Any Lollapalooza footage from '92 of STP

[Plushman]

And this right here might be footage of the first stage the band played on as STP...except this performance is several hours after them lol .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkAgnkoR1ps

Lollapalooza Stage 2,000, Phoenix, Arizona. September 8th, 1992.

[Plushman]

Which is interesting because STP supposedly had a huge following as MJY...at least in the San Diego area. And if my timeline is correct....STP knew by mid-May that they were going to be called Stone Temple Pilots. So while the general fan might not have known them...you'd think some fans who had been following them would have recorded something.

If they had such a huge following recording their shows as MJY, then why aren't there any MJY boots floating around?

I think about that all the time. But to clarify....I never said they have a huge following of people recording. I stated that there was a following. So for them to get signed...and supposed first show as STP at Lolla...someone would have deemed it their big break and a special moment to record.

Are you suggesting that the statements expressed in articles and segments over the years that the band had a strong San Diego following is exaggerated?

It is odd what little there is of MJY.

[Blue]

Which is interesting because STP supposedly had a huge following as MJY...at least in the San Diego area. And if my timeline is correct....STP knew by mid-May that they were going to be called Stone Temple Pilots. So while the general fan might not have known them...you'd think some fans who had been following them would have recorded something.

If they had such a huge following recording their shows as MJY, then why aren't there any MJY boots floating around?

I think about that all the time. But to clarify....I never said they have a huge following of people recording. I stated that there was a following. So for them to get signed...and supposed first show as STP at Lolla...someone would have deemed it their big break and a special moment to record.

Are you suggesting that the statements expressed in articles and segments over the years that the band had a strong San Diego following is exaggerated?

It is odd what little there is of MJY.

I don't think anything the band has ever said implied that they had some sort of cult following in San Diego... Just that they were successful and well liked in the San Diego club scene.

And let's remember we're not talking about modern times where the internet gives you instant access to all information, and where literally anyone can record a concert on a whim. There was no MJY Facebook page, or even newsletter or fanzine to instantly tell everyone that MJY had signed and changed their name...


Heck, even in the modern era of instant information, WE can't get a solid answer on what shows STP did or did not play in this tour. So how would someone from 1992 be aware of the name change AND know for certain STP was playing Lollapalooza at this certain date in a city miles away?

An why would someone who's snuck a camcorder into the show with a finite amount of tape and finite battery life for their camera, and has probably never eard of STP, record their set?

I'm not saying I'm 100% certain footage of these shows don't exist. I'm saying it seems really unlikely. They were an unknown band with a new name and no albums to that name playing a side-stage a couple of shows of a festival tour notorious for keeping it's line-up tightly guarded.

So the mentality that "footage has to exist somewhere" just doesn't ring true. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. But it's at least as like the footage doesn't exist as does.

[seattlesound]

Good points blue.


The reason I think footage likely could exist, would be from the pro shot cameras. There’s a chance that those would roll throughout the day, not just here and there for larger bands. That’s why I would think IF footage exists, it would be rolls of film, even if it’s unedited... it could be in a box that hasn’t seen light since 1992. Or hell the film of STP could have been handed to someone who worked with the band or their label. I mean any one of those many people behind the scenes could have stuff like that. There’d rarely be a reason for them to bring it out.


It’s all what if stuff


Your theory definitely probably runs a little further though for the time frame of 1992.

[Blue]

Good points blue.

The reason I think footage likely could exist, would be from the pro shot cameras. There’s a chance that those would roll throughout the day, not just here and there for larger bands. That’s why I would think IF footage exists, it would be rolls of film, even if it’s unedited... it could be in a box that hasn’t seen light since 1992. Or hell the film of STP could have been handed to someone who worked with the band or their label. I mean any one of those many people behind the scenes could have stuff like that. There’d rarely be a reason for them to bring it out.

It’s all what if stuff

Your theory definitely probably runs a little further though for the time frame of 1992.

If pro-shot cameras were rolling, it would be on video tape rather than film. Film has to be recorded, processed, and then edited... Whereas tape can be recorded and edited live and then played back almost immediately.

There is the possibility of videotape existing, but that would rely on the concert organizers having projected the performance on a video screen for the audience in the lawn, and the venue having saved the tape. Unfortunately I haven't seen any evidence of pro shot cameras or projection screen in any of the Lollapalooza footage I've seen.

Of course, it's possible there was a one or two cameras mounted near the soundboard that wouldn't show up in audience shot footage... And maybe the projector screens were mounted behind the main audience, where only people on the lawn could see it. Like you said, it's all what if stuff.

Anyway, it is a frustrating thing to think of all the concert footage that may or may not exist on videotape in venue archives around the country. Any bootleg you've seen with a projection screen, means there was at least at some point a pro-shot videotape of that show.

[Plushman]

Blue...I appreciate your attention to detail....but in regards to your responses to my words...

I used the statement "huge" to describe the following the band supposedly had in San Diego. Maybe I should not have used that word, however I never suggested that they had a 'cult' following.

Also, I never said that the band claimed the size of their following...everything that has been said about MJY in interviews and articles suggest they built a solid following...which I believe was accredited to helping them get noticed and signed.

So if you wanna hang on every little word, go ahead. I stand by my question...that a young band in California who had fans, finally gets a break to play a large festival, as a signed band on Atlantic Records.. you would think that someone, even being asked by the band, had a camcorder at the time and recorded for them.

And like mentioned before, stuff very well could exist and just be lost somewhere. I have a buddy whose uncle has Cobain messing around in a garage in Seattle...he hasnt shared it.

I just think its a worthy question to ask, especially since there is almost nothing of them from 92.

We've all seen the rockumentary...at 3:37 min mark  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Qee_n0oRA  ...band is rocking...March 6th, 1991...and someone found it worthy enough to record. So over a year later...and the band strikes a record deal...and is playing a major fest...and no one decided to record anything? I just find it interesting.

[oldleadbelly]

Great work on the chronology. I have some doubts about the april 1st signing date with Atlantic as it doesn't line up with some Mighty Joe Young information I have recently come across. Hope to get that stuff organized in time for the site's 20th anniversary on the belowempty.com domain this September.


Another nice little tidbit from this era that surprised me comes from a newspaper clipping from the Detroit Free Press, September 9, 1992. Page 180 if you're in a position to look it up. How weird is this listing for 'upcoming album releases'??

There was an interview at some point - I really don't remember if it was Tiny Music-era, or afterward - where Robert was asked about the naming of Tiny Music, and he said "Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop" had been kicking around for a while, and that they almost used it instead of Core.

So, this appears to show just how close we came to knowing STP's debut album as Vatican Gift Shop. Cool.

[Blue]

Blue...I appreciate your attention to detail....but in regards to your responses to my words...

I used the statement "huge" to describe the following the band supposedly had in San Diego. Maybe I should not have used that word, however I never suggested that they had a 'cult' following.

Also, I never said that the band claimed the size of their following...everything that has been said about MJY in interviews and articles suggest they built a solid following...which I believe was accredited to helping them get noticed and signed.

So if you wanna hang on every little word, go ahead. I stand by my question...that a young band in California who had fans, finally gets a break to play a large festival, as a signed band on Atlantic Records.. you would think that someone, even being asked by the band, had a camcorder at the time and recorded for them.

And like mentioned before, stuff very well could exist and just be lost somewhere. I have a buddy whose uncle has Cobain messing around in a garage in Seattle...he hasnt shared it.

I just think its a worthy question to ask, especially since there is almost nothing of them from 92.

We've all seen the rockumentary...at 3:37 min mark  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Qee_n0oRA  ...band is rocking...March 6th, 1991...and someone found it worthy enough to record. So over a year later...and the band strikes a record deal...and is playing a major fest...and no one decided to record anything? I just find it interesting.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a jerk. I just think it's far from a given footage of this show exists.

There was an interview at some point - I really don't remember if it was Tiny Music-era, or afterward - where Robert was asked about the naming of Tiny Music, and he said "Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop" had been kicking around for a while, and that they almost used it instead of Core.So, this appears to show just how close we came to knowing STP's debut album as Vatican Gift Shop. Cool.

I seem to recall that article, too... But couldn't find it when Rik posted that pic.

[Rik]

Research findings:
https://belowempty.com/blog/2019/08/11/the-mysteries-and-misconceptions-about-stp-at-lollapalooza-92/


Short version:

There’s only real evidence of Stone Temple Pilots playing two shows on the Lollapalooza ’92 tour. Those two shows are:
September 8, 1992 – Phoenix, Arizona @ Desert Sky Pavilion
September 12, 1992 – Irvine, California @ Irvine Meadows