlist. One of the songs was of Eddie Vedder singing a song which I was later informed by my dear friend and fellow Pearl Jammer Josh that it was a song called "Hunger Strike" by Temple of the Dog, which was a one off side group formed by Chris Cornell with ex-members of Mother Love Bone (following the death of their lead singer, Andrew Wood, and was a tribute to him) and members of Soundgarden and the future Pearl Jam. "Hunger Strike" was a duet between Cornell and Vedder and was the band's most popular song in the early 90's. It showcased both lead singers' respective and unique voices and it has the most beautiful tune to it and the most touching lyrics (more below).

Anyway, I used to constantly listen to my bootleg version of Vedder singing "Hunger Strike" (and subsequently my illegally downloaded album version) and always wished that one day, I'd be able to hear either him or Cornell (or both!) sing it live so I could shout "I'm going hungry!!" at the top of my voice. True enough, the fifth song Chris Cornell played was "Hunger Strike". Had it not been for the adrenaline pumping through me, I probably would have shed a tear or two when I heard the instantly recognisable opening riffs. Chris brought out his two gorgeous youngest children at that point to the screaming approval of the crowd. Then he went into the song and yes, it was everything I could have ever imagined and I did fulfil my dream of shouting "I'm going hungry!" at the top of my voice.

Chris played a good mixture of Soundgarden, Audioslave and solo material including "Doesn't Remind Me", his James Bond tune "You Know My Name" (joined by his co-writer David Arnold), "Chochise" (which got the crowd roaring and headbanging), the rocking "Original Fire", the popular "Black Hole Sun" and he closed with a screamadelic "Jesus Christ Pose" (that man can still wail!). Full set list to follow. Credit is also due to his four-piece band who powered through the songs. Needless to say, when he finished his set I was left panting for me. I was slightly disappointed with the crowd as most of them didn't seem to get or know who he was and were not aware of the fact that they were witnessing a true genius perform. I suppose they had all come to see Aerosmith. Ah well, at least there was this random Ethan Hawke-ish bloke next to me who was headbanging along and screaming with me. (UPDATE: After scouring some Chris Cornell fan pages and his Myspace, it seems there were a number of CC fans in the crowd, shame that I was nowhere near them!) Ethan even tried to wager a £50 bet with me that Chris would close with "Black Hole Sun" but knowing that he would lose his money I didn't take that bet, much to his relief when Chris closed with "Jesus Christ Pose" (God I'm so nice). Chris even commented on the weather at one point, saying that it reminded him of his home town (that would be Seattle) [UPDATE: Turns out Ross Halfin may have said it first]. For the record, he now divides him time between Paris and LA.

The crowd then started getting aggressive and even more obnoxious so for our own safety, we decided to fall back and stand at a further distance from the stage.

Now, I have to confess that I was a bit skeptical about Aerosmith. I love them, don't get me wrong, but I couldn't help but think that this was a jukebox tour for them and that all they would do was churn out the greatest hits on auto-pilot. How very, very wrong I was. I now understand why they are one of the top live acts because they know how to put on a show and bring the house down, and then some! By the time they came on, the rain had more or less subsided and they too were late. They kicked off with "Love in an Elevator" which had us screaming along. I was however surprised that the crowd around us didn't seem to know the song... eh?!! Next was "Cryin'" and "Eat the Rich" and again, the crowd had no clue. Just as I was starting to think that perhaps Aerosmith aren't really that big, they played "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" from that sucky movie Armageddon, and a song which I truly detest (a classic example of songs produced by Aerosmith post-drugs) but the entire crowd erupted and sang along. For fucks sake. At this point, I decided to buy a disgusting £3.50 cheeseburger (UPDATE: If you want a proper Aerosmith ballad listen to "Angel").

Anyway, so why do I think Aerosmith are rock legends? Because they know how to put on one helluva show and Steve Tyler and Joe Perry certainly know how to tease and work the crowd. If reincarnation does exist, please God let me be a rock star in my next life. The OTT rock outfits, the removing of the shirts to reveal bare chests at the right moment, the Jimi Hendrix style guitar playing behind the head... Steve Tyler beckoning the camera towards him and then lifting his top up to show the crowd he had the words "Lick Me" written just above his pubes. Fucking awesome!! And Joe Perry, for many years now I have lusted after this man and yes, if I could, you know I would.

Apart from the cheesy Armageddon song, Aerosmith played a good set of hits, including a haunting "Seasons of Wither" (one of my fave songs and one I always wanted to hear live), "Livin' on the Edge", a breathtaking "Dream On", the classic "Sweet Emotion" and closed with "Walk This Way" with an appearance by DMC of Run DMC.

Leaving Hyde Park was a complete an utter nightmare but even though I was all sweaty, soaked and muddy, I had absolutely no regrets and would do it all again (with a raincoat). The rain unfortunately prevented me from taking more pics and clips of Chris Cornell and Aerosmith so just take my word that it was truly legendary.

And just for Josh, I give you "Hunger Strike" by the now defunct Temple of the Dog (lyrics below): -


Hunger Strike - Temple of the Dog
I don't mind stealing breadFrom the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerlessWhen my cup's already overfilledBut it's on the tableThe fire is cookingAnd they're farming babiesWhile the slaves are workingThe blood is on the tableAnd their mouths are chokingBut I'm growing hungry