The surviving members of Soundgarden have reunited for a charity gig to raise funds for the Seattle Children’s Hospital.
The gig happened on Saturday and the group - guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron – performing under the name Nudedragons, the anagramatic alias they have used previously.
They played at the Sandbox venue for the annual SmooCH fundraiser for the hospital. Also on the bill were ex-Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, Dinosaur Jr man Lou Barlow and his Sebadoh project and Built To Spill frontman Doug Martsch
Seattle-based vocalist Shaina Shepherd stepped into the shoes of late frontman Chris Cornell who died by suicide in 2017. The band played a short six-song set that included favourites such as Hunted Down, Outshined, Flower and Beyond the Wheel. McKagan then took over the mic for Kickstand and a set-closing cover of MC5’s Kick Out the Jams. Here’s a clip:
The event aims “to celebrate and support the extraordinary work that Seattle Children’s Hospital does for all children, regardless of means or circumstances. Children’s Hospital is an extremely important community asset that provides incredible care and hope for all kids.”
Saturday’s event is not the first time the remaining members of the band have reunited since Cornell’s death. They played together in 2019 at a tribute concert to Cornell in Inglewood, California and again the following year at another tribute event to Alice In Chains.
In April 2023 it was revealed that the long standing and very unpleasant legal dispute between the band and Cornell’s widow, Vicky, had finally been ended by an out-of-court settlement. This meant that the seven unreleased songs Cornell recorded with the band before he died in 2017 could finally see the light of day. But more than eighteen months on there’s still no word on when these final recordings by the band will be released.
