Before Morello and his Audioslave band mates took the stage though, the audience was treated to two distinctly different acts. First up, 30 Seconds to Mars performed several songs from their newest release, A Beautiful Lie, along with a couple tracks off their 2002 self-titled CD. Joined by L. A. trio, Street Drum Corps, 30 pounded through "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" with enough passion to fill the entire arena.
Next, Seether rocked the stage with "Gasoline" and tunes from Karma and Effect. Before breaking into their hit single from Disclaimer, "Fine Again," vocalist Shaun Morgan asked everyone to raise a lighter or cell phone in memory of Panteras "Dimebag" Darrell and Drowning Pools Dave Williams. Set highlight was when the band slowed things down a bit with the heartfelt acoustic version of "Broken."
Audioslaves set kicked off just as its newest album, Out of Exile, does with the thunderous "Your Time Has Come." I couldnt help getting lost for a minute in the backdrop painted with the same dark blue ocean waves that adorn Exiles cover during the first few songs, especially while the entire crowd was singing and clapping to "Doesnt Remind Me."
Vocalist Chris Cornell took a moment before performing Exiles title track to dedicate the song to the child his pregnant wife is carrying, as well as his son who was standing just offstage. Then, he led the arena in a sing-along of "Be Yourself" before everyone burst into a frenzy as bassist Tim Commerford bounded across the stage to the beginning beats of "Spoonman," the first cover song of the night.
In case you havent heard, this current Audioslave tour has been highlighted with songs from the two groups that make-up Audioslaves rich history Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine. Each time the band would break into one of those tunes, even just the instrumental intros of Soungardens "Slaves and Bulldozers" and RATMs "Bulls on Parade," the audience would just go insane."
While firing the crowd up with RATM hits "Sleep Now in the Fire" and "Testify," there was no comparison to the intensity felt during Audioslaves performances of their own radio smashes. "Like a Stone," "Shadow of the Sun," "Show Me How to Live," "I am the Highway" the list really does seem to just go on and on.
Drummer Brad Wilk lent his surprisingly solid vocals taking over the Eddie Vedder parts during a cover of Temple of the Dogs "Hunger Strike" before the band treated the arena to a taste of the future of Audioslave with a new song called "Nuno in D/Sound of a Gun."
For the encore, Cornell took the stage with an acoustic guitar for a rendition of Soundgardens "Black Hole Sun". Seethers Morgan joined him for a spine-tingling version of "Fell on Black Days." Cornell then dedicated the next song the man who most embodies freedom in his life, Morello Bob Marleys "Redemption Song" which nearly brought me to tears.
After the rest of the band came back on to the stage, a huge mosh pit erupted during the RATM classic "Killing in the Name." It was hard to believe all of this madness was happening deep into the shows encore. The crowd remained extremely fired-up when the band finally concluded their 2 hour set with the first single from their self-titled debut album, "Cochise." Yuri Shimoda