Personally, I think the time around 1999 to about 2001 was when STP was at their overall best. Scott was high energy most of the time, vocally still pretty good (but declining and inconsistent), and they had hit a creative peak.
But as far as live performances go, nothing since has beaten the awesome energy, attitude and vocal power of the Core era. I thought Scott was going to literally fly off the stage during the opening of Wicked Garden the first time I saw the following video:
http://www.belowempty.com/forum/index.php?topic=7399.0If Scott could have preserved his vocal power and consistency from the Core era, if the setlists could have been a bit longer, like the Tiny Music era, then the live shows during 1999-2001 would have been unbeatable. I guess I'm torn between the Core era and the No. 4 era.