 | | ...AYWKUBTTOD |
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead kicked the proceedings off with flair and abandon, with a set that soared steadily upwards towards gilded grunginess. An odd companion to such heavy headliners, Trail Of Dead’s eclectic Indie/Emo/Avant Garde/Rock stylings captured the imagination of the crowd as their set gathered momentum, culminating in some tasty keyboard riffs and thunderous dual drumming. Blackness on stage, an anticipant thronging of voices drowning out Bob Marley’s Greatest Hits (another odd choice of inter-band soundtrack), the odd clang of a guitar technician and then finally, it was time to be enslaved! Chris Cornell, clad in dark trousers, white vest and neon tracksuit top, is a redeemed man. The cloud of dark depression that marked his presence in previous years has been banished, replaced by orange energy-soaked skies. He is fine voice tonight, blasting his lungs through the opening tracks of Out of Exile, before pausing to introduce the fourth song: "This is about one of our friends… you might know him by a different name", then ripping into Soundgarden’s Spoonman, much to the delight of the throbbing crowd. Tom Morello's guitar work was stunning beyond expectation, marred only slightly by his bizarre AC/DC schoolboy outfit. The set was peppered with Soundgarden and RATM hits (Loud Love being a highlight), culminating in a rocking cover of Killing In The Name Of, frenzying the crowd out of control. Just when things couldn’t get any better, Cornell returned to the stage with an acoustic guitar and played the spine-tingling version of Black Hole Sun that I have been waiting half my life to hear live, before teasing with the first stanza of Fell on Black Days. A lack of material may have prompted Audioslave to dust off their previous incarnations' Greatest Hits, but in doing so they fulfilled most of their fans' secret hopes. Two of the greatest Rock bands in history may be resting in peace, but their spirit was resurrected tonight. | 
