Oh my God. The free Audioslave concert ended just a couple hours ago and I'm still coming down. They shut down Hollywood Boulevard & the band played on a stage right in the street, facing Mann's Chinese Theater. The first two songs were for their appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show, then they took a five minute break & came back to do a full set for a future DVD & also an Mtv show. They were fucking incredible. Chris Cornell's voice still sounds amazing, and it was great to hear tracks from Audioslave and Soundgarden (they did Spoonman). The highlight of the set was a Rage Against the Machine song, though.
With an audience of several thousand people in the street standing behind barricades, and cops in riot gear, they launched into Killing in the Name Of. It was SICK! Oh. My. God. Guys standing behind me literally started a mosh pit on the sidewalk. I had to reach my arm through the couple in front of me to grab the barricade to steady myself so I didn't get knocked over. The crowd surged 20 or so feet away from me & broke through the barricade, almost knocking over a photographer's 800 mm lens & huge tripod. The cops rushed over & put a stop to the people rushing through the opening in the barricades. People were singing along, raising their fists, and yelling about the "fucking pigs". For a few moments the energy of an impending riot seemed to crackle through the air. They only did one more song. Photos are of soundcheck & the aftermath (those shadowy figures are all cops in
riot gear).
