Chris Cornell brings his "Songbook" tour to the Napa Valley

When you think of Chris Cornell, you think grunge, Soundgarden, heavy guitars, but one of the great things about his acoustic solo tour is his unpredictability.

One of my favorite singers of all time, Chris Cornell graced the Uptown Theater in Napa, California with his solo acoustic “Songbook” tour, playing an impressive and career spanning 25-song set that just about filled everyone’s “must have” song list.

With a row of acoustic guitars behind him, and an amped record player, Cornell started off the night with a cover of Tom Waits cover “House Where Nobody Lives”, followed by “Silence The Voices” from Cornell's last solo album “Carry On”, accompanied by music on the record player, and a tender version of Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You” that had everyone on their feet. Over the next 2-plus hours, Cornell played what felt like every highlight of his career; Audioslave’s “I Am A Highway”, Soundgarden’s “Fell On Black Days”, “Seasons” from the “Singles” soundtrack and “Sunshower” from the “Great Expectations” soundtrack, and even Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike”, erupting a word-for-word sing-a-long that could have been heard in the next city. More Temple of the Dog and Audioslave, and of course songs from his own solo records, the songs went on and on. Other cover songs included his version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, and The Beatles “Dear Prudence” He told the audience that he loved the song “One” from U2 but didn’t know the lyrics very well so he Googled “the song “One”” and said “These are the lyrics that popped up”. He then started playing the music from U2’s “One” and started singing “One” from Metallica. I, along with several other people, started to laugh at this odd mash-up, thinking he would stop at a line or two but he continued to play the entire song; it’s almost too odd to understand on paper, but the genius behind it is incredible. Two new songs made appearances as well; “Bend In The Road”, a Dylan-esque song complete with him playing harmonica, and for his encore he played “Misery Chain” which will appear in the “12 Years A Slave” soundtrack.

Now in Canada and heading throughout the East Coast until the end of November, Chris Cornell’s tour in not one to be missed. There are any range of songs that he can play on any given night, and with his set list always changing, you may hear your favorite.

Photo courtesy of © Andrew Wilson

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