Soundgarden performed their first show since 1997 Friday night (16 April) at the Showbox at the Market in their hometown of Seattle. But if the band tried to keep the supposedly secret show a secret, they didn't do a very good job: the name on the marquee advertised 'Nudedragons,' an anagram of Soundgarden.
Since announcing their reformation earlier this year, vocalist Chris Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron have been rehearsing in Seattle. They were announced to play Lollapalooza in Chicago in early August, but just as quickly that gig was said to be not set in stone. Now they're back on the bill, so perhaps last Friday's Seattle show is the first in a series of warm-up dates.
On Thursday afternoon, Seattle radio station 107.7 The End began Tweeting about the possibility of a "secret" show, and news soon spread that fans on the band's e-mail list would receive information on when and where it would take place.
When word got out that a band going by the name Nudedragons would be playing on Friday at the Showbox, it didn't take long for fans to monitor Twitter and Ticketmaster, awaiting the moment that tickets would go on sale. The available 1000 tickets sold out in less than 15 minutes.
According to reports, Soundgarden took the stage and barreled through two hours of their best-known material, ending the night with an encore of The Doors' Waiting For The Sun.
"It's a rehearsal, so if we fuck something up, we're probably going to go through it again," Cornell said just before tearing into Outshined off 1991's Badmotorfinger. From the sounds of it (check out the clip below), they've got it down just fine.
Spoonman
Outshined
Waiting For The Sun
