Rating: N
In May, Audioslave became the first U.S. rock band to perform in Cuba, and this film documents their trip with concert footage and a mini-documentary. Their pallid live performance isn’t going to win over any new fans to their brand of watery funk rock. Chris Cornell, known for his powerful voice in Soundgarden, sounds weak, and often flat. They delve into their former bands’ catalogues to fill out their set list after an awkward and anemic version of Rage Against the Machine’s Sleep Now In The Fire, they reach the pinnacle of their performance on Soundgarden’s Outshined. Though the doc is better, it’s shallow. From a band with political roots, I expected some compelling reasons for playing Cuba, but nowhere among the sightseeing clips do they reveal any, though many variations on “sharing the gift of music” are offered. Bassist Tim Commerford sums it up: “Cuba will never be the same, because me and my band were there, and we kicked ass.” Deep, dude.
