Soundgarden: Live at O2 Academy, Brixton, London, 18/09/13

“This is another one from our new album” – not what you usually want to hear on a comeback tour. But, considering King Animal is such a great come-back LP, it’s probably the only time I’ve actually wanted a band to announce the immortal words. And so, tonight it is Soundgarden topping off their world tour at London’s Brixton 02 Academy with a two-nighter, sampling fresh numbers and grungy metal standards.

Thankfully Chris Cornell is back where he belongs from fronting the rather average supergroup Audioslave and his recent solo projects, to rejoin old Seattleites guitar wizard Kim Thayill, ever moody Ben Shepherd and current Pearl Jam sticks man Matt Cameron. My last Soundgarden experience was a disastrous episode of crushed glasses and lost possessions, while my last Brixton gig involved Sex Pistols, a fifty-year-old punk elbow and my face, but tonight there are some thoroughly lovely people in the audience tonight.

From the off, the sound mix is muddy, guitars buried in the mix, and it is difficult to make out intros to songs. At one point Cornell jokily remarks on the PA balls-up, which coaxes a few heckles. At least the light show and the stage presence make up for the audio.

Surprisingly, there are quite a few draws from Down On The Upside, with a great rendition of ‘Pretty Noose’, but even more so is the absence of Badmotorfinger’s ‘Jesus Christ Pose’ and ‘Searching With My Good Eye Closed’, as well as the ultra sludge of ‘4^th Of July’ from Superunknown. Attendees would have to return the following night for other favourites ‘Beyond the Wheel’, ‘Room a Thousand Years Wide’, ‘Fell On Black Days’ and ‘The Day I Tried To Live’. Of course, no Soundgarden gig is complete without ‘Black Hole Sun’, ‘Spoonman’, ‘Outshined’ or ‘Rusty Cage’, and the group delivers these with gusto, and I’m ecstatic when they introduce deep album cuts ‘Drawing Flies’, ‘New Damage’ and ‘Limo Wreck’.

So, after screamathon ‘Slaves & Bulldozers’ Chris, Matt and Kim exit leaving the bearded Ben Shepherd driving feedback from his amps, until he suddenly tosses his Fender bass into the air, letting it bang down onto the stage. It’s a relief to exit from the sloping floor of the Academy but, considering the setlist, I do wish I’d booked both nights.

Chris Cornell goes on tour once again from October, starting in North America, with at least one European date, in Basel, booked so far.

Live Rating ****