Our member SoSecretive e-mailed us:
You can say a lot of things about Stone Temple Pilots’ frontman Scott Weiland - drug addiction, domestic violence, drunk driving, jail time are among his lesser accomplishments - but being boring isn’t one of them.
Dressed to kill, decked out in a white hat accentuated by a black ribbon, a vest, and a red tie, quickly transitioned to charismatic performer as the post-grunge alt-rock vets kicked off their hour-and-45-minute set with Crackerman.
Weiland, fresh from launching his fashion line - Weiland for English Laundry earlier in the day at The Bay at Queen and John, which he described as “flamboyant” recalling his grandmother’s platforms (!!!!) according to blog reports, immediately started rotating with a megaphone in his hand and managed to not fall off the stage, like he did recently in Cincinnati during the first song.
By the second song, Wicked Garden, the 42-year-old Weiland had the crowd in the palm of his hand as they sang along.
Then curiously, he sang a little a capella before launching into one of the band’s biggest hits, Vasoline, maybe to dispel rumors that he’s lip-synching in concert ever since the stage fall due to his singing remaining uninterrupted on that fateful night.
Singing aside, the band - the Deleo brothers Robert on bass, and Dean on guitar, and drummer Eric Kretz - have been enjoying some good reviews for their latest and sixth self-titled studio album released earlier this year. It’s their first since 2001’s Shangri-La Dee Da after they reunited and started touring together again in 2008.
But STP could certainly use some video screens to help the audience see them better.
As it was, their stripped-down stage consisted only of a tall, LED-paneled curved screen onto which colors, video and words were projected, but no footage of the individual band members.
If ever there was a performer that we needed to see in closeup, it’s Weiland even if he seemed a little bit too relaxed.
Finally, a camera operated by Weiland at the end of his megaphone came to life during the encore song Dead and Bloated but the visuals were of the audience and not him.
Meanwhile, the DeLeo brothers and Kretz did a lot of strange noodling between songs as Weiland took his sweet time between songs.
“This song is really personal,” said Weiland, who spoke very slowly and deliberately between tunes before launching into the first new tune, Between The Lines, which saw him fling off his vest and get down on his knees at one point.
By the next new song, Hickory Dichotomy, the hat was gone too, and the tie was eventually undone by Down and taken off during Sex Type Thing, but a full striptease was not in the cards.
Dean finally made contact with Weiland towards the last third of the show, at the end of the new song, Huckleberry Crumble, putting his arm around his head and twirling the two of them around the stage. And Robert picked Weiland up and actually carried him as the band was saying their goodbyes. Backstage, the boys had asked me to have a few of their children run out on stage to join them on this cue. Does that make me part of the road show? LOL
One other new song was represented in the form of Cinnamon, which Weiland said was going to be their next single, but it was the older tunes like Big Empty, Plush, Interstate Love Song, Sex Type Thing, and Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart, which prompted major applause, singalongs and a major push and shove display between guys on the floor.
Not even a limp cover of Led Zeppelin’s Dancing Day could get the crowd really wound up and who could blame them?
There may be life in the old band yet but, as a whole, they need to inject a lot more life into their live shows to take it to the level of their ‘90s heyday again.
I would say 3 out of 5 stars
SET LIST
Crackerman
Wicked Garden
Vasoline
Heaven and Hot Rods
Between the Lines
Hickory Dichotomy
Still Remains
Cinnamon
Big Empty
Dancing Days (Led Zeppelin cover)
Pretty Penny
Silvergun Superman
Plush
Interstate Love Song
Huckleberry Crumble
Down
Sex Type Thing
ENCORE:
Dead and Bloated
Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Part of the crew, SoSecretive? You're so funny.
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