Temple of the Dog Don’t Know What They’re Going to Play on Their Tour
Temple of the Dog, the 1991 one-off collaboration between members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, are preparing their first-ever tour in honor of the 25th anniversary of their only album. Although they haven't started rehearsing yet, its members reveal that they haven't completely figured out what to perform.
Chris Cornell told Rolling Stone that they're definitely playing Temple of the Dog's 10 songs, but after that, "it was mostly left on the table to be discussed as a later date. It's still a mystery to me." And even with the songs on the album lies the question of whether to play them in sequence or spread throughout the show. "Playing albums in sequence can be awesome or it can be very limiting," guitarist Mike McCready added. "I hope we mix it up a little bit."
One possibility is to flesh out the set with songs by Mother Love Bone, the band that Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard were in before Pearl Jam. The death of frontman Andrew Wood prompted the formation of Temple of the Dog as a tribute to their friend. "I think that makes a lot of sense," Cornell, who had been Wood's roommate, said. "There are also some songs that Andy wrote outside of Mother Love Bone that may or may not be something we can do."
But neither Cornell nor McCready see much of a point in playing material from their respective current bands. "I feel like that doesn't feel right in my gut," Cornell said, with McCready agreeing, "I'd love for this to be its own thing."
Temple of the Dog are playing eight shows in five cities -- Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle -- over the course of nearly three weeks in November. You can see all the dates at Pearl Jam's website. Eddie Vedder, who duetted with Cornell on the hit single, Hunger Strike," is not listed as being part of the group. Cornell and McCready suggested that he has an open invitation to join them.
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