Sunday started off really rainy, which made me nervous, since it was Soundgarden Day, but it cleared up and turned into the hottest and sunniest day of the weekend. We started off by seeing X Japan, a Japanese heavy metal band. They were rocking.
Our daily photo:
Then we headed over to see Erykah Badu.
ERYKAH BADU!
Homegirl is a powerhouse. She didn't come onstage until about 20 minutes into her allotted time (her DJ spun for a while, then the band jammed) but that didnt matter. She could have sung for 5 minutes and that would have left the audience in awe and amazement. Her presence is incredible. Plus, look at her.
Remember when I said that the show was really great at starting and stopping shows on time? Well, Erykah wasn't done when her time was up, so she just kept on going. The band on the other stage, Wolfmother, started anyway, and Erykah Badu stopped shortly after, but everyone there knew that Erykah was the winner. I missed this, but I read that she ended her set by saying "If you feel like I do, throw up your hands and say your own damn name." Awesome. Read a review of it here.
After that, we hopped over to Perry's to catch some of local DJs Flosstradamus and to get some grub.
At this point, I was getting really nervous about getting a good spot for Soundgarden, so Fuzzy and I split up. He enjoyed some more DJs and Cypress Hill, some of Soundgarden and some of Arcade Fire. Me, I was all about Soundgarden.
I got close to the stage, about 9 people back, and for the hour before they started, I was a nervous wreck. at about 7:40, I started talking with a guy from Houston and that helped pass the time and calm the nerves. I didn't know how rowdy the crowd was going to be, but I was prepared to mosh/help people crowd surf, etc. I didn't have anything on me but my ID and a $20 bill.
Oh man. They were amazing. Perfect. They sounded incredible, looked amazing, and just ROCKED it. They played everything you would ever expect or want them to play. It is kinda good that they don't have a new album (yet) cause then they just sort of played a greatest hits set--there was nothing I wasn't familiar with. Chris Cornell, man. What a rockstar. I was sort of blissed out the whole time, not believing what I was hearing or seeing. Fuzzy described them as my great white whale--so it was really surreal the whole time. I did notice at one point that people had left a large circle around me (not getting too close to me) because I was dancing so much. Thanks, guys. The crowd wasn't rowdy at all--there were a few times that a mini-mosh would start or someone would attempt to surf, but the reality was that the folks near the stage were all hardcore fans in their 30s, and really chill. It was more like "hey, remember when we used to do that? Yeah, that was cool." There wasn't a lot of extra crap in the show either--a few simple backdrops, not a lot of banter, just 100% hardcore rocking. Perfection.
Fuzzy's view (I was a lot closer)
Check out more amazing Soundgarden photos from viewers here.
I swear Chris Cornell has a portrait aging somewhere, cause he looks amazing and like he hasn't aged a day since the 90s. He sounds better than ever, too.
This is how I felt afterwards:
Ahhhh. What an amazing weekend!
We bought 2 Soundgarden Tshirts, too, which I will always wear with pride.
Mission Accomplished!
