On Stage: Soundgarden Lives! @ Patronaat

Last month I saw Navarone play a show in support of the new LP Salvo only a day after they played the final of The Voice of Holland. A few months before I saw them play a tribute to one of my favourite bands, Soundgarden. Now they are bringing this tribute closer to home and are visiting the Patronaat in Haarlem.

Soundgarden Lives! at Patronaat Haarlem, March 23 2019

Last year the band also played a string of covers on Dutch radio, ranging from Queen to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. They proved there what a versatile band they are and hopefully were able to convince people to go check out their own music, which is top notch as well. Tonight is actually a Chris Cornell tribute since they will also play songs from his other bands like Audioslave and Temple of the Dog, and from his solo career.

Playing these heavy rock songs alone is already quite a challenge, since Soundgarden didn't play middle of the road straightforward rock. Instead they used odd time signatures, changed them throughout songs, played complicated guitar lines and used complex song structures. If that alone isn't enough of a challenge, Chris Cornell had one of the most impressive voices in rock with unbelievable power and an incredible range. Fortunately Navarone have Merijn van Haren who will leave everyone stunned with his amazing vocals.

Why they decided to play with several other singers is therefore a bit of mystery to me. Tonight they are joined by actor Frank Lammers, The Charm The Fury singer Caroline Westendorp, Delain's Charlotte Wessels, Wudstik, and their own guitar tech Bas Wienhoven. Especially Wienhoven, former singer of local Nijmegen band The Liquid Machine, does a very good job. Lammers of course is an actor and knows he's not able to come even close to Cornell, but still turns his performances into lively ones.

But none of these singers is able to do Cornell justice like van Haren does. His voice and range are perfect for the difficult vocal parts of these songs. The rest of the band are impressive too as they work their way through the complex heavy rock songs with great ease. It all sounds very tight and it is obvious they enjoy playing this repertoire. I've been fortunate enough to see Soundgarden and Chris Cornell play a few times and it is sad to realize we will never hear them play that music with him. But it is great to hear this music live again, performed by a band who can make it sound so well.



All Pictures

Official Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Spotify

Read more!

Happy 2010: Soundgarden Are Back?

First of all: a great and happy 2010! And we're off to a great start it seems. Chris Cornell announced on Twitter today that "the 12 year break is over" and "school is back in session". The same text was showing on their internet site . Could this really be true and is a Soundgarden reunion at hand? Hopefully it is and Chris wasn't partying too hard at New Year's Eve. I can't wait to see and hear these guys again! Read more!

The Boss Still in Charge

Pinkpop Festival at Landgraaf, 30 May 2009
This year was the 40th edition of Dutch festival Pinkpop. And of course this called for a celebration so organizer and Mr Pinkpop Jan Smeets was able to book no one else than The Boss himself as the headliner of the first day of the three day festival.


Since festivals are costly these days we only got ourselves tickets to that first day and this turned out to be a good choice. But first we had to face the traffic gods that turned against us and we ended up in heavy traffic jams because of accidents, cars on fire and fully choked access roads to the festival. Unfortunately we couldn't make it to the festival in time and had to miss the first bands. When we finally made it Chris Cornell was already halfway his set and just finished one of my favourite songs "Hunger Strike". But the nice weather and my old friend Mr Beer made me feel happy within no time.

Chris Cornell (Ronald Says 3 out of 5)
One good thing we came in late was that we didn't have to make it through songs of Chris' latest album once more. It was a good choice of him to mix new and old songs into his set. Once he started playing songs like "Spoonman", "Cochise" and "Black Hole Sun" things seemed ok. So he experimented with Timbalake and it failed. So maybe the Soundgarden days and grunge are outdated. He's still one of the best rock singers out there even though he cannot sing as high as he used to. I'm sure he will come back with a killer album next time. In the meantime I'll settle for the old stuff.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (Ronald Says 3 out of 5)
Mix songs by artists like Elton John and The Beach Boys with punk and this is what you get: a crazy bunch of musicians in cheesy outfits having the time of their lives. It still feels like a gimmick and gets a bit boring in the end. Of course it's all a bit of a joke to the musicians who are also playing in bands like NOFX and Foo Fighters. But they seem to enjoy it a lot and so do most of the people.

