Stone Temple Pilots back on course
By Doug Pullen / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 08/01/2008 01:07:00 AM MDT
EL PASO - The Stone Temple Pilots got back on course Thursday night at the El Paso County Coliseum. That's something of an accomplishment given the erratic nature of their current tour, their first after five years apart.
The band came out very late for one of the first shows on the tour in New Jersey, a problem that has plagued them occasionally on a 5-1/2-month trek that launched in mid-May. Reviewers and fan forums alike have been particularly critical at times of singer Scott Weiland, the band's charismatic and enigmatic frontman who doesn't just sing about battling his demons, he lives it.
Weiland's voice has been knocked as hoarse and off-key at times, and there was evidence of the former at times in Thursday's 110-minute performance. At others he's been accused of being in some state of inebriation. On Tuesday night in Phoenix he fell into Eric Kretz's drum kit and told the crowd he was in a bad mood.
You should read the comments from upset fans on the band's own Web site.
Maybe that fresh embarrassment, the constant scrutiny, a volatile singer who seemed bent on proving himself, a sympatico band and the unequivocal enthusiasm of a crowd of 4,400 people was just what the rehab doctor ordered.
It wasn't a perfect performance by any means. Lesser material like the monotonous "Silvergun Superman" and "Lounge Fly" bogged things down at times, and the band could have done a better job of picking a setlist that built to a natural peak before the encore.
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That said, there was an earnestness to the sinewy, close-cropped, sweat-soaked Weiland's slithering performance that seemed to feed off the crowd's energy.
He certainly seemed to enjoy it, riding the wave whenever the crowd took over the vocals on some of the band's radio staples, "Plush," "Interstate Love Song," "Creep" and a triumphant encore finale of "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" among them. Guitarist Dean DeLeo got into the act on that last song, inviting a tweener fan up on stage to try on his guitar. Weiland's singled out another, slightly older kid to join them. He strapped on Robert DeLeo's bass and rocked it with such enthusiasm that Dean DeLeo, drummer Kretz and Weiland joined in on an informal jam that turned the sweaty audience's energy up another notch.
Weiland jokingly praised the Sun City for being "the hottest .... city in the United States for rock 'n' roll - and for temperature." Judging from his slow, sweaty striptease (the painted on pants stayed painted on), he wasn't kidding about the latter part of that statement.
That Weiland seemed to be having fun is a testament to the crowd's unconditional acceptance of the band and its troubled lead singer. It helped that the band with which he has reunited on this reclamation project of a tour seems to appreciate the second chance it has been given (the DeLeo brothers played a local waterpark here last year). Hardly perfunctory in nature, their instrumental support didn't merely prop up the singer, it gave him the vehicle with which to steer these Pilots.
Perhaps the most encouraging sign for hardcore fans in need of a shred of hope for STP's future were the occasional adlibbed endings on a handful of songs. That kind of musical doodling suggests the players have regained both the comfort level with and confidence in one another to start taking a few well-worn classics like "Creep" and its "I"m half the man I used to be" sentiment in some new directions.
The impromptu jam, something they've probably been developing as the tour progresses, is the kind of thing you want to see from a band that hopefully got together for reasons that go deeper than a nice paycheck. And it bodes well for a band that says it plans to start recording again when this tour ends Oct. 30.
But that special moment was nearly marred when something flew out of the crowd and narrowly missed bassist DeLeo while Weiland was in mid-adlib. DeLeo kicked it away angrily, paced briefly then interrupted Weiland. Fortunately, his mic was turned off or turned down, so the band resumed what it was doing after a brief interruption and the dark cloud lifted almost as quickly as it appeared.
Openers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club offered a nice contrast to the STP boys. Theirs driving rhythms, propelled by new drummer Leah Shapiro (of the Raveonettes touring band), stoked the gathering crowd's mood while they waited for the big moment to come. For one night at least, the STP guys delivered like they used to in their '90s glory days.
source:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/entertainment/ci_10064860