Soundgarden @ The Sidney MyerMusic Bowl, Melbourne(01/02/12)

Fri 3rd Feb, 2012 in Gig Reviews

How to describe The Bronx? The first thing that comes to mind is loud, ear bleedingly, brain meltingly loud. All clad in black and spruiking high energy hard rock and hardcore punk the deep fast bass rhythms contrast with singer Matt Caughthran’s high end screams and shouts. The Bronx are some of the best at what they do, evidenced by their loyal following. One die hard is taken, bleeding from the head, out of the mosh by medics, only to return bandaged and ready to go again, moments later. The Bronx set ends with Caughthran himself singing from in amongst the mosh.

As Soundgarden begin to emerge on stage there is a mad rush towards the front and suddenly the mosh pit is spilling out up the centre aisle. Opening with Searching With My Good Eye Closed, the guitar builds in a slow vibrato before throbbing bass and Chris Cornell’s distinctive vocals join the mix. Hits come out early in stupidly catchy Spoonman and pseudo-spiritualism of Jesus Christ Pose, overlayed with Matt Cameron’s brutally hectic drum patterns. After humble beginnings the mosh really begins to kick off in Hands All Over before Cornell gives a brief description of Blow Up The Outside World as being about telling, “the rest of the world to fucking leave you out of it.” Kim Thayil’s gutural opening riff on Hunted Down highlights the unspoken interplay between Thayil and Cornell with any tensions of the past obviously left behind them, as Cornell drops his guitar in favour of pure vocals.

You expect that with practice the musicianship of the band would return however, what’s surprising is how well Chris Cornell’s voice holds up with his range and control as impressive as ever, he comes across like the Robert Plant of Grunge. The band’s heady mix ‘70s Zeppelin like rock and punk attitude with something dirty and distinctly grunge has always lent them a high standing amongst fans and it’s as fresh and exciting now as in 1989.

The Day I Tried and Pretty Noose lead in to a singing masterclass at the tail end of Burden in My Hand, where Cornell’s range leaves audience members in awe. As darkness hits the show seems to increase in amplitude as bizarre visuals and lighting provide backdrops to the band. Thayils guitar does seem to be drowned out the mix a bit – it was always going to be a challenge to get perfect sound in an outdoors arena like this – but it’s decent enough to please the thousands of fans here.

The highlights keep coming thick and fast with Rusty Cage, Outshined, Let Me Drown and Black Hole Sun before Ben Shepherd lashes out knocking bottles of water off his amp stack in Loud Love.

The set closes with the twin psychedelic trips of Superunknown and 4th of July. The encore is unusual in that it consists entirely of lesser known tracks like Slaves and Bulldozers which devolve into extended jam sessions that are non the less a thrill to watch. The band leave the stage in a buzz of extended feedback, drowning out a crowd equally buzzing for more.