Stone Temple Pilots Bring Their Hard Rock Brand To A Festive Avila Beach Resort
The beach venue was packed with “Sunday funday” infused fans, waiting for some good old fashioned bluesy rock ‘n roll with a grunge tip. The opening verse to the Stone Temple Pilots hit, “Interstate Love Song” was appropriate for the day: “Waiting, on a Sunday afternoon…”
The sun-soaked Avila Beach crowd waited in excitement for enigmatic frontman, Scott Weiland to take the stage. By the time STP did, they were over a half hour late, but, this did not deter the central coast crowd from chanting the bands name and singing some of their hits, in unison. When the lights went down, they were ready to party into the star-filled moonlight.
Collective Effort Events is taking advantage of one of the great Southern California venues- The Avila Beach Resort. They are bringing some great bands to the scenic and party-friendly grounds.
Weiland and company didn’t come to mess around as they raged into their set with driving tracks, “Crackerman,” “Wicked Garden,” and “Vasoline.” There are not many lead singers in history who possess the same magnetism, talent and sense of cool as Scott Weiland. His well-documented demons have somewhat derailed the legacy of one of the greatest post-grunge bands of all-time. But, his epic rock voice and ability to move people emotionally with his physical movements are something which are still a thing of beauty.
Brothers Robert and Dean DeLeo, along with drummer, Eric Kretz, bring a comforting continuity to a band who has broken up and reunited, several times. No matter what STP has gone through, the truth remains that they have been playing together since the late 80’s. There is a deep, crunchy and layered psychadellic groove that is laid down by these rockers. that cannot be duplicated. Their hard rock style is mixed with country, funk and even glam at times. The power of their songwriting cannot be denied. How many bands can go out and belt out hit after