On a stage partially enveloped with a gigantic backdrop of hundreds of light bulbs and the floor covered in shiny, black laminate, the ’90s alt-rock icons took their respective places in front of the audience at on an exceptionally beautiful summer’s night this past Tuesday.
While performing songs from their self-titled album released earlier this year, such as “Fast As I Can” and “Hickory Dichotomy,” a noticeable lull came over the audience. As Scott Weiland would inform the crowd that the next song was off their newest album, audience members would scream out comments like, “The new album sucks!”
During “Between the Lines”, played earlier in the set, Weiland’s dramatic showmanship wasn’t enough to salvage the audience’s interest in the band’s newest work, even though Dean DeLeo’s masterful guitar techniques solidly supported the song.
Older hits such as “Big Empty” and “Interstate Love” allowed STP to reach their audience, who would loudly applaud and cheer during the beginning chords of their old favorites. Even the band seemed more connected to their earlier songs. The grunge and hard rock-influenced sounds of songs like “Plush” demonstrated STP’s solid talents as rock musicians and allowed Weiland to really delve into the emotional bond he has with his lyrics.
Even with the band in its entirety present, the show revolved around the STP frontman, a middle-aged former drug addict who perfectly personifies a rock star with his rambling stories and theatrical stage presence. Before “Pretty Penny,” Weiland addressed the audience about how great it is to “bring these songs back” to such a “beautiful place,” how he wrote the next song the band was going to play while “trying to hide my afflictions” and how he used metaphors in his lyrics. His presence filled Red Rocks; he started the show wearing an all-black outfit with sunglasses but with each song would lose another piece of clothing until he was just in a white tank top and black pants.
Prior to playing “Vasoline,” Weiland exclaimed to the crowd, “Red Rocks has always been one of our top three favorite places to play… Itap where modern music meets ancient celebrations.” Regardless of the minor lulls from performing their songs, Stone Temple Pilots played a true-blue modern rock show amongst Ship Rock, Creation Rock and their fans.
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Allison Sands is a Denver-based writer and regular contributor to Reverb. Check out her .
