It's not often that your second ever gig can be classified as a must-see show. But then again, it's not often that such seminal figures come out of retirement to form a supergroup.
Judging by the hordes of ticketless fans outside and the expectant atmosphere inside, this looks like being 2003's first essential show - an essential nostalgia trip for the rock fraternity in attendance and essential practice for the Chris Cornell/Rage Against The Machine collaboration itself.
Let's be honest, people have been drawn to Audioslave to pay their respects to past allegiances. To expect the band to immediately replicate these is unfair. The mere sight of these sorely missed bastions of rock and the all-encompassing sound they make in the studio doesn't make for a classic live show. Even as seasoned pros, spreading an album's worth of material (mostly good but still patchy in places) for over an hour proves to be a challenge. It's one they ultimately meet but, like any band, they still need time to find their feet.
But that's all relative. Audioslave have been there, taken that and got the tattoos to prove it. When they arrive on stage (three in vests - obviously no-one told Tom Morello) they look like a proper rock band. And when they crank up the volume on 'Set If Off', 'Cochise' and 'Shadow Of The Sun', you know what all the fuss has been about. Few guitar bands could make such a phenomenal racket armed with just bass, drums and guitar.
As for Cornell, reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. His contribution is nothing short of faultless and he's every inch the prowling frontman he'll always be remembered as. Not only has he aged gracefully, but his voice powerfully resonates through the air on varying nerve tingling frequencies from a vein popping screech, to the warming temperance of 'I Am The Highway' and 'Like A Stone'. Pure class.
So, if the RATM basslines can be varied, Morello's noodling restricted and the new songs keep coming, Audioslave will be a formidable force live. On tonight's showing, they still possess enough sheer force to blow virtually any band off stage without breaking sweat. When they do, Audioslave will be entitled to claim their own place in history.
