I'm at the VooDoo Lounge last night and I've got my first whiskey and Coke and I'm off to the side of the stage watching the Architects perform. I'd never seen them before. I've heard their name thrown around a lot, but never heard any of their songs. And I think to myself - there's nothing about this band I don't like. As the songs go on, I see this figure out of the corner of my eye and I turn and there's Scott Weiland, out of view from the crowd, watching the show.
Just to cover myself from any libel charges, I'll allow that it might not necessarily have been Scott Weiland, but it sure looked like him. He's standing just under the Exit sign in the hallway that leads to the front of the stage. He's got that tight stocking cap I think he's wearing in every photo I've ever seen of him getting arrested. There's no expression, just this blank look on sunken eyes and thin lips. Of course, I thought he knew he was completely fucked now. People in the crowd even more ignorant about the Architects than me are asking each other where the band is from, lots of people saying 'No!' when they learn they're local, and people are having way too much fun for an opening act they've never heard of.
So after the Architects finished their set, it began to seem like an unusually long wait for Weiland to start. I pictured him backstage, begging the band to call the show off. Guys feel my forehead I think I'm sick... doesn't that feel really hot? Man, we probably shouldn't go on... No guys seriously... please.... I wanted to hate Scott Weiland. I really, really did.
Because Weiland is probably the luckiest musician ever. He doesn't seem so much indestructible as slippery. Has anyone been given more chances and fucked up more times? Has anyone followed great songs with crappy ones and continually gotten radio airplay on the level he has? Part of what makes it all the more infuriating is the guy can really do some cool stuff when he wants to. Like it or not, "Interstate Love Song" is probably in the top 10 songs to come out of the '90s - at least among the stuff that was getting played on MTV - and I will argue this with you. But then you also get suckered into listening to "Barbarella". I think on a very human level, we all hate Scott Weiland.
When he first hit the stage I didn't think my opinion would change. He was wearing this plaid shirt and tie combo and for some reason I could feel flames, flames burning on my face. But then he starts singing, and God damn him, he wins you over.
The thing about Weiland is he's an excellent frontman, and if you're a fan he's going to give you what you paid to see. That's probably all that matters - if you go to a show you want to know you'll get your money's worth. He is a lounge-singer-slash-rock-star, but beyond that, he wasn't pandering. He could easily do a set heavy on Stone Temple Pilots and maybe even a couple of Velvet Revolver tunes, mix in three or four songs from his solo album and everyone leaves happy. He doesn't take the easy way, though. He wants to make you understand his new stuff. He has no problem letting live songs veer into jam-band territory but not to the point of nausea. He even, and I think this is borderline courageous, limited the songs anyone would know to less than a dozen minutes of STP songs. By the time it was over, I was thinking that his producers had fucked him over on his solo album because his sound live was so much cleaner than the muddled junk I've heard on the radio.
Some people complained that he wasn't playing enough crowd pleasers. But why should he? Do we really need Scott Weiland fronting an STP cover band? If anything, I think he should keep going and do whatever the hell he wants at any given show. I hope it gets weirder and weirder. I hope he does an acoustic set of Terry Reid covers. I hope an alien bursts out of his chest halfway through "Big Bang Baby" and devours the audience. We need this. Thank you, Scott Weiland.
Set List:
Sadly unknown, but almost all of it was from his new solo album, Happy In Galoshes.
-- Peter Rugg
Photos by Scott Spychalski
Critic's Notebook
Personal bias: I took guitar lessons as a kid from a pothead grad student at the nearest college. He told me I was his only student who hadn't started out wanting to learn "Plush." This was also true of most of the musicians at my school. Not that my own tastes at the time were any less embarrassing now. Mock the song all you want - it deserves it - but there's a whole generation of closeted guitarists out there who know damn well one of the first songs they learned was that STP song. Probably from one of those magazines like Guitar World that runs tablatures in the back pages.
Random detail: As I sat in the casino bar, sobering up for the drive home, some of Weiland's band came through the slot machines. They were immediately set upon by fans, and politely shook hands and took photos. Looked like a class act.
By the way: I met a guy from California in his own band, Slytherin... Yeah, I know, I thought what you're thinking too. He flew out to Kansas City this summer to see STP at Rock Fest and again this week just for this show. Weiland is his personal hero. Any bands out there named Gryffindor? Better watch your back.
