Stone Temple Pilots Excites at Nokia Theatre

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Written by John Alvarez

Tuesday, 02 November 2010 02:55

On Friday evening, October 29th, screams resonated from the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles, CA. However, these screams didn’t relate to the fact Friday night kicked off Halloween weekend. Instead, the screams came from overexcited Stone Temple Pilots (STP) fans watching one of their favorite alternate rock bands perform live. The anxious crowd, some dressed up for Halloween some not, gave out a thunderous roar as STP made their way onto the stage around 8:25pm. For the next hour and a half the Stone Temple Pilots entertained the Nokia Theater crowd as fans showed their support by singing, shouting, and dancing.

The Stone Temple Pilots set list mixed STP’s new songs, such as “Hickory Dichotomy” and “Cinnamon,” with old favorites, like “Plush” and “Interstate Love Song.” Based on crowd reaction, “Plush” served as the audience’s favorite until “Interstate Love Song.” During “Plush” lead singer Scott Weiland allowed the crowd to belt out the chorus “Where ya going for to tomorrow?/Where ya goin’ with the mask I found?...” by holding the microphone out to the sea of people surrounding him. Still, nothing compared to the reaction for “Interstate Love Song.” Seemingly everyone in the audience sang along with Weiland. People jumped around and danced, as if the song’s guitar riffs and drum beats had control over their body movements. Looking around, even people who earlier looked like they had better things to do with their Friday night became fully immersed in the performance.

Other notable songs from STP’s set list included “Wicked Garden,” “The Big Empty,” “Silvergun Superman,” and Led Zeppelin cover “Dancing Days.” Like “Interstate Love Song,” the crowd sang along with Weiland to “Wicked Garden.” “The Big Empty” had people dancing, singing, and holding their arms up in the air. “Silvergun Superman” fostered an overwhelming round of applause at the end of the song; partly do to a great solo by guitarist Dean DeLeo. The audience received the Led Zeppelin cover with enthusiasm, although “Dancing Days” didn’t go without flaw. The main problem involved Weiland’s voice being drowned out by the guitars and drums.

As far as stage presence goes, Weiland seemed to have a somewhat off night. Grant you, an off night for Weiland still equates to better stage presence than most frontmen. However, anyone who saw Stone Temple Pilots perform back in June at the KROQ Weenie Roast would notice Weiland’s energy levels seemed down a couple notches. Perhaps the constant touring has finally taken affect on the singer. Either way, Weiland did his best to keep the crowd entertained. For instance, he teased the crowd by saying “A couple of you may know this (next) song, like two or three" before the band started playing “Plush,” one of the group’s biggest hits.

Stone Temple Pilots exited the stage after ending their set with “Sex Type Things.” A still heavily energized crowd wasn’t ready to let STP leave yet though, yelling out for an encore. After three minutes the band returned to the stage. Upon the group’s reemergence, Weiland brought his 10 year old son Noah along with him. Handing his signature bullhorn to his son, Weiland allowed Noah to kick off the encore by singing the opening lyrics to “Dead & Bloated.” As “Dead & Bloated” ended, Weiland asked the crowd if they wanted one more song. The audience answered with resounding cheers, prompting STP to end the evening with “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart.”

In general, the crowd’s overwhelming love for Stone Temple Pilots helped to make Friday evening a very fun night. The positive vibe created by the concert continues STP’s overall positive momentum. Stone Temple Pilots drummer Eric Kretz explained everything has gone well for the group lately, in an interview with Ventura Country Star. The band even plans to release a new album in 2011. In regards to writing new music, Kretz commented during the interview “The writing process always comes pretty easy, especially having the DeLeo brothers [Robert and Dean] in the band. There is never a shortage of material.” With another new album on the horizon, the Los Angeles area shouldn’t have to wait too long to see Stone Temple Pilots live once again.