Viva la Audioslave

I wasn't really pumped for the show until a few hours before when it dawned on me what I was about to see. Audioslave is a rock alternative super group, formed out of the ashes of two of the largest rock institutions of the 1990s, Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden. I was never really a big Soundgarden fan, although I do enjoy their music, but Rage has always had a place close to my heart, and my mind. It was early in high school that I started to listen to the band and Zack de la Rocha's highly political lyrics. I'd argue that this was a turning point for me and I started to look at the world in which I was living in a different light.

30 Seconds to Mars was the first of the two opening bands. I was a 30STM fan for about a week in grade eleven, so I thought they might be alright. I remember them being a lot better. The arena was only about half full when they came on and nobody was really interested, despite their flashing lights and their Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 type sound effects. I tried really hard to feel sorry for them as they said "We know we're the opening band, but everybody give us a scream" and they got a lacklustre response, but the lead singer just had this space-vampire thing going on that really wasn't cool. "I know we're different, we've always tried to be so. Thanks for being here with us," he said, but the truth is they're not that different. They're just not that good. I wouldn't normally say this, but what 30 Seconds to Mars really needs to do is sell out, write a catchy record, and start headlining their own shows.

I've seen Seether before, when they opened for Our Lady Peace a few years ago. They've since released a second album which has officially grouped them with the Defaults and Nickelbacks of our age, despite their South African origin. The crowd, however, was much more welcoming and this is where the evening really got started. I watched the first bit from the back as I downed two extremely expensive beers as they played singles off the new album, along with Fine Again, the flagship single off the last, and that song that they did with Amy Lee, without Amy Lee of course, which was pretty cool. Then they covered a Nirvana song which was alright because they sound like Nirvana anyway.

The wait for the headliners was long and I spent it packed towards the front, not wanted to leave and have to fight my way back up. The show went more or less as expected, opening up with Your Time Has Come, track one off Out of Exile, and Set It Off, a song full of energetic rebellion off their first album. The band has been writing new material, and a new album may be out as early as spring. They played a new song which sounded great but wasn't really memorable. The night really focussed on Chris Cornell and Tom Morello, as could be expected. Cornell has an amazing voice and he gave it all he had, the crowd giving the same back, as he powered through a few more Audioslave tracks before the Soundgarden thrasher, Spoonman. He dashed off stage however, while the three remaining members of Rage struck a chord with crowd by playing the Bulls on Parade. "Get ready, this is going to be fucking nuts," the guy next to me said as they were winding up and a flag with the classic red star arose behind the band. Cornell came back to add vocals to Sleep Now in the Fire and the floor was ecstatic. I was ecsatic.

The encore started off with with Cornell and an acoustic guitar strumming out Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun and Burden in My Hand, to which the entire room was singing, before some hard hitting tracks off Audioslave's first album. The night ended with Rage's Killing In the Name, which basically put me back in the clouds and tore the roof of the arena, and the Audioslave classic, Cochise.

The only song off Out of Exile I wish they would have played is Yesterday To Tomorrow, which is kind of an epic track. I'll cut my losses. The Winnipeg Free Press gave the concert a well deserved 4 stars out of 5. This is a band that is much better live than in the studio and seeing Morello rock out on stage really gives a perspective of how good a guitarist he actually is. I do hope it won't be so long until they come back and I'm looking forward to the Live in Cuba DVD due out next week.