During the inaguaral iTunes Festival at South By Southwest, Soundgarden played their album Superunknown in its entirety, front to back, something they hadn’t even done in rehearsal for the event.
According to Rolling Stone the band celebrated the 20th anniversary of the multi-platinum album with a nearly perfect performance. The challenge that was noted, even by the band, was playing the songs in order, which meant lead guitarist Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell would have to change guitars nearly every song due to the tunings being different for almost all of them.
In an interview with Billboard Cornell stated, ”If you can single out any of our albums as being, like, the most iconic one, it’s obviously this one. I think it’s an accomplishment, and I’m proud we did it. So it’s kind of a cool thing to do and concentrate on.”
Soundgarden also posted a possibly cryptic, or obvious Instagram video of the opening riffs of Superunknown’s “My Wave” with a flurry of concert venues flashing before your eyes, suggesting this show may not be the last time Soundgarden play the album in its completion.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
