Chris Cornell, prepare to get your transcendence on.
Audioslave are hitting the road in support of their upcoming second album beginning April 14 in Las Vegas, and from sound of things, opening night can’t come soon enough for Cornell. “I can just go out onstage and get lost in the music and get lost in whatever it is I am doing and it becomes transcendent, and it is kind of addictive now,” the singer said Wednesday (March 16).
“With Audioslave, I’ve really started to like the road a lot. There is a certain dedication and work ethic that the band has from the first day that I met them,” he explained. “None of them would leave the stage of the rehearsal room even when I would take a break and when I left the room…. It’s an experience that very few get to have and it is such a positive one.”
The tour is currently scheduled to hit 22 cities before winding up on May 20 at the Wiltern LG Theater in Los Angeles. The group – ex-Soundgarden frontman Cornell and former Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello (guitar), Brad Wilk (drums) and Tim Commerfordrecorded their still-untitled second album, due May 17, with producer Rick Rubin, who also helmed their 2002 self-titled debut. Among the songs slated for inclusion are: “Doesn’t Remind Me,” “Out of Exile,” “The Curse,” “#1 Zero” and “Your Time Has Come.”
The album’s first single, the mid-tempo rocker “Be Yourself,” was released to radio last week; a video will be shot this month and is expected to air in April.
After their North American shows, the group will take a week off before jetting to Europe for the rest of May and June and early July for festival and arena dates in Spain, Italy, Germany, England, Sweden and the Netherlands. In the late summer, Audioslave will tour the U.S. again “in some form, but we are not sure exactly,” Cornell said. “We are going to tour a lot.”
When asked if the band had enlisted a support act for the tour yet, Cornell mused, “Well, we were talking about the Rolling Stones but there are some health issues involved, so we are waiting to see what happens with that. But each member of the band has learned CPR and stuff, so we’ll all be ready for anything if it happens.”
Audioslave North American tour dates, according to their spokesperson:
- April 14, 2005 – Las Vegas, NV – The Joint
- April 17, 2005 – Austin, TX – Music Hall
- April 18, 2005 – Houston, TX – Verizon Theatre
- April 21, 2005 – Minneapolis, MN – Quest
- April 22, 2005 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
- April 24, 2005 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater
- April 25, 2005 – Detroit, MI – State Theatre
- April 26, 2005 – Toronto, ON – Kool Haus
- April 28, 2005 – Boston, MA – Avalon Ballroom
- April 29, 2005 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
- April 30, 2005 – New York, NY – Roseland Ballroom
- May 1, 2005 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
- May 4, 2005 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
- May 6, 2005 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
- May 7, 2005 – Miami, FL – Pompano Beach Amphitheatre
- May 10, 2005 – Mexico City, MX – Sports Palace
- May 12, 2005 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
- May 13, 2005 – Portland, OR – Roseland Ballroom
- May 15, 2005 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield Theatre
- May 16, 2005 – Sacramento, CA – Freeborn Hall
- May 17, 2005 – San Diego, CA – Soma
- May 20, 2005 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern LG