"This next one's not ours... but it should be." Chris said after the previous song ended.
"Howlin' Wolf sang it first. We just cranked the amp." He smiled and nodded to his band mates.
Blues riffed, James, in the audience, felt excited by this scene. It was the "turned grunge before grunge existed" moment for him.
Chris Cornell's voice roared, bluesy and raw!
The audience entered into enthusiastic cheers. Their recognition of the song was met with reinvention from these young guys!
Someone even whistled loudly. First real clapping began after the performance.
Then, the next song started after a short break, Chris Cornell said, "This one is ugly. It should be."
"If the lyrics piss you off, good. Maybe you are paying attention." he added.
He started the "Nazi Driver" song and then it blew into an angry, fast, and rebellious tone!
He screamed the words with intensity, he was barely moving and just gripping the mic stand. The moshing audience were shocked to silence at the start!
By the end of the song, stomping and clapping were echoing throughout the bar. Someone even yelled, "Hell yeah!"
It hits home to most of the bar goers, it was politics meets raw noise!
After that amazing performance, Chris Cornell immediately went to the next song without pause!
"Head Injury"
It was a fast-paced chaotic melody. He paced the small stage, hair in his face, near-screaming.
The bar goers became a controlled madness. The previous mosh pit that should have been dispersed was reignited, tiny mosh pit forms again, unexpected to most audiences but it was a welcome one for sure.
Then, the floor vibrated, shaking from the intensity of the audience mosh pitting in the front of the band. Some chairs even fell over because of it. And Chris Cornell was already watching the audience of this bar turning to his location, watching and not talking anymore.
After the song, he said "Last one."
"It is slow. It is heavy. It is not really about a mace. It is about what it feels like to wait for something that never comes." He added.
"Let's finish this!" He shouted and the audience cheered.
It was a slow-burning final song. His final screams echoed into the ceiling and walls, it was a kind of release for him as well as for the audience hearing him sing the song at that moment.
Drums rolled in and then, the guitar riff.
"Yeah-hoo-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-oh"
"Mmm…~"
Then he started the first verse.
"So he's afraid he'll suffer his father's fate"
"Two sets of silverware, cups, and plates"
"Two bloody hands and bleeding hearts, yeah"
"Don't feel it's not too late to start, yeah"
Then the guitar solo followed. After it, the next verse came.
"Yeah"
"Only the photographs on your wall, hey-yeah"
"Are chained and down your hall"
"Reminding you of all the days, yeah"
"When you collected hell to pay"
The chorus followed.
"Well, hell to pay, I said it's not too late"
"No, it's not too late, yeah"
"Incessant mace"
The guitar started doing some solo riffs.
"Incessant mace"
"Oh god, I can see it, you know it's incessant mace"
And the lead solo guitar flowed out from the guitarist's hands.
After the solo, Chris Cornell sang the third verse.
"Ooh yeah"
"Magazine stacks and broken backs"
"Are what you get for piling stacks"
"Hey! Don't mind me in your treasure chest"
"You wonder why you're under stress"
Then the second chorus entered.
"You're under stress, I said it's not too late"
"No, no, it's not too late"
"Yeah, it's not too late, mmm"
"Incessant mace"
"Incessant mace, oh yeah"
"Incessant mace"
"Incessant mace, hey"
"Oh god, I can see it, you know it's incessant mace"
"Mace!"
"Mace!"
"Mace!"
He screamed the last three words with gusto and the audience? Dead silence. The audience was in dead silence as the song faded out.
Then a burst of applause, whistling, shouting. Someone in the bar stool slammed a beer glass and shouted, "Sign them. Sign them now!"
James heard the man and he smiled.
'Old man, I already did.'
Chris Cornell, on the stage, after the last song, eyed his audience and then said, "We are Sub Pop's first wrecking crew."
"Hope we left a mark here and in each one of you!" he smiled and walked off the stage with the other band members.
—--------------------------------------NEXT SCENE--------------------------------------------------------
Chris Cornell sang all the songs in the Ultramega OK album except 665, 667 and the One Minute of Silence songs.
He delivered with full force. He unleashed his vocals with both precision and raw power. The applause was thunderous even for a small bar.
—--------------------------------------NEXT SCENE--------------------------------------------------------
James and Joseph Kennedy Sr. stood at the back watching the whole band exit off the stage and went with their manager to meet the audience at the makeshift stall made by the sub pop staff. James smiled at the scene and after telling Joseph Kennedy Sr. to get him an orange juice at the bar counter, he heard the system's notification in his head.
[CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ARTIST'S SUCCESSFUL DEBUT!]
[AUDIENCE APPROVAL RATING: 95%]
[AUDIENCE SIZE: 30~]
[YOU HAVE BEEN AWARDED A $10,000 MONEY BAG!]
His face went from normal to a surprised one.
'Oh, so I can also get money from the system?'
He smiled at that thought. 'Probably every successful gig and show for Chris would net me more money. Now, this is another game changer for me.'