Better Late than Never: Temple of the Dog Announce First Ever Tour!
In the latest ’90s-band-reunion news, Temple of the Dog announced yesterday that they will embark on their first ever tour this November, 25 years since disbanding. A band made up of future grunge rock icons Chris Cornell, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Mike McCready would have seemed destined for ascendancy. But, like many great bands born out of Seattle’s original grunge scene, Temple of the Dog lived fast and died young. Though they received the highest of praises from both fans and critics, a life beyond their self-titled debut was not to be. Until now, that is.
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Temple’s brevity and lack of live performance is mostly due to the personal nature of the band’s existence. The band formed as a tribute to a lost friend, and, as front man Chris Cornell has explained in the past, the album was written for the band members’ inner circle of friends without thoughts of critics, fans or fame in mind. While this year marks the 25th anniversary of Temple of the Dog’s debut album, last year marked the 25th anniversary of the tragedy that would inspire it.
Cornell’s roommate and close friend Andrew Wood was the front man of Mother Love Bone. Wood was known for his brilliant songwriting, flamboyance and heavy drug use. Mother Love Bone’s massively talented line-up included Wood, future Temple of the Dog and Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, as well as Bruce Fairweather and Greg Gilmore. They came together in 1988 and quickly added buzz to the budding scene in Seattle.
A dark cloud of “what if” hangs over Mother Love Bone’s brilliant debut album, Apple. It’s been called one of the best rock albums of the ’90s but would end up being Mother Love Bone’s one and only studio album. Even Wood himself could feel the potential that Apple had, so, he checked into rehab with hopes of getting his heroin addiction under control prior to its release. He managed to stay clean for a short time before succumbing to his demons just a few months shy of the date that Apple hit store shelves.
Many fans hold tight to their belief that had Wood and Mother Love Bone survived, the group would likely have surpassed many legends of the Seattle scene. Instead, Wood’s legacy lives on in musical tributes from those he influenced such as Temple of the Dog, Alice in Chains and Candlebox. Mother Love Bone is also often credited with leading to the formation of both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.
However, Chris Cornell vehemently disagrees. As far as he is concerned there was no cosmic fate or alignment of stars that lead to his and his fellow musician’s futures. Wood did not need to die to make room for the iconic music that his former friends and bandmates would go on to create. According to Cornell, the loss of Wood was simply “an accident, with some people moving on and that turning out well.”
But, before fully moving on, Temple of the Dog would form as a brief and final farewell to the Mother Love Bone singer. Cornell penned “Say Hello 2 Heaven” and “Reach Down” for Wood shortly after his death while on tour. The tracks would soon be recorded with two of Mother Love Bone’s remaining members, Gossard and Ament.
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At first, it was unclear whether or not a full-length album would follow. With the addition of future Soundgarden and Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, the self-titled album developed and was released in April of 1991. It was immediately well received, and it’s safe to say that the album has achieved immortality.
But at the time, that was really all Temple of the Dog had set out to accomplish. They achieved their purpose, and the group disbanded with Cornell and Cameron moving on to Soundgarden and Gossard and Ament continuing on with Pearl Jam.
Now, 25 years later, Cornell feels it’s the right time to return to what is perhaps his most personal of projects. In a statement the frontman said, “We wanted to do the one thing we never got to do… play shows and see what it feels like to be the band that we walked away from 25 years ago.” As of now, the handful of dates announced yesterday are as far as this reunion is going.
There is no talk of new music from the supergroup, but fans can look forward to the re-release of Temple’s monumental self-titled album, which will include previously unreleased demos and video footage. Pre-order your copy here before the September 30th release date.
Tickets for Temple of the Dog’s reunion tour go onsale next Friday, July 29th at noon. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure if I could live with myself if I missed this one.
A portion of all ticket sales will benefit the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation, a charity aimed at helping homeless, impoverished and abused children, and the Pearl Jam Vitalogy Foundation, an organization that helps other nonprofits with their charitable missions.
November 4 – Philadelphia, PA @ Tower Theater
November 7 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
November 11 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Center
November 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
November 20 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theater