Lead or former lead singer, depending on what story you believe, of Stone Temple Pilots, Scott Weiland, is currently enjoying a solo jaunt that included a stop at the Rapids Theatre in downtown Niagara Falls, NY. Set time was to be at 9pm, but as many who know or may not know, Weiland takes the stage when he is fit to do so, on this night it was 9:55pm. After witnessing him enter the building an hour earlier, it was disappointing that he made his fans wait.
Weiland and his band The Wildabouts opened the night with a jam to try set the mood. The megaphone driven “Crackerman” off of STP’s first album “Core” seemed more suited to really set the mood in my opinion. Weiland didn’t add much to the STP songs but did a commendable job on both the Bowie classic “Jean Genie” and the Janes Addiction song “Mountain Song.” He did dig deep into the STP catalog and brought out the b-sides “Kitchenware & Candybars” off of “Purple” and “Naked Sunday” off of “Core.”
Besides that, I thought the set lacked punch and emotion. Weiland seemed aloof for the most part as he talked in between songs a lot. One question arose during the evening, as to why he was ranting about Cleveland and then talking about Notre Dame doing it next year? Not sure if he knew where he was, but whisperings of substance abuse and jokes of the like circled the air when comments like this surfaced during the show. Whatever the case, Weiland is a tremendous talent and can command the stage like few others. If he can ever work things out with STP, or even Velvet Revolver, perhaps he can reach even greater heights, sooner than later!
Set List:
Opening jam
Crackerman
Wicked Garden
Paracysis
Naked Sunday
Creep
Jean Genie (David Bowie cover)
Kitchenware & Candybars
Where the River goes/Mountain Song (Janes Addiction cover)
Big Empty
Can’t Stand Me Now
Still Remains
Vasoline
Interstate Love Song
Encore:
Roadhouse Blues (The Doors cover)
Sex Type Thing
We would like to thank Dina Baruck from Career Artist Management for allowing BackstageAxxess to review the show.
