Monday, November 3, 2008

Timbaland & Chris Cornell Seattle: A Fan's Perspective



Here's J Boogie live in Seattle:

If there’s one thing about a Seattle concert/show that’s a given, it’s that it will start anywhere from an hour, 2 hours, and sometimes even 3 hours after the doors open. So I figure doors open at 9:00PM, I’ll get there at 9:30PM and have plenty of time. Wrong! I walk in and the first thing I hear is Timbaland’s voice saying “ya’ll have been great to me tonight.” Crap I missed his whole set. I check the 7 piece band flanking Timbo. Immediately I recognize Nisan Stewart on drums. Nisan is a longtime friend and collaborator of Tim’s and Missy’s, has worked extensively with Tweet, and you can peep him also on the drums in the video of Aaliyah at the Tunnel. Thankfully I get at least one song. Tim has Freestyle Steve play The Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams” followed by “The Way I Are.” Immediately I’m thinking did Tim sample “Sweet Dreams” for “The Way I Are” synths? Could be.

Tim’s set finished but he wasn’t done talking. He took the time to address all the websites, blogs, and fans who felt as though mixing a legendary rocker like Chris Cornell with a hip hop/pop producer like Tim wouldn’t work. He understood where they were coming from but encouraged everyone to take the time to listen to the album, “it’s 2008 ya’ll!” He called it some of the best work of his career. Then he talked very briefly about Shock Value 2 and his desire to work with Green Day. At this point I’m sweating just waiting for some juicy news. Tim cues Freestyle to play a new joint off Shock Value 2 and low and behold “Talk That” blares through the speakers. So it will be a Shock Value 2 record. Then it happens….

Freestyle stops the record and says the magic words “Seattle I’m going to play you a record we’ve never played before” (cue chills) He plays a new record, an uptempo dance track, and who’s vocals do I hear? Brandy’s. That’s right Brandy and Timbo (and J Roc) are official. I have no idea the name of the track or what album it’s going to be on but for 2 minutes I simply basked in the exclusivity of it all. Freestyle then brought to the stage his new artist named Haben. who performed 2 of her new songs. Who is Haben you ask? A 10 year old vocal powerhouse who I’ve had the pleasure to meet before. Check back to The Chronicles at the end of the week for a proper introduction.

So now it was time for Chris Cornell’s set. He played straight through from start to finish with no breaks. Here’s the setlist and tracklisting for the album:

1.Part Of Me (by far my favorite track on the whole album)
2. Time
3.Sweet Revenge (has a very easily identifiable sample that I’ll let you all figure out)
4. Get Up
5. Ground Zero
6 Never Far Away (A track dedicated to his wife)
7. Take Me Alive (Opens with a beautiful Indian woman’s voice. Czar would be happy)
8. Long Gone
9. Scream
10. Enemy (one of the best tracks of the night)
11. Other Side Of Town
12. Climbing Up the Walls
13. Watch Out (best song of the night. The crowd went nuts especially during the Jim Beanz vocal breakdown in the middle)
14. 2 Drink Minimum

For an encore Cornell brought out J Roc (who as it turns out was also in Timbo’s band) to thank him for his work on the album. He also performed a cover of Pearl Jam’s “I’m Going Hungry” and “Reach Down” which brought about audience pandemonium.

Overall the show was incredible! Whether you’re a hard core fan or new to his sound, there’s no denying Chris Cornell’s talent. His voice is friggin’ flawless! Listening to the entire album start to finish I realized that Tim, J Roc, and Cornell really created something unique and I also realized that the interludes that we haven’t heard up to this point really tie everything together. I left the show eager to get my hands on Scream and really take a listen to what they all came up with.

15 comments :

  1. Lucky you! I hope you have some good pics and videos from the show. Give us a review!

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  2. Craig Davids 'insomnia' music video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuS33DkTt8k

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  3. @N.L.O
    you some dumbass too, right? seems like the world is full of them

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  5. if u find that out, u gonna win a washing machine!

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  6. man, why's he never in Germany??
    I would pay hundrets of Euros just to see him live.

    Do you have some vids of the show. for example the new Shock Value 2 song?^^

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  9. CAN SOMEONE TOUCH UP ON THIS SUPPOSED LEAK OF THE DANJA-PRODUCED KILL THE LIGHTS INSTRUMENTAL TRACK?

    http://www.zshare.net/audio/20020806fce0c106/

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  10. Hunger Strike and Reach Down aren't Pearl Jam songs. They are Temple of the Dog songs that Chris wrote.

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  11. Wow big-a!
    Who gave you the rite to be such a big-aSSHOLE? lol...
    But seriously u need to cool down and chill.
    Stop tearin ppl down.
    Much love tho....

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  12. josh are you sure by that cover of "im going hungry" you dont mean Temple Of The Dogs "Hunger Strike"... which both eddie vedder and chris cornell were a part of, and chris originally sang on?

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