STP (Scott-free Temple Pilots) @ The Paramount, Huntington, NY

By Seth M

OK, so before all the haters get upset about the title let me say I have been an STP fan for many years, have spent time with them, have seen them many times, have friends who worked for them, etc., and I have loved the band from the beginning. Yes, I really like STP with Scott Weiland but let’s face facts people, Scott’s a mess…again…and apparently the rest of the band has…again…had enough. This time it seems like it was the last straw for them so they have moved on with one of the hardest working vocalists in rock, Mr. Chester Bennington. I would think it goes without saying that Chester didn’t really need this gig ~ he’s quite successful with Linkin Park, has his side project Dead By Sunrise, and keeps himself busy writing, recording and touring ~ but I for one am damn glad he said yes.

So why Chester? Well, the better question is probably why not Chester? Or better yet, there’s my school of thought, who cares why or why not since he’s injected an energy into STP that they haven’t had in years. Sure, they have always been and still are a great live band and I would go as far as saying when Scott was on his game they were probably one of the greatest bands you could ever see live.  Sadly, though,  in recent years there’s been a disconnect between band and singer and with Chester, that’s no longer the case.

I was glad to be able to check out the new STP and they came out firing on all cylinders, hitting on some of the crowd favorites, pulling some old songs out of the closet that Scott wouldn’t or couldn’t sing, and adding in some new songs as well. Speaking of the new songs, have you checked any of them out? If you haven’t, then before you go any further, have a listen to “Out of Time” here.

If that isn’t proof that these guys are making a fresh start then nothing is ~ and the sound totally translates live.

But before I get more into the STP part of the show, let’s talk about their opener, Filter. They warmed up the crowd with a 45 minute set of new songs from The Sun Comes Out Tonight as well as some Filter hits like “Take a Picture” and “Hey Man Nice Shot.”

Having Filter on the bill was like a rock bonus but it was time for the main event and my first chance to check out the revitalized STP. As they hit the stage, they wasted no time, opening up their set with “Down.” They quickly followed that up with “Big Bang Baby,” “Vaseline,” and “Dead & Bloated” before playing the previously mentioned “Out of Time” (see link above).

Chester did his best to move around the stage like Scott would have but it was totally unnecessary. I won’t say Chester was perfect and that Scott wasn’t missed in a few of the songs including “Big Empty,” but I stand by what I’ve said, that the band had a changed, improved energy from when they played two shows at The Paramount with Scott a year earlier.

“Sex Type Thing” was probably one of the set highlights for me as it was obvious Chester loves this song and the band loves playing it with him ~ and he even mentioned that when he first heard the song it changed his life and how he looked at music. Richard Patrick of Filter joined the band for “Piece of Pie” during the encore, which kicked off “Wicked Garden” and Chester exclaiming,“That’s a really great song.” The band ended their set with “Trippin’ On A Hole in a Paper Heart,” and everyone was smiling in the crowd and on the stage as well, myself included.

Stone Temple Pilots Set list:

Down

Big Bang Baby

Vasoline

Dead & Bloated

Out of Time

Silvergun Superman

Church On Tuesday

Big Empty

Sour Girl

Interstate Love Song

Pop’s Love Suicide

Hollywood Bitch

Sex Type Thing

Sex & Violence

Encore:

Wicked Garden

Piece of Pie

Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart

Obviously, no one knows how long Chester will remain with Stone Temple Pilots, if somehow they will work out their differences and lawsuits with Scott, or if they will continue as another band or maybe even go back to one of their other projects like Talk Show or Army of Anyone (loved that album), but until that time, if you can check out STP with Chester I think you’ll enjoy it. I hope to catch them at one of the Soundwave shows in Australia but check out stonetemplepilots.com for all the tour dates and information on their soon-to-be-released EP.