Scott Weiland - resplendent in a wide-brimmed, Carmen Sandiego fedora and an impeccable, three-quarter-length trench that made him look like an über-hip undertaker - seemed lethargic and atrophied during rock radio staples like “Vaseline” and “Plush.” The usually lithe, pipe-cleaner thin frontman appeared weighed down, even when slipping serpent-like across the front bank of monitors.īassist Robert DeLeo and drummer Eric Kretz delivered workmanlike performances, laying rhythmic bedrocks during catalog cuts like “Crackerman” and “Coma,” but without Weiland unleashing his hoary growl, the results were innocuous at best. Two futile resets later, they scrapped the tune altogether and moved on.īut the stalled momentum never seemed to lift. Part way into opener “The Big Empty,” Dean DeLeo’s guitar rig abruptly cut out, bringing the song to a grinding halt. In front of a capacity crowd, things got off to an auspicious start. A 70-date tour landed them at Charter One Pavilion on an unseasonably cold evening adjacent to Chicago’s majestic lakefront. So more than half a decade after their disintegration, STP have reconvened for what certainly felt like one last trip to the nostalgia ATM. Never a critics’ darling, the quartet settled for the success-is-the-best-revenge route, selling tens of millions of records before an acrimonious split - fueled, for the most part, by singer Scott Weiland’s extensive rap sheet (addiction, rehab, relapse in fact he recently spent a 14-minute stretch in jail) - ended their run after the release of their fifth record. Ultimately, they touched down somewhere in the middle.
But they also craved stardom and all its trappings, something their contemporaries claimed to vehemently despise. Instead, they got blamed for birthing Bush (the band, not the president). In the halcyon days of Seattle grunge, they yearned for the credibility of torchbearers like Nirvana, Mudhoney, and Soundgarden. Let’s move forward together, hang out and rock some STP.Stone Temple Pilots always wanted it both ways. It was a really special moment.”Ĭonsidering the grunge band has spent the last 25 years starting and stopping for various reasons, Gutt had this message for fans: “Just live in the moment. While we were doing the show, I brought him up and he did a song. That was really awesome for him to call and ask. “I was like, ‘Dude, you were the singer.’ It was cool he wanted to have my blessing to come out. “Chester called up and asked if he could come. “He came to the first thing I ever did with STP, which was this closed show at a rehearsal studio with friends and family,” Gutt said. While Gutt never met Weiland, he did know Bennington, who prior to his death gave his approval for what amounts to the third incarnation of STP. More so, Gutt was a major songwriting contributor. The material effortlessly sounds like deep cuts from the mid-’90s, with the new singer seemingly paying homage sans any hint of aping his influence.įrom the gritty rocker “Meadow” to the dreamy “The Art of Letting Go” and heartfelt “Thought She’d Be Mine,” the current lineup seemingly has done the impossible by living up to the STP standard while also moving forward. What stands out about the new 14-track album is the vocal similarity between Gutt and Weiland. The outfit is supporting its 2018 self-titled effort, which, yes, is its second self-titled album after a 2010 affair – Weiland’s last with the band. A lot of life happened before that, but I just stuck with it and it worked out.”ĭespite the fact he grew up roughly two hours away and spent his youth playing in clubs, Gutt is about to make his Northeast Ohio debut when STP performs Sept. It’s such a blessing, and it took so long to get here. It’s still really hard to wrap my head around it. “To now be in the band is insane and crazy.
I remember sitting down with my guitar and learning it – and learning it wrong, of course. STP had a big influence on all music at the time. “That’s right when I put the guitar down and concentrated on singing.
“I was a sophomore in high school when they came out,” said Gutt, calling from Los Angeles.