Live review: Chris Cornell @ the Ogden Theatre | Reverb — Reverb Music — The Denver Post

Live review: Chris Cornell @ the Ogden Theatre

By | April 28th, 2009 | 4 comments


Too young for Soundgarden? Chris Cornell tore through songs from that band, Audioslave and his own solo catalog at the Ogden on Friday. Photos by Soren McCarty.

The Ogden Theatre has been the perfect venue for many big-name artists who want to bring a smaller, more personal show to their fans. Chris Cornell was not an exception when he graced the Ogden’s stage Friday. I’d once forced myself to sit through an Audioslave concert solely because I was too young to ever see Soundgarden play. Luckily, this tour has pooled an archive of Soundgarden, Audioslave and Cornell’s solo work. This was as good as it was going to get for those who missed the bands in their heyday.

As the lights dimmed, Cornell whetted the crowd’s appetite for this musical montage with his bassy solo track “Part of Me.” After a few more of these newer songs, the crowd loosened up and a murmur of chatting and beer-fueled singing ensued.

Chris Cornell performs at the Ogden Theatre on April 24, 2009 (Soren McCarty)

After stepping outside for fresh air, I heard the opening notes to Soundgarden’s “Outshined.” A jolt of excitement rushed through me as I heard another lady say, “Oh, perfect, we can go buy drinks now that they’re playing all of their OLD stuff,” thus solidifying the fact that there were several different kinds of fans at this show.

I was a little worried by the time Cornell finished belting “Outshined.” His newer songs fit his aged voice, but this “Outshined” sounded like a bad karaoke version of the original. He must have taken this into consideration prior to the tour’s kickoff, however. To account for his waning vocals, he surprised the crowd by presenting a few old favorites with a new spin. That included an upbeat, almost cabaret-esque version of the Soundgarden hit “Rusty Cage.” Cornell then took the stage without his band, armed with an acoustic guitar. He performed more hits, such as Audioslave’s “Like a Stone,” in this unplugged fashion.

The band rejoined Cornell onstage and played through an enjoyable but not mind-blowing closing set comprised mainly of solo and Audioslave songs. The late hour seemed to be taking its toll as the crowd started drifting out of the venue. Things ended on a slightly climactic note with a final Soundgarden hit, “Black Hole Sun,” overshadowed only by the fact that this crowd-pleaser is a song by a band that will likely never be around to perform it again to its full potential.

The show might have been more enjoyable if everyone hadn’t been so uptight. While shifting through the crowd, a woman who looked like she got lost on her way to Nordstroms screeched at me for “pushing.” Several 9-to-5 yuppie-casual men with their dates chivalrously asked me and mine to find another spot because my boyfriend was “too tall.” Fan interactions can make or break shows, and in this case, even the music wasn’t bridging the gap between me and the killjoy, button-down clones. The performances were as good as they could’ve been, but the next time I see a solo act because a favorite band of mine has broken up, I might just stick to YouTube.

Lauren Chavarria is a Denver-based writer and a regular contributor to Reverb. She attends school at CU Denver, where she spends most of her class time updating her Twitter (http://twitter.com/LaurenChavarria).

Soren McCarty is a Denver freelance photographer and regular contributor to Reverb.

MORE PHOTOS:


» PREVIOUS: Live review: Neil Young, Neville Brothers, Everest @ Magness Arena
« NEXT: Live review: Bad Luck City @ 3 Kings Tavern
Categories: REVERB
  • Anonymous

    Nice review, although as a short person I must say: Some of us need to have other people’s tall boyfriends move out of the way so they can see. That doesn’t mean we’re lame yuppie clones, especially if we’re nice when asking about it…

  • Lauren Chavarria

    Agreed, agreed. The MAJOR attitude I got at the Ogden that night, however, was so overwhelmingly predominant that it was worth mentioning and then some, but I can only submit a condensed commentary

    I go to concerts more often than I go to class. Yet at that show I was made to feel like I was a newbie punk intruding on an older crowds “big night out at the rock show” simply because of my age and normal concert-going activities, such as checking out the sound from the bar, the wings, the crowd at the front of the stage, the lobby, etc.

    I say because of my age, because, I saw people shifting and groaning. People giving each other angry stare downs and all the like. The ONLY people who were actually verbally badgered and called out for doing what everyone else was doing was my boyfriend and I, who looked at least 8 years younger than the rest of the couples we were surrounded by. Coincidence?

    In ALL of my years of concert experiences, I’ve honestly never felt such a wave of condescending and negative tones from that many people over something so minute as my tall date and I mingling through the crowd.

    Is he tall? Yes. Unfortunately, it’s no more his fault that he’s tall than it’s my fault that I am 5”1. He has the same ticket that everyone in the venue has for a GA show. We weren’t throwing punches to get where we were standing, so as far as I’m concerned, it was our right to stand there and watch the show there all night if we had so chosen. We were nice enough to quell everyone’s, frankly, whining and groaning, by leaving the floor and watching the show from a different part of the venue less than 5 minutes after the show started.

    If I want to guarantee that a taller person wont get in front of me at any given concert, I go to the front at an early hour and stay there. I know this because I go to shows, I’m realistic about going to shows, and I don’t expect people to give me my way if I throw a fit loudly and with an attitude if I’m at a show.

    I seriously could’ve written this entire review on how completely abrasive and annoying the crowd at that show was. So thank you for giving me a platform to address that concern, seeing as how I’d been ready to let it go. That is, until the implication was made that I’d unjustly labeled the majority of the crowd that I encountered.

    If it smells like a dog, and barks like a dog…

    Although, my boyfriend and I did agree that one man was actually pretty cool when addressing us in place of his mouth-piece girlfriend. Hopefully that guy was your boyfriend, maybe you’ll feel a little less insulted.

  • Lewis Cooper

    Lauren

    You have every right to be annoyed, like you said, if you want to not have an obstructed view do the leg work and get to the venue early or get on a riser or another elevated spot. I am 6′ but like to take lots of pictures so a clear view is always on my mind, so I arrive early get somewhere close or up on a riser or balcony and hunker down. I would NEVER ask someone taller than me to move, what right do I have, it just isn’t cool, in these all standing venues its just how it works. Anyone that would bagger you into moving has an Ego bigger than thier tiny brain and obviously have some abstract view of what “they deserve” vs. what they really need.

  • Kdiwjs

    Good review. As you know Soundgarden has now reunited after denying as recently as September 2009 they weren’t coming back together.

    I like how you break down Cornell’s audiences. Soundgarden gigs back in the 90′s usually had a lot of younger girls (teenyboppers? is that the right word? and college frat boys attended the shows when they hit big on MTV. The crowd wasn’t as diverse but they were just as rude and ignorant. The Vic Theater Soundgarden show in Chicago this year also had a lot of ignorant young people that were more interested in texting on their cellphones and making out than actually listening to the music.