Elbow (Ronald Says 3 out of 5)
I read so many good things about this band however their album "The Seldom Seen Kid" just isn't my cup of tea. I saw a bit of their show last year on the Lowlands festival and wasn't too impressed. So what's everyone raving about? Here was my chance to find out again and I still don't get it. I guess I'm just not really into it. However their songs are decent and their performance solid as a rock.

The Killers (Ronald Says 4 out of 5)
I really like their first album "Hot Fuss" but the later albums not so much. Too much Vegas style I guess and so were their shows. But they've grown over the years and they played a very good set. It proved to me once more though that the songs of the first album are just better than the rest. Songs like "Mr. Brightside", "Somebody Told Me" and "All These Things That I've Done" just seem to rock more. Singer Brandon Flowers was all smiles throughout the whole set maybe because his big example Bruce Springsteen was watching and seemed to approve?

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (Ronald Says 5 out of 5)
Of course it's nice to book a big name like this. Tickets to the first day sold out in no time and it will generate lots of publicity. However it will drain your budget and minimize the other bands to support acts. And the big headlines might live up to the expectations. But not to worry this time. Bruce's performance was legendary and will be remembered long after. The band sounded tight and solid and Bruce was exactly what you would expect: charismatic, lively, all over the stage, striking his characteristic poses while the sun was setting. Every camera shot on the big screens seemed to be magical.

He played new and old songs in a well-balanced set and even found a Dutch Courteney Cox to dance with him during "Dancing in the Dark". The Killers singer Brandon Flowers joined him to sing "Thunder Road" and was as happy as a kid with its Christmas presents and didn't seem to believe he was actually standing there with his big idol. I was glad to be part of this almost three hour performance. Jan Smeets couldn't have made a better choice for the perfect anniversary gift.
Read more!

Soundgarden reuniting?

Rolling Stone reports that Soundgarden nearly reunited at one of Tom Morello's Justice Tour stops. Only one member was missing: Chris Cornell. Worthless to say he's definitely a must have for a proper reunion. Maybe after all the negative reviews and opinions about Cornell's latest solo album he may be in for some good old rock! He sure would make me a happy camper. Read more!

I could just scream!

Chris Cornell in Paradiso Amsterdam, 26 February 2009 (Ronald says 2 out of 5)

Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of Chris Cornell. I think he's one of the best rock singers ever. I love Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and his solo work. His last album "Carry On" wasn't that good but you can't have a hit every time. When I heard that his next album would be produced by Timbaland it raised a few eyebrows. But maybe I was in for a surprise. Unfortunately the songs I heard on the internet didn't promise a lot. I don't like the modern R&B music and definitely not the Timbaland productions. So a bit worried I was heading to Paradiso but I tried to stay open minded.

The gig was one of the few album presentations in Europe. He was going to play an integral version of his new album "Scream". So they kicked in with the album opener "Part of Me" which didn't sound too bad live. Unfortunately it only went downhill from there. It's hard for me to say but the songs are horrible. This is not due to the fact that it's not rock but only because they're just not good. In my opinion a producer should get the best out of a performer but I guess Timbaland didn't know who he was dealing with or didn't care. Chris is no Justin Timberlake. Chris is one of the greatest singers and you need to make him howl and scream! Nothing like that. His singing just sounds really flat on the album and even live. The songs are just stuffed with horrible sounding electronic effects, samples and (synth) string arrangements. The crowd seemed to be shocked since they were very quiet and you could hardly see anyone move.

When they finished playing the album Chris thanked us for trying out "new music". Then they played some requests like "Spoonman" and the more than brilliant "Say Hello 2 Heaven". Paradiso exploded for a moment! Probably relieved to hear these great songs and Chris singing his guts out like in the old days. Even "You Know My Name" not one of his greatest songs sounded good. But after only five old songs it was time to say goodbye leaving a dissappointed audience (telling from the reactions: throwing plastic cups to the stage).

Sorry Chris, there's nothing new to this. I respect musicians that try experiments. It's a huge risk since it may turn out bad. That's what happened with this album. Very disappointing I'm sure but just keep on going and make a killer album next time. I should give it a 1 out of 5 but will give it a 2 out of 5 out of respect for a great singer.
Read more!