Soundgarden at the Orpheum Theatre, 2/2/13

Photo By Steve Cohen

Cornell exited next, giving the crowd a last appreciative gesture of thanks, while Shepherd left his bass upside down, leaning against the speaker stacks, as he took a deep bow and left the stage to Thayil, who took in the massive crowd one last time as he left his textured guitar strains ringing deep into the theatre. It was a grand, triumphant return for Soundgarden, one that was certainly a long time coming but ultimately well-worth the wait.

Critic's Notebook:

Personal Bias: Soundgarden and I go way back to the early '90s.

The Crowd: Packed with passionate fans who were taking full advantage of the bar before, during, and surely after the show. Though I was surprised there wasn't more headbanging coming from the audience.

Overheard In The Crowd: "I got my kids a babysitter and I'm going to see Soundgarden!"

Random Notebook Dump: The only thing the night was lacking was "Loud Love," otherwise this was a damn near perfect Minneapolis return for Soundgarden. Also, new songs "Black Saturday" and "Bones Of Birds" were on the original setlist, but went unplayed.

Setlist:

Incessant Mace

Hunted Down

Flower

Outshined

Let Me Drown

Jesus Christ Pose

Gun

By Crooked Steps

Rhinosaur

Hands All Over

Been Away Too Long

My Wave

The Day I Tried To Live

Blood On The Valley Floor

Blow Up The Outside World

Fell On Black Days

Zero Chance

Non-state Actor

Eyelid's Mouth

Drawing Flies

Ty Cobb

Fresh Tendrils

Superunknown

Spoonman (Encore)

Rusty Cage (Encore)

Slaves and Bulldozers (Encore)