Photos: Professional Bull Riders Invitational @ KeyArena

Every so often we want to offer something completely different. This was the case when we heard there was going to be a Professional Bull Riders Inviational at KeyArena in Seattle. Here are some photos by Alex Crick from the Seattle Invitational, which took place on April 29th. Please enjoy the following actions shots, perhaps while listening to your favorite music:

CD Review/Show Preview: The Kills @ The Showbox at the Market 5/9

The Kills hit The Showbox at The Market May 9 (Photo Shawn Brackbill)

The jury is still out on how I feel about Blood Pressures, the newest album by The Kills. It’s complicated.  I do know for certain that I love the band The Kills, and in this case the sum of their parts is enough to keep me listening, as well as quick to score tickets to their much-anticipated return to Seattle on Monday.  (Sadly for fence sitters, The Showbox at The Market appearance is currently sold out; though they’ll return for Bumbershoot in September).  Blood Pressures is a “quality” rock record:  it pricks the ears and won’t leave you feeling as if you just got hustled.  But it does seem like the fire in the bellies of co-conspirators Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart has cooled almost imperceptibly.  “The Future Starts Slow” kicks off with the same mix of stark, satellite-calling guitar, big clicking beats, and cooler-than-cool vocal interplay that’s made the duo what they are. “The Heart Is a Beating Drum”, “Nail in My Coffin”, and “DNA” are thumping and raw, though perhaps more polished than the beautifully frenetic Midnight Boom. Which isn’t a bad thing exactly- no band can survive by releasing the same records over and over again. Mosshart’s swagger and blues have been perfected through constant work with Hince as well as her many other musical endeavors (most notably The Dead Weather). She’s definitely up there with PJ Harvey and Karen O in the modern list of true great women in rock. “Baby Says” and “The Last Goodbye” show Mosshart’s soft underbelly.  “Damned if She Do” and “Pots and Pans” feel a little unimaginative (maybe even bored), but “Wild Charms” is the only true throwaway.  There’s no need for Hince to show how he can perfectly mimic a Beatles song in an outtake; there’s so much more The Kills should be famous for.

Like this, for example- backstage at Conan:

-J.Price

Show Review: Chris Cornell @ the Moore

The lights dimmed, the crowd erupted in cheers and Chris Cornell took the stage for an intimate, career-spanning acoustic set. A classy area rug was spread out across the stage, a turntable sat atop a stand stage right and the guitar racks situated behind held a multitude of acoustic guitars. Chris invited the sold out crowd at the Moore Theatre into his living room. He proved a gracious and entertaining host. With his ageless voice and acoustic guitar he hooked the audience on every lyric, every note for the two-plus hour performance. Cornell left the crowd wanting more.

He mixed solo tunes with healthy doses of Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog. Cornell didn’t just sing all of those songs in each respective band; he wrote or co-wrote most of them. He also performed covers of some of his favorite songs throughout the evening. He kicked the whole thing off with a cover of Syd Barrett’s “Dark Globe.”

It didn’t take long for Chris to reach into his own songbook with Audioslave’s “Be Yourself.” His solo work, showcased during the show with “Can’t Change Me,” “Seasons” and “Sunshower,” is also exceptionally strong. Many of the songs came across in a new light when Cornell played them acoustically.

The most unique experience of the night was when Chris walked over to the turntable and proceeded to sing “When I’m Down” backed only with the original piano track on vinyl. He asked if anyone remembered vinyl and said that it was the only way he could do justice to the song.


Chris Cornell

Chris has quite the personality and throughout the night he shared many entertaining stories. He praised Kim Thayil as one of his biggest guitar influences. He reminisced about a spelling error that made his solo album Euphoria Morning sound like a potpourri scent. (The album was supposed to be titled Euphoria Mourning). He also shared a story of how he and his friends got lost in the pitch black bowels of the Moore Theatre after breaking in one night. They eventually found their way up some stairs and to the stage.

Soundgarden, in the midst of a quickly accelerating reunion, was represented well. “Fell on Black Days” and “Burden in my Hand” made early appearances. He also broke out “Like Suicide” and “Mind Riot,” deep cuts from Superunknown and Badmotorfinger, respectively. He saved “Black Hole Sun” for the centerpiece of the encore.

His stellar covers included Springsteen’s “State Trooper,” Zeppelin’s “Thank You,” the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” and John Lennon’s “Imagine.” An especially poignant and touching cover was Mother Love Bone’s “Man of Golden Words,” the song that gave Temple of the Dog its name. Cornell paid tribute to his former roommate, MLB lead vocalist Andrew Wood. He added a verse of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” to the end, possibly to reference Wood’s struggle with the drug addiction that ultimately claimed his life. Cornell followed this up with a powerful rendition of “Say Hello 2 Heaven,” also a tribute to Wood.

Cornell’s intimate, acoustic, hometown performance was something special for everyone in attendance at the Moore.

Review by Chris Senn

 

Set List – Chris Cornell @ the Moore, May 1st

Dark Globe (Syd Barrett)

Be Yourself (Audioslave)

Ground Zero

Can’t Change Me

Two Drink Minimum

Call Me a Dog (Temple of the Dog)

Sunshower

Fell on Black Days (Soundgarden)

Burden in my Hand (Soundgarden)

I am the Highway (Audioslave)

State Trooper (Bruce Springsteen)

When I’m Down

Seasons

Thank You (Led Zeppelin)

All Night Thing (Temple of the Dog)

Man of Golden Words / Comfortably Numb (Mother Love Bone / Pink Floyd)

Say Hello 2 Heaven (Temple of the Dog)

Mind Riot (Soundgarden)

Like Suicide (Soundgarden)

Like a Stone (Audioslave)

Doesn’t Remind Me (Audioslave)

A Day in the Life (The Beatles)

Encore

Scream

Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)

Imagine (John Lennon)