In a rare, intimate appearance in the Bears Den inside the Seneca Niagara Casino, former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland delivered a performance that left many scratching their heads. Weiland fronted one of the most commercially successful bands that came out of the grunge era back in the early 1990’s. Albums like “Core” and “Purple” were some of the best releases by any band during the 1990’s. Weiland quickly established himself as one of the most dynamic front men in rock and roll.
Erratic behavior, including numerous arrests and consistent drug use, have been a detrimental factor in his career as a musician and also contributed to his exit from both STP and the supergroup Velvet Revolver. Circa 2014 and Weiland’s new project Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts had many people (myself included) wondering if he could propel this group to the levels of success he had enjoyed with his other projects. This performance was a sad commentary of where he once was and not where he currently is. The set lasted 56 minutes before they left for an encore and came back out to play only one song.
Weiland lacked the zest and fire which was evident during what is usually a highly energetic opening track “Crackerman.” Yes the stage is smaller than what he may be normally used to but, there was almost no movement at all and Weiland seemed unsure of himself at times. This point was proven to be true when later in the set he wasn’t sure when to end the song “Vasoline” and had to take a cue from his guitarist.
Scott’s voice wasn’t as crisp or even strong enough to hit any high notes like those in “Big Empty.” His band tried their best but the backing vocals weren’t strong enough to hide any deficiencies shown by Weiland. However, the entire band did do a commendable job on the David Bowie classic “Gene Genie.” Weiland and the Wildabouts will be releasing their first album later this year titled “Plaster.” They performed two tracks off of it. “Beach Pop” sounded like something that you would expect to be released by a pop star like a Miley Cyrus, with no edge or any hard guitar licks whatsoever to be found on it. Although the Wildabouts are good players and very suitable for backing Weiland, they were not the tightly constructed unit of Weiland’s former band, STP.
First things first, your health is your wealth and it is clearly evident that Weiland isn’t anywhere close to where it needs to be. I have seen him perform about every year and a half since he joined up with Velvet Revolver and on through his STP reunion. In the last 3 performances I have witnessed a man who was clearly one of the best frontman on the planet become now a shell of his former himself. Disappointingly, this resulted in a lethargic performance this past Friday night. Remember, Weiland is only 46 and has a lot of his life ahead of him. Who knows what the current issue is, but I think it’s time Scott has to take stock in himself. Playing an intimate venue like the Bears Den usually brings out the best in an artist, as it strips away the big production and puts them back to where they originally started from. In this case, it was the opposite as the flaws came out during his performance. This is bigger than music and let’s hopes that Weiland get his life in order and maybe then he can reclaim his status as one of the best vocalists in rock once again!
Setlist:
Crackerman (Stone Temple Pilots song)
Tumble in the Rough (Stone Temple Pilots song)
Do It For The Kids (Velvet Revolver song)
The Way She Moves (new song)
The Jean Genie (David Bowie cover)
Big Bang Baby (Stone Temple Pilots song)
Sucker Train Blues (Velvet Revolver song)
Big Empty (Stone Temple Pilots song)
Slither (Velvet Revolver song)
Vasoline (Stone Temple Pilots song)
Beach Pop Rock
Dead & Bloated (Stone Temple Pilots song)
Encore:
Unglued (Stone Temple Pilots song)
We would like to thanks Tony Astran and Leslie Logan from the Seneca Allegany Casino for the credentials to review the show.