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I love everything Scott Weiland has done, from the solo stuff, all the different styles of the STP albums, and the fueled up sound VR. There are some songs on the solo albums that don't really grab me as much as ones on STP or VR albums, however I respect him as an artist and will always go at things he puts out with an open mind. After reading his wife's book and knowing alot more about him as a person and his personal life, alot of the music and rumors about his life make much more sense and have provided alot of clarity on all the negativity that surrounds him.
I've never seen his solo show but I've seen STP 3 times in the past 2 years and will be seeing them again next month. They put on a hell of a live show, it's always very entertaining to watch and the sound is always killer as well.
Maybe I have so much respect for him being that I've been through many of similar things in my life, I think that always definitely helps when you�re listening to music as well as fully understanding the meaning of the songs.
Wake up, before you start bashing him for one bad performance look at everything as a whole and know exactly the background of what the hell you�re talking about.
I just saw the same show in Milwaukee last night, and I disagree. That show was awful. Maybe I was just in a bad mood because the show started over an hour late, but I really wanted to like it. I was a big fan of STP and I like the new solo album. However, when he opened with a 20 minute jam instead of an actual song, I felt my patience begin to ebb. The jam session at the end of unglued also went on about 5 minutes too long. By the third time they started to jam, the audience had, for the most part, visibly lost patience. Lots of people left early, and even worse, many people sat down in the middle of the concert. One woman even pushed her way to the front of the crowd so he could see her flip him off, then stormed out- and that was in the middle of Interstate Love Song. I'll admit, there were some good moments, and you are right, he has a lot of energy, but the man also is a terrible singer. He's got great vocal power but he can't articulate to save his life. Even songs I knew, like vasoline, were incoherent to the point of frustration, and he spent way too much time with his back to the audience playing with that synthesizer. The backup musicians were really great, and the only good thing about those jams were that they gave those amazing guitarists and drummer a chance to show off their stuff. I'd pay money to see them by themselves at a jam concert, but last night I paid to hear Scott Weiland sing a few of his songs, and I agree wholeheartedly that he shouldn't have to make a whole setlist out of STP and Velvet Revolver songs. I'd have been fine with just his own solo stuff, but what I did not pay to see last night was some d-bag dancing around obnoxiously for an hour and a half (which felt like 4, and don't get me started on the fact that we were kept waiting almost as long as the show itself), playing with a synthesizer, and occasionally incoherently mumbling into a microphone. The backup band should ditch him for a frontman who's less of a flake and cut their own album. That I'd buy. On a human level, I didn't hate Scott Weiland before last night, but I do now.
Great review, very entertaining & informative! I have to preface this by saying I am a HUGE Scott Weiland fan, bi-polar quirks et al...I was at his Atlanta show & didn't know if I'd like it or not. I took someone with me who isn't a huge fan of his & she loved the show! We both did, I hadn't heard much of his solo stuff, just the 1st single Missing Cleveland which I liked, I was discouraged by all of the negative reviews of Happy. Interestingly enough, I didn't become an STP fan until after I discovered Scott in Velvet Revolver! Then, I realized all of those STP hits I knew weren't Nirvana like I thought but Scott & his musical genius! I was busy getting married & having babies during STP's heyday...Scott is just fascinating to me, I love both STP & Velvet equally & am very sad he won't be back with Velvet anymore. Damn Matt Sorum! They will never find anyone to replace him, it's impossible. His solo stuff is all over the place but the songs he played were good! His band sounds just awesome & he seemed really happy & coherent! I am just hypnotized by how talented he is, there's no one else like him & because of his messy personal life, he doesn't get the respect he deserves. He totally won over the crowd in Atlanta, played just enough STP to keep people happy & just nailed it with his other stuff! I hope he eventually goes back to recording with STP but I will follow him wherever his journey leads him. Love you Scott!! Rock on!!!
Despite your obvious bias against Weiland, that was a really solid and stand-up review. Just an F.Y.I., not EVERYONE hate's Weiland, I think it's more like not everyone GET'S Weiland. I think he's an amazing breath of fresh air, and anyone who's REALLY given "Happy in Galoshes" a few good throw's, would likely agree. Fantastically mature record, and not even comparable in ANY way to his first solo album 12 Bar Blues. For the fans who want to hear STP, well they just finished a 7month tour... if you goto a Weiland solo show, you're going to get Weiland solo song's. And AMEN to that. Looking @ the set-list, it seem's he definitely picked a few REAL GEM'S to play from the STP catalogue though, song's that have only been played less than a handful of times live if ever. If you're looking for a classy, entertaining, night of music, you're looking in the right direction...
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