That pair was followed by the keening "Hunger Strike" from another grunge touchstone, the one-off 1990 Temple of the Dog project that found members of Soundgarden teaming up with future members of Pearl Jam.
While the equally familiar set list that followed may have delivered "Hey dude, remember the ' 90 s" nostalgia for many in the crowd, Cornell himself didn't appear to be dwelling in that twilight so much as joyfully acknowledging it.
When it came to his forthcoming CD, "Carry On," however, Cornell's song choices didn't keep up the evening's mood.
With the exception of the so-so Bond anthem "You Know My Name," they all have elements to recommend them, such as the sweet croon on the plea-for-peace ballad "Safe and Sound," which he dedicated to the families of the Virginia Tech shootings. But alongside loudly loved favorites "Black Hole Sun," "Burden in My Hand," "Like a Stone," and "Cochise," a couple of the album's harder, funkier tracks could have been more memorable. The songs weren't just fighting with collective memory, but with the authoritative brawn Cornell and his backing quartet brought to the rumbling riffs and rhythms, especially on a cage-rattling encore of "Slaves and Bulldozers."
New song or old, with the band or solo acoustic, however, Cornell's justifiably lauded voice was center stage. He may have lost a bit of stamina, but the seductively husky lows of "Doesn't Remind Me" or the skyscraping highs of the waltz-time charmer "Can't Change Me" were a constant reminder that his vocal cords remain some of the best in rock 'n' roll.
