Watch: Mad Season Reunite with Members of Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell and Duff McKagan
The breadth of Seattle’s grunge scene was on full display on Friday night as local act Mad Season held their first official billed performance since 1995. Joining surviving Mad Season members Mike McCready and Barrett Martin were Chris Cornell as well as Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Guns N’Roses bassist Duff McKagan. Additional guests included Skerik on sax and Sean Kinney of Alice in Chains at various points during the show.
The set featured eight songs, opening with a series of Mad Season material including “Long Gone Day,” “River of Deceit” and “I Don’t Know Anything” featuring McCready, Martin, Cornell and McKagan. Matt Cameron and Kim Virant joined for the following “Wake Up” and Walking Papers’ Jeff Angell joined the fold for “Lifeless Dead.”
The surprise came with “Call Me a Dog,” a tune from Temple of the Dog’s songbook, which featured Chris Cornell and Pearl Jam teaming up for a brief run. While there would be no Eddie Vedder appearance, Cornell fronted most of Pearl Jam as Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready and Matt Cameron tore into “Call Me a Dog” and “Reach Down” much to the delight of the crowd. The show closed with “All Alone,” which featured Layne Staley’s original vocal recording piped in through the PA as Sean Kinney and the Mad Season crew closed the show.
To recap: A bunch of incredible Seattle musicians got together to pay tribute to Layne Staley and Mad Season. Chris Cornell also fronted Pearl Jam for two songs. Watch the replay of “Call Me a Dog,” “Reach Down” and “All Alone.”