Audioslave in Hartford, CT!!

[Dogstar]

HOLY CRAP, what a show!!! I don't have a voice left. I hope it comes back for NIN tomorrow night, haha!
I was 11 rows back from the stage (there was no pit), on the left side near Timmy C...I could not ffricken believe how close I
was!!

They opened with Your Time Has Come, which is a great opener, I think. It really gets everybody going. Then they did Set It Off, and then Chris, who was quite animated throughout the show and more chatty than usual, made fun of the people in the front row for sitting down and eating nachos during the show. He's like, helloooooo, that's how you get fat. Look at all these thin people standing and rocking out, hahaha. It was funny. I would have been crawling under the seat if he had done that to me, LOL. But then again, if I was in the front row, I WOULDN'T BE SITTING, let alone eating. I mean, these people were right in front of the stage, and they were SITTING. WTF??

Anyway, back to the show...I don't always remember the order or the set list, so bear with me. They did a maniacal version of Rusty Cage. I really like Tom's flair with this song. He really makes it his own. They also did Spoonman and acoustic Black Hole Sun, Getaway Car (!), I Am the Highway (and then the rest of the boys join in halfway through). He also did The Redemption Song in honor of Bob Marley. That was acoustic, too, and pretty sweet. He said he was doing it at soundcheck and that Timmy C. had requested he do it during the show and that he'd never really done it before a crowd before. They also played part of Slaves and Bulldozers (!) before Shadow on the Sun...Kick-ass! Would have been cool to get the whole thing.

Some of the new stuff they did included Out of Exile, Doesn't Remind Me, Be Yourself, the Worm and #1 ZERO!!!!!! That was a nice surprise. He introduced it as something else, or maybe he just fucked up, but man, that is my favorite song off the new album and it was done very well. It's such a bluesy, bass-driven groovin' tune. I loved it.

I thought his voice was a little rusty at the outset of the show, but it definitely got better as the show went on. He was in perfect scream mode for Shadow on the Sun and Show Me How to Live, and he even did that thing with his neck to make the notes cut at the end of that song. Wicked awesome.

They also played a new song that will be on the third album. It was called One and the Same and it was rockin'. I think the third album will be more like the first one. This one was much harder and faster. I really liked it and I'm looking forward to album #3. He mentioned the upcoming album a couple of times.

The RATM songs were off the hook. They didn't do Testify (as they did at MSG), but they did instrumental Bulls on Parade, and of course the crowd was chanting Bulls on Parade in the appropriate parts of the song. Sleep Now in the Fire was insane, and so was the crowd, finally. I thought the crowd was a little mellow at the outset, but I think that's because they did Be Yourself and Doesn't Remind Me early on. Kind of light songs. When he announced Be Yourself, it barely registered with the crowd. I think this is becoming his Starfuckers. He likes the song, but the crowd doesn't, LOL. Everybody always complains about Starfuckers being on a NIN set list, haha.

The Rage songs came later in the show. And man, when they did Killing In the Name Of during the encore, I thought the roof was going to blow. I was screaming so loudly and so was everyone in the place. I was jumping up and down along with 10,000 other people and it looked wicked cool to see everybody moving in unison and just rocking their asses off. They ended with a rousing version of Cochise, and Chris put the mike in the crowd to let people sing, Go on and save yourself.

I don't know if Chris is just happier or what, but he was really into the crowd and implored everyone to sing along. We had a couple songs where he'd let the crowd sing (Like A Stone, the crowd did the whole chorus at one point) and he was very appreciative, thanking us for rockin' so hard. He even noted that the nacho people were standing and he was like, I guess you were just getting ready and all. He had mike troubles throughout the show, but he just rolled with it, even tossing one up in the air and laughing at one point.

The openers sucked ass for the most part. I got there at 6:15 and some local band was on and they were kind of mediocre. The next band was just awful. They were called Hinder and they were from Oklahoma City and they were a total GnR and AC/DC ripoff. All their songs were about sex and drugs, and one-night-stands and partying, LOL. On the second song, the singer, and I use that term loosely, went into the crowd up and down the aisles and totally lost his rhythm. The guys on stage were trying to play to his loose vocal interpretation, but it was so off. They were really bad.

30 Seconds to Mars had potential, but Jared Leto's vocals just clashed with the music. The music wasn't bad, but whatever he was doing just was too jarring or something. It's not that he can't sing, but he just seemed really out of place vocally. I think he needs to find his voice.

Seether was pretty good. I'm not that into them, but the coolest things they did were part of Walk in honor of Dimebag and a Deftones song that was pretty good. I think their singer is a Cobain wannabe, but whatever, they did a good job.

One rant. I hated this venue. It's like the cookie-cutter Tweeter Centers only worse. Unbeknownst to be, you had get a wristband just to BUY beer. I waited in line for 10 minutes just to find this out. Of course, the wristband line was outside, so I couldn't go out and then come back in. Just as well. If I was going to kill a few brain cells, I wasn't going to do it with Bud Light. Bud Light=fucking shitty beer.

[Jez]

AWESOME review, K!

I'll be looking for this show...hopefully we'll get it on a torrent!

[Muad'Dib]

Sounds like a shitload of fun. Strangely enough Be Yourself is now my favourite track of Out Of Exile, probably the main song I listen to it from. Its wierd cos i really disliked it when I first heard it. I dislike Starfuckers live though really annoying song.

I downloaded the audio rip of the Live In Cuba DVD and I love Chris singing Sleep Now In The Fire!!

[The Lithium]

Yeah, I saw Audioslave when they played here in Stockholm!! Freaking amazing live band!

Did Seether open for them this show as well? I'm catching Seether, (headlining), here in Stockholm November 30. I can't wait!!

[Dogstar]

Thanks, you guys! It was an awesome, show, and yes, Lithium, Seether did open. I'm not a big fan, but they did a good job. Plus, they played part of Pantera's Walk, which is a bad-ass song!

Muad'Dib, I still haven't warmed up to Be Yourself, LOL. It's Ok, but it just never grabbed me. I do like The Worm and #1 Zero tons, though, and we got both of them! I actually don't mind Starfuckers live . The lyrics of that song just crack me up. They're vile to the point of over the top, LOL.

[scrit]

Sounds like a great concert, I would love to see them live. My dad actually saw them on a conference recently, but he got me a signed 30 seconds to mars shirt cause I like them alot. I'd really love to hear how Chris cornell does some of the old his old soundgarden and the rage songs.