Hey everyone, I want to start off by saying that this show was simply amazing. I saw STP open for the RHCP back in 2000, than 8 years later at the magical Rock on the Range and very recently at the dreadful PNC show. The Borgata one beat them all. Hands down.
The only good thing to mention before the show was that I actually bumped into Eric. He walked passed a handful of fans in front of the venue and no one knew who he was. I shook his hand, told him he was awesome, and said that I knew they were going to be great tonight. He smiled, thanked me and went toward the table games (I hope he did well).
Anyway, on to the show. I was positioned on the rail directly in front of Dean – closest I’ve ever been to my favorite band so it was surreal. I was jamming the whole night. Lost my voice about 5 songs in and my legs were dead tired by the end. Not sure about anyone else, but I thought a lot of people knew the lyrics and were singing along. The energy was very high and the band fed off it.
Performance wise, they did phenomenal. Robert was all over the place – getting on top of the front boxes, show boating with his bass, bending down backward to where he was almost lying on his back, getting right in the face of the crowd. Dean was definitely into it – jumping and running around, making so many funny faces to the crowd, leaning on Scott a bunch of times. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that active before; maybe in the early Core days. Eric was great in the back banging on his kit – obviously he wasn’t jumping or running around, but his shirt was off by the second song so you know he was working hard. Scott was really acting and looking like the Scotty of old. He was spinning, dancing, and jumping around. He utilized the whole stage. He interacted with the crowd all night too – talking to them in-between songs, giving high fives, turning the microphone around so the crowd could to sing. He was speaking clearly and moving well, so all those people who worry should know that he was fine tonight. They all interacted great with each other as well as if they were one cohesive unit.
Musically they were great. No concerns there. They were tighter than tight. Problem was for me at least was that the vocals were pretty muffled. I really cannot tell you how good, great or average Scott’s voice was. The crowd did most of the singing anyway. Either the sound guy screwed it up or it was because I was so close. It was the same way for the two opening bands, too.
Some side notes…
Scott and Robert joked about how old Dean was. I couldn’t make out much of it, but something like how his birthday was coming up and when Dean said he was going to be 30, Scott joked by saying he meant his high school reunion was coming up on 30.
Scott pointed in my direction about how someone looked like a DeLeo brother in the crowd. Couldn’t really figure out what he was talking about though. Some people thought it was me he was pointing at, but I don’t think I look like a DeLeo.
Scott said that over the last 20 years Sex Type Thing was the most misunderstood song in rock n’ roll.
He introduced Plush as a song that both the hardcore fans would know and the radio friendly fans would know. He called it “Lunch” again.
I learned something about Silvergun Superman. Scott introduced the song that it was about a close friend of his from high school who dicked him over (which I knew), but it has a different meaning to him because he is still close friends with that same person to this day (didn’t know that).
The two jazz jams were really long, funky and badass. I cannot wait for new material if they do it. Also, if I really gave a shit, I probably would have rather taken the combined 10-minute jams and had two more songs. But I don’t give a shit and I’m just happy they are getting along and rocking again.
Speaking of new material, Scott teased playing new stuff before Down. He talked about how STP shows were unpredictable and you never know what they are going to play or do. Then he asked Eric to count them Down into the next song (pun intended).
The front of Scott’s shirt during the encore said “I act like an American (I AM).” He talked about how he is not anti-American and he does support every troop who fights for our country. He said that he just does not support a lot of the American policies and the politicians who enforce them.
At the end of Trippin’ it looked like Robert wanted to play one more song because he didn’t take his bass off right away. He stood there and looked at what the other 3 were doing. Man that would have been cool.
Finally, all four took a collective bow together and blew kisses with huge smiles to the crowd. Robert tossed out about 8 guitar picks and Eric threw out like a Frisbee a blue drumhead with the old STP logo signed (I think) by the whole band.
So the show was ridiculous. I loved it. Worth every penny. I hope I can see them again on this tour and I hope they keep on rocking for a long time.
