There was no Soundgarden or Audioslave backing Chris Cornell last night at the Enmore Theatre. Temple of the Dog didn’t join him on stage. Eddie Vedder (much to my dismay) didn’t pop his head out for Hunger Strike. Last night was simply Chris Cornell, with his new band, showing his fans that life after super-bands is very sweet indeed.

If the crowd wasn’t pumped enough that they were seeing Chris Cornell, the fact that he had no support act and was rumoured to play for two and a half hours would have made anyone soil themselves in excitement. It was a rare opportunity for any CC fan out there, and for those who missed it – well you better just hope that Chris comes back with the same enthusiasm he presented last night or may you all cry yourselves to sleep over your loss.

The set was full of delights, and this is not said in jest. Songs came from the Soundgarden backlog, Audioslave backlog and even Temple of the Dog. Notably, Spoonman was one of the best performances of the night. Chris was joined on stage by Rise Against front man, Tim McIlrath, who sung along with Chris flawlessly making the song even more amazing. I used to think Taste of Chaos was a bad thing, but it spawned the union of Chris and Tim so it can’t be that bad.

Chris Cornell’s singing ability is something that is unparalleled in many other artists. From start to finish, his vocals were spot on. He pelted out tunes like Original Fire and Jesus Christ Pose and sung softly during his acoustic set for Dandelion and Call me a Dog. The elasticity of his vocals is truly amazing. How he manages to sing like an animal and then soft and sweetly is miraculous, and not once could you see his chest stressed from the amount of singing he was doing. For those interested, yes you could see his chest, and yes it was wonderful.

A highlight for this lovesick fan and reviewer was Hunger Strike. It is a song that is not commonly played by Chris Cornell and Pearl Jam, the counterpart that when joined with CC makes Temple of the Dog. It was a moment in the gig where you could see the crowd stand still and take note which was a first as some of the older, drunker fans were gyrating faster than a rabbit on Viagra for most of the gig.

Chris treated the crowd to a small acoustic set which started with his cover of Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean. This deliciously bluesy rendition of the song was a nice change of pace and really showed that Chris’ musical ability is far-reaching. No offence Michael, but as it has been said, your version lacks emotion. Billie Jean has been transformed from a pop flop hit to something with feeling. Dandelion was beautiful as Chris played it acoustically with yellow lighting surrounding him (good work Enmore).

With Chris’ voice well and truly warmed up, and the rest of the band back on stage, they played the rest of the set with passion and power. This review cannot be complete without massive kudos going out to Chris’ band; they are extremely talented boys who put on a wonderful show. All are musical freaks, and do great justice to Chris Cornell as a solo artist. The biggest challenge I think for the band and Chris was Cochise. Cochise was a song that was surrounded in scepticism – would he be able to pull it off without Audioslave? Everybody misses the intensity that Audioslave presented in their music, but Cochise still has its zing without them. With Chris standing centre stage like a beacon, the band belted out Cochise impeccably and with such oomph that would make anyone’s loins quiver.

It has been said previously by crazed fans that you cannot deny that Chris Cornell is a grunge god in his own right, and after seeing him at the Enmore with his new band, it definitely cannot be denied. I’d give my first born to be able to go back to Seattle when all this begun and watch them play all the songs that they played at the Enmore for the first time. From what Chris Cornell presented last night, I am sure that there would be no difference from 20 years ago to now, as Chris has said in one of his best songs “The original fire has died and gone, but the riot inside moves on”.