marino3@msn.com
SOUNDGARDEN ROCKS!!! This was the first time I ever saw Soundgarden, and they put on an incredible show. I missed the Superunknown tour, and all I can say is that I can't wait to see them again when they do a headlining Stateside tour. "Waiting For the Sun" was a surprise, but it was killer. The acoustic version of "Black Hole Sun" rocked. All in all, I wished they could have played longer! Yes, there were many Metallica fans there to mosh...but the moshing was done up on the lawn, and was quite a sight to see. The crowd was pretty cool. Devo was a suprise, but they put on a good show. Anyway, looking forward to seeing SG again; it was well-worth going into debt for. Bye!

sunishun@inland.net
Hey all, It's 9:30AM PDT Sunday Aug 4, and I AWAKE from my post-Palooza slumber. Although it may not be all that great, here's the Soundgarden portion of my report: My friend James and I got our tickets on the web, so all we got were lawn seating. If you've never been to Irvine Meadows, this is the setup. Sweeping back from the stage is the reserved seating area, and behind that is the grassy lawn area. It's all on a downhill slope (leafy incline), so everyone gets a pretty good view. We had binoculars, which helped to see the bands closeup from our perch. After many adventures, which if you are interested can be explored on the mailing list archive for Monday, August 5, the coup de Gras, SOUNDGARDEN. And what can I really say that hasn't been said before? THEY KICKED ASS!! The only thing that sucked was the (imho) STUPID Irvine Meadows management didn't turn on the speakers that were up on the terrace (lawn seating). The only reason I can figure was so Metallica would seem to rock better due to the upped volume. It was a little hard for us terracites to get into the music due to the volume problems. I could hear people talking (not yelling, but talking in a normal tone of voice) all around me. And once again those Metallica were bitching (sorry ladies, no harm intended) and whining about SOUNDGARDEN and how, "they suck" and "metallica kicks their ass". It made me sick hearing those dorks while I was trying to listen to my favorite band. So, I again started singing (screaming) at the top of my lungs (and I'm here to tell you these lungs of mine are healthy ones!) and clapping as hard and loud as possible in order to drown the whiners out. And it worked. They decided to head for the head (good luck!) and were gone! I enjoyed the rest of SG's set in peace! They were THE BEST. As far as my friend and I were concerned, SG were the headliners. I bet the band enjoyed Irvine Meadows as a venue the best of the tour. I didn't see any bottles, shoes, cans, or anything injurious being thrown up on the stage. This is probably because of the reserved seating and tight security. I did see a beach ball almost hit KIM and he looked like he was gonna stumble on it as he walked backwards, but fortunately, a stage tech came out and got it out of his way before a mishap could happen. Other than that, the crowd loved 'em. And they loved us! BEN cracked me up when he started doing a goose-step as he jammed his low-slung bass. And he did it several more times throughout the set. MATT lived up to the rep of being the best in his business. CHRIS failed the vocals test on PN, but what can you expect after a long hot tour. He did great on most of his duties, but I know how hard those high notes are to achieve. KIM had me hypnotized and mysticized with his beckoning call. He had a little trouble sustaining the feedback with his guitar at the end of the show, but me thinks that was the management's fault again. NOT LOUD ENOUGH!! FUCKING CORPORATE LOUTS!! I didn't see anyone in SG drink any booze. CHRIS ended up taking his shirt off (ladies). Same set as has been reported. I impressed others by calling out the names of songs before they were played, "Wow, is that dude psychic?". Immediately after SG, we headed for the parking lot. This has to of been one of the mellowest concerts I've been to. There was hardly any moshing. What pits there were were small. There was some arson involved in a few of them, LOLLAPALOOZA programs being burned and twirled like a tornado mainly. Nothing like the time I say HEARING AID at IRVINE MEADOWS and there were cars burning all over the parking lot! Some asses, Metallica fans(?), were throwing CD's through the air like Chinese throwing stars, but none got me. A few liquids splashed on us, but we agreed that they were cold and that we should only worry if we were hit by warm liquids. Actually, I got hit with tanning lotion and it was coconut scented, which was okay. Oh yeah, just remembered--was I seeing things or was that Spoonman hisself sitting on the stage floor next to Matt's kit? Looked like him to me. Shaved head/barefoot and swaying to the beat! Among the many free things we got at Irvinepalooza, was a casette called "American as Fuck" with some of the bands that have played Lollapalooza and one was Johnny Cash singing "Rusty Cage". It's pretty good and as *everybody* knows "Johnny", as he was known, is an original! If anyone doubts this, just check out the pic of Johnny on the cover of the American As Fuck casetted. He is American As Fuck! Well, I suppose I've rambled on enough. My heads kinda in a tizzy. My wife Ronna wants me to get my ass in gear so we can go get something to munch. And am I hungry!! So until next time people... ..later... - -- ; > Joseph E. "Gene" Candelaria http://www.inland.net/~sunishun My place in time is a big nada history. But, my place in time with you is shown symbolically. -----Mike Watt