In
the crazy world of rock music, the battles of the stars are well
documented. VH-1 has actually based an entire music channel around the
rise and fall of rock stars. Over the last ten years, however, no artist
has been more of a ticking timebomb than Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott
Weiland. His battles with heroin and run-ins with the law have been well
publicized, leaving many to wonder if he, too, would become just another
in a line of washed up "Behind the Music" casualties. For the 4,100 people
who saw Stone Temple Pilots at the Hershey Star Pavilion, that question
was answered with a resounding "NO!" From the time they hit the stage —
glammed out in feather boas and suits — and hit the opening notes of "Crackerman"
off their debut album, Core, to the final sirens following their
rousing encore of "Sex Type Thing" off the same disc, Weiland and the crew
twirled, slinked, and screamed around the stage with an energy that blows
the doors off bands ten years their junior. The blistering hour-and-a-half
show was the true meaning of a greatest hits set, spanning tunes from all
four albums and inducing a mass sing-a-long to each. Of course, as any
band does, they highlighted a few of the lesser known tunes from their
latest disc NO. 4, but unlike many bands, STP was able to keep the
momentum up and the crowd jumping to songs they barely knew. Even when the
guys took a break for what Weiland referred to as the "Bic lighter part of
the evening" —the band’s two-song acoustic set — the crowd was fixed on
Weiland and the band singing to their latest "Sour Girl" and "Creep" from
their debut. Up on stage, a clean Weiland commands a presence and the
attention of the crowd as well as any in the last 30 years of rock
history, and although 26,000 less people saw this amazing set than watched
Britney Spears prance around the stage a few nights before, those who were
there know they saw one of the most talented rock bands in the world
perform at the peak of their game.
In
the crazy world of rock music, the battles of the stars are well
documented. VH-1 has actually based an entire music channel around the
rise and fall of rock stars. Over the last ten years, however, no artist
has been more of a ticking timebomb than Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott
Weiland. His battles with heroin and run-ins with the law have been well
publicized, leaving many to wonder if he, too, would become just another
in a line of washed up "Behind the Music" casualties. For the 4,100 people
who saw Stone Temple Pilots at the Hershey Star Pavilion, that question
was answered with a resounding "NO!" From the time they hit the stage —
glammed out in feather boas and suits — and hit the opening notes of "Crackerman"
off their debut album, Core, to the final sirens following their
rousing encore of "Sex Type Thing" off the same disc, Weiland and the crew
twirled, slinked, and screamed around the stage with an energy that blows
the doors off bands ten years their junior. The blistering hour-and-a-half
show was the true meaning of a greatest hits set, spanning tunes from all
four albums and inducing a mass sing-a-long to each. Of course, as any
band does, they highlighted a few of the lesser known tunes from their
latest disc NO. 4, but unlike many bands, STP was able to keep the
momentum up and the crowd jumping to songs they barely knew. Even when the
guys took a break for what Weiland referred to as the "Bic lighter part of
the evening" —the band’s two-song acoustic set — the crowd was fixed on
Weiland and the band singing to their latest "Sour Girl" and "Creep" from
their debut. Up on stage, a clean Weiland commands a presence and the
attention of the crowd as well as any in the last 30 years of rock
history, and although 26,000 less people saw this amazing set than watched
Britney Spears prance around the stage a few nights before, those who were
there know they saw one of the most talented rock bands in the world
perform at the peak of their game.