Concert Review: Audioslave

by Joerg Kliewe

Audioslave reeled in a full house when they played Seattle's Paramount Theater on May 12, 2005.

The supergroup was forged three years ago from the remains of Rage Against the Machine, with Tom Morello's churning guitar licks, Tim Commerford thumping his bass, Brad Wilks beating up his drums and former Soundgarden front man Chris Cornell hurling in your face vocals at the crowd. The foursome gave all in an hour and a half performance that kept the nearly 3,000 strong Paramount Theater audience in a rave - screaming, dancing and fist pumping.

Years ago, Cornell and Soundgarden electrified Seattle crowds on the same stage at a time when grunge was emerging from Seattle garages and exploding onto the national music scene with the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

The opener "Set It Off" sparked a near riot, yanking fans out of their seats with the opening riffs. This song is one of the groups' hardest hitters and the most powerful with Hendrixian chunky riffs along with drums and bass in heat.

The band punched out well-known songs from their debut album, as well as a new crop of tunes from "Out of Exile", both produced by sound magician Rick Rubin. The newest single, "Be Yourself" that has yet to be officially released was immediately picked up by the crowd that joined Cornell for the chorus.

This concert had legs and took Audioslave's Seattle followers along for a thrilling ride that built a bridge from the past to the present offering up tracks from the trio's past work.

Soundgarden's "Spoonman" cemented the cornerstone for what followed.

Cornell took a hike off stage while his bandmates rolled out an instrumental take on RATM's "Bulls on Parade." He returned to join them a little later for Rage's "Sleep Now in the Fire!" At that point, the four laid the groundwork for gathering up fans from both Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine!

Chris Cornell smartly did his own thing and didn't try to copy former RATM lead singer Zack de la Rocha. The Soundgarden and Rage offerings were tributes and blasts from the past, but weren't the only highlights of the show.

Tom Morello's uncoventional playing had people wondering where the other guitarist was hidden. By fanning his axe's toggle switch, he added a full spectrum of voicings that sounded like synthesizers on parade and choppers menacing from above - very Hendrix. His six-string performance was pure prestidigitation with magical twists and turns saturated with decayed delay and sparkling tone. The guy literally pushed a wall of sound to the back of the venue, slapping the rear wall silly using only his Marshall amp and four twelves.

Commerford's clean bass lines and Brad Wilk's backdrop of percussive locomotion helped accentuate Morello's guitar work - their chemistry gripped the crowd that couldn't get enough.

After the hard hitting set, Cornell returned to the stage for a solo on his Martin acoustic. He opened with Soundgarden classic "Black Hole Sun" that led to an acoustic set, concluding with Audioslave's ballad, "I Am The Highway." This is where the rest of the band joined him, brilliantly opening the song up to full instrumentation.

Audioslave had the crowd fixated, but it was Cornell's showmanship and charsima that had the audience hanging on to every note and every move.

The group didn't send the Seattle fans away gently, but rammed one of their hardest hitting songs at them - "Cochise". Everyone was game for more, but Audioslave had to pack up for their next gig and prepare for the European leg of this year's tour.