Flashback: Chris Cornell Plays Solo Acoustic ‘Better Man’
Temple of the Dog are playing their entire 1991 LP on their inaugural tour this month, along with tunes by Mother Love Bone, Chris Cornell‘s solo career and surprising classic rock covers like “War Pigs,” “Quicksand” and “Achilles Last Stand.” One thing they aren’t doing in the two-hour show is a single Pearl Jam song, even though Temple of the Dog features 4/5th of the group’s current lineup. There also isn’t a single Soundgarden tune. “I’d love for this to be its own thing,” guitarist Mike McCready told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “But if Chris wants to do ‘Better Man,’ please. That’s fine with me.”
That didn’t wind up happening, though Chris Cornell did perform “Better Man” a handful of times during his 2011 solo acoustic tour. Here’s video of him playing it at the Royal Theater in Victoria, British Columbia on April 29th, 2011. The only other Pearl Jam song he’s done at his shows is “Footsteps,” which has some of the same musical bones as the Temple of the Dog song “Times of Trouble.”
Temple of the Dog’s mini tour heads to California later this week for two shows in San Francisco and one on Los Angeles before wrapping up with a two-night stand at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. So far, a certain guy named Ed hasn’t showed up to any of the gigs. If he’s going to come to any, Seattle is probably the best bet. If it happens, it’ll be one of the great grunge moments in recent memory. The future of Temple of the Dog is unclear, though the group says they are open to the idea of more shows in 2017 and beyond. “If everyone is excited, it might become a thing we do every once in a while,” basset Jeff Ament told Rolling Stone. “We can call each other up and say, ‘Hey, we just got an offer to play London,’ or something. That would be fun.”