When Soundgarden plays the Gorge Amphitheatre on Saturday it will mark 15 years to the day of the last time the band performed at the scenic eastern Washington venue.
Unfortunately Guerrilla Candy won’t be there to celebrate the occasion (but we were there in 1996), but it’s not for lack of trying. Actually, our credentials for Saturday’s show were practically immediately approved upon request and we were ready to hit the road, but strangely just a few days ago our credentials for Soundgarden’s first large-scale concert in Washington state since reforming last year were rescinded. But I’ll write more about that in a bit, for now I’d like to revisit that 1996 concert.
The set was part of that year’s Lollapalooza and Soundgarden was the second-to-last band on the main stage, opening for Metallica. It was definitely a rocking year for Lolla and some of the bands that preceded Soundgarden that day were the Screaming Trees, Rancid and the Ramones. That’s right Soundgarden played a set sandwiched between The Ramones and Metallica. Like I said, it was a rocking year.
It was an extremely hot day. The temperature had to have been in the upper 90s or possibly the lower triple digits. I was in my teens for most of the 90s and I jumped into mosh pits quite often during those years, but the pit during Soundgarden’s set was one I knew would swallow me alive, so I stayed away for a while.
I remember the band’s cover of “Waiting For The Sun” was one of the darkest and heaviest things I had ever heard. I remember sitting on the hill singing along and air drumming with my buddies to “My Wave.” I also remember it wasn’t until “Ty Cobb” that I decided to trek down the hill and throw my body at the mercy of the masses. They played that song like it was a thrash metal standard. By the time “Jesus Christ Pose” closed the set I had lost my shirt, a shoe and I was dripping buckets of sweat. It was one of the more viscous and intense concert experiences of my life and that’s saying a lot considering the number of shows I’ve attended.
Now, about this year’s show at the Gorge.
Not only was I fortunate enough to see Soundgarden a few times back in the band’s heyday (I even got to interview Chris Cornell once), I was also lucky enough to attend the band’s intimate Nudedragons show so I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to make the 300-mile roundtrip trek to the Gorge. Seeing QOTSA and Mastodon were added incentives but those are both bands I’ve seen multiple times as well. But I did feel a bit of an obligation/duty to my readers to cover this event since I pride myself of being a source of local coverage of Seattle rock icons, however on the other side of that coin I have managed to cover the daylights out those post-grunge happenings. So really, there wasn’t a whole lot attracting me to the Gorge aside from the chance to get the whole big rock show experience that I dearly love.
It wasn’t until a Guerrilla Candy photographer sent me an email requesting to shoot the Soundgarden show that I started seriously considering covering the concert. So when I got an email from the folks handling Soundgarden’s publicity about a month ago and they said they were accepting requests for review tickets, interviews and photo passes specifically for Saturday’s show I decided to respond and see if access could be arranged.
Seven minutes after I sent my request I got the below response from Soundgarden’s publicist.
“We can definitely get you set up with tix +1 w/ photo.”
Seven minutes is an extremely quick response time. I was very impressed and also slightly suspicious.
Moving ahead to four days ago I received the below message from the Soundgarden publicity folks, which justified my suspicion:
“Unfortunately the band’s schedule will not allow for us to accommodate this request. Sorry!”
I was as surprised as you to find out that the band’s schedule dictates whether a reviewer can attend a show and whether a photographer can shoot the first three songs without a flash. I sent an email back requesting clarification but I didn’t get a response.
Am I disappointed that my request got denied? Sure. Surprised at how it was handled? Not really. Confused at the explanation? Quite a bit.
But truthfully, I don’t mind not being given media tickets for this show. I get denied requests for credentials every now and then and it doesn’t bother me at all. I know media access is never guaranteed and I try to never take my press privileges for granted, and I typically buy tickets to the shows I really want to attend in case a request for credentials is turned down. Also, Soundgarden is a pretty big band and they don’t need blog buzz or publicity from a smallish outlet like Guerrilla Candy, which is another reason why I was surprised to get such a quick confirmation of credentials.
For a short while after my credentials were denied I considered buying tickets to this show because in my mind I was already headed to the Gorge, and I usually end up having the most fun at shows where I am not obligated to write a review. Plus, hell it’s Soundgarden at the Gorge with a couple of kick ass openers so it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a good time.
Then I did the math and it just didn’t seem practical. $85.50 for one ticket after service charges & tax. $50 for one tank of gas. $20 for food. That makes it a $150+ concert experience and I just couldn’t justify the cost for a ticket to a show featuring four bands I’ve seen multiple times. Plus, I’m planning to attend the QOTSA show at the Showbox Sunday night since it’s a lot closer to home, so I didn’t feel like I would be missing much.
And while the denial doesn’t bother me, the lack of professionalism does irk me a bit. I would’ve appreciated an honest answer or a more sincere apology for approving credentials and then yanking them away a few days prior to the show for no good reason. Instead I’m left with a slightly sour taste in my mouth (sour enough to write a rare, rather inside baseball blog post) from a publicist who was hired by a band that I expected to be a bit more professional.
I guess that’s a little part of why I’m writing this. If you’ve read down this far then you now know the types of people Soundgarden works with, which is a bit disappointing. Believe it or not, I started writing this post a few weeks back, and in its original form it used my fond remembrance of that Lollapalooza ’96 set as a preview of the the band’s show tomorrow. In a way it still is that.
So now I guess I should answer the question I posed in the headline. Is seeing Soundgarden at the Gorge worth it?
Definitely. If you can afford it do whatever you can to get your ass to the Gorge. You won’t regret it, especially if you have never experienced Soundgarden live. Based off their one Seattle show a year and change back, they haven’t lost a single bit of their explosiveness. You won’t be disappointed.
As for me, I’m sure Soundgarden will play a proper Seattle show soon and maybe this one will be at a bit of bigger venue and more accessible (and economical) to the masses. Until that happens I’ll enjoy my memories of the last time Soundgarden rocked the Gorge while my teenage self slamdances himself silly to “Rusty Cage.”
