The Red Phone did not ring...

 Chris Cornell started and ended his solo acoustic show on April 8th, 2011 with songs that were not his. But it didn't matter, he made them his own, with his absolutely amazing voice. He kept the 1400 people who filled the Klein Auditorium in Bridgeport, Connecticut riveted for two hours. Two hours of tunes, sung by Chris Cornell from every part of his career (a little help, if you don't know: CC is/has been the lead singer of Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog). Can I just say HE WAS AMAZING. A thought came to me early on: that his voice was almost too big for the room--in a good way. So clear, so good, so "the doors were pulsing because the sound was trying to get out".  He was flanked on stage by five guitars, a record player on one side of him, and a red phone on a stool on the other. The red phone, he told an audience once, was given to him by Jeff Buckley's Mom, after Jeff passed away...Jeff used to use it to call God. Chris said he uses it sometimes to call Jeff. The red phone did not ring this show.

 When he came out, the crowd stood, whooped and cheered, and eventually sat down. I, along with others, held my breath to hear him live--for the first time. Wow. He started by covering Syd Barrett, then John Lennon, then old the audience he has no set list. So, some people tried to help by yelling out requests, but I have a feeling he knew exactly where he wanted this show to go, and where he wanted to take us. You may think things would start to sound the same, as you listen to one person playing for two hours. No. way. He played Can't Change Me, followed by a b-side of SCREAM, called Wide Awake, which he said was autobiographical in that it was about his "giving up on drinking." He hit some ridiculous high notes on Call Me a Dog, and told the story behind Like Suicide. About a bird that flew so hard into his window, it broke it's neck, so...he had to smash it. (!)

 It was as if he invited us all into his living room. CC took off his guitar, and walked over to the record player, and pulled out a vinyl version of the piano part for When I'm Down. Oh My. That was a highlight for me. He stood there, eyes closed and sang with such power, and passion. It was truly a beautiful moment. Sigh. After the song was over, he gently took it off the record player, placed it back in the cover and handed it to a guy in the front row as a "wedding present". (I heard from friends who were sitting near him, that the dude got so obnoxious later in the show, that he was thrown out. Happy Wedding!) Speaking of wedding, CC's wife Vicky was sitting right off stage, with their son Christopher for much of the show, you could see his little feet kicking along with the music from the audience. Chris played the song he wrote for his wife and sang at their wedding...Finally Forever...and told us it was a REALLY good idea to do that if you can for the one you marry, it's an idea he said, that will pay off for years!
He covered, Zeppelin. He sang a Mother Love Bone tune, and told us through the lyrics where the name of the band Temple of the Dog came from. (There are other lines in this song: 'Words and music, my only tools, communication...' which explain my life, thank you very much.) That tune segued into a few lines of Comfortably Numb, as if we all weren't already. With giant smiles on our faces.
 The show proper ended with Black Hole Sun. And then he brought his son Christopher out for the encore, asked the little guy what he wanted to hear, and played Scream, Billie Jean, and A day in the Life. Little Christopher played air guitar with his Daddy. Can you imagine? "Yeah, Chris Cornell is my Dad...I was on stage with him when I was 5 years old, it was a pretty good childhood,"
Awesome. Awestruck. Chris Cornell live and unplugged. See him if you get the chance. No, make it happen. You will be more than pleased with the musical journey he takes you on.

Music is the elixir of life, people. Drink it down.