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05-15-00 Jen Showbox in Seattle, WA
Wow. What a night! I don't know where to start! First I'll start with me saying that I'm glad to have met so many great new friends! Eliza, Lois, and Angela---I love you guys! Eleven. Wow. What an incredible performing band. I want to be Natasha. I've never seen somebody so not only talented, but passionate about their music! Wow. Alain is one of the nicest (and most talkative) people I've ever met! He's one I'd like to pick the brain of! Him and that guitar. Wow. I don't have a set list nor do I remember the order in which songs were played. Needless to say I was a little preoccupied by the time they were into their third song or so because no more than ten feet behind and to the right was none other than Chris Cornell!!! He was just enjoying the show like the rest of us! How cool is that? In no particular order, these are the songs they did: All Falls Away, you're Not Alone, Verb, What Can I Do, Lucky One, Beautiful Self, Cool Cruel Baby(my fav), and Waterfun. Their "grand finale" was the song Why. After the show we (Eliza, her two friends, my husband and I) mauled Chris. Elzia showed him her twisted fork bracelet which he really got a kick out of, and then her, me and one of her friends got pictures of ourselves with him. Wow. What a nice guy! We then went outside squeeling like little girls and talked about how we couldn't believe what had just happened. Wow. Then we found Lois and Angela and got backstage. Lois took a big group pic of all the team members, their guests and the band. I can't wait to see it! Then we just hung out until the Queens of the Stone Age were done. OK, we didn't just hang out, we hung out with Eleven, Chris, and Ben Shepherd!!!!!! My life is complete. Wow. What a night! Eleven rocks and Team Eleven kicks ass! Wow.
02-18-00 Jen Grover Lengthy review of Newport Music Hall show
It poured rain, all the way from Huntington to Columbus. It had slowed to a drizzle by the time we checked into our hotel, and thankfully had stopped by the time we got in line at the venue. What should have been a 15 minute wait until doors opened turned into over an hour, as we stood out in the cold, the temperature having dropped significantly with the arrival of a cold front. Once inside, it was yet another 2 hour wait until the show went on, and with it being general admission and all standing (except a small section in the back of the balcony) we had to wait it out in the crowd on the floor or lose our places. We had staked out a spot 3 rows back from the stage, in front of Natasha's keyboard. We were standing next to a group of very silly and annoying teenage girls. Unfortunately, they would prove not to be the only annoying crowd members.
I was not in a good mood by the start of the show, but hearing the opening strains of Sunshower, I was ready to let it all go and just immerse myself in the show. And a very pleasing show it was in general. Chris's voice was strong, he was naimated and connected well with the audience, pausing to chat and joke between a lot of numbers, bending down during several songs to touch hands with the audience. Eleven proved a very capable and entertaining back-up band. The accompanying light show was very enjoyable, enhancing the mood of the music without distracting from the songs. I can only wish the sound mix had been as pleasing.
Toward the end of Sunshower, Chris was rubbing his breast while he sang. At the end of the song he said, "You caught me in a breast rub. I can't help it. I hear all that loud noise and it makes me want to rub my breast." So he turned the mike towards us and as the crowd roared he stood there grinning and rubbing his breast vigorously through his shirt. Can't Change Me was next and, as always happens with the singles, drew a roar of recognition and appreciation from teh crowd and a lot of singing along. What was nice and, I think, surprising to Chris, was just how many songs from the album the crowd did sing along with, proof that they knew the album and not just the hit. During Moonchild, a group of fans in the cneter broke out blue lightsticks, giving one to Chris, who held it with his microphone for the remainder of the song. He teased them, calling them "the nuclear accident people."
Some one held up a large portrait they had apparently drawn of Chris, wraped in plastic for protection, and Chris eventually took it, signed it there on the stage between songs, and handed it back to the fan.
About halfway through the show, a guy standing near my husband filled his mouth with butane from his lighter and then blew a huge flame, an unutterably stupid thing to do in a crowd around a lot of hair, and was promptly escorted out by security. That was not the end of the problems, however. The crowd got increasingly pushy, with people from further back trying to force their way to the front despite lack of room. During Sweet Euphoria, a young teenage boy decided it would be cool to crowd surf, no matter that it was not appropriate to the mood or spirit of the music, and after that a lot of others followed, causing not only constant distractions for the rest of the show as we all had to watch our backs, but I suffered a shoulder injury when landed on from behind that is still causing me pain to this day. Needless to say, this all detracted greatly from my enjoyment of the rest of the show.
The crowd responded most enthusiastically to the Soundgarden numbers, Fell On Black Days, Like Suicide, and Boot Camp, the Singles soundtrack number Seasons, and the Temple of the Dog number All Night Thing, which was reserved as an encore. Between Fell On Black Days and Boot Camp, while the band took a rest, Alain treated the crowd to an interesting, Robert Fripp-like guitar solo on his gorgeous black Jazzmaster with totoiseshell pickguard. I wish I had been able to see Alain better, as he is enjoyable to watch. The show closed with Steel Rain, certainly an anppropriate song for the weather, and at the close of it Chris stage dived into the crowd, being held aloft for a long time while everyone on the floor pushed to get close enough to touch him. His shirt was nearly ripped off by the time he returned to the stage.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable and entertaining show, despite the rough crowd, late start, and miserable weather.