TEMPLE WORSHIPERS COME OUT OF THE WOODWORK

When the original members of Temple of the Dog revealed earlier in July that they were reuniting to tour—for the first time ever—in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of their seminal self-titled album, they had no way of knowing how much interest they’d draw. They know now.

The grunge trailblazers—Chris Cornell, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament and Matt Cameron—have sold out eight November shows in five cities: a Madison Square Garden date that sold out in 24 minutes, one at the Inglewood Forum and two shows apiece at Philly’s Tower Theatre, San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and Seattle’s Paramount Theatre.

Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis and Soundgarden/Cornell manager Ron Laffitte worked together on the run of dates along with agents Don Muller and Brent Smith at WME.

The reissue of the cult classic Temple of the Dog (UMe, originally released on A&M)—newly mixed by Brendan O’Brien, fittingly enough—is set to arrive in four configurations on 9/30. The album was written and recorded in memory of Andrew Wood, who fronted Temple precursor Mother Love Bone.

"This is something no one has ever seen," Cornell recently said of the official reunion. "We wanted to stop and recognize that we did this and pay homage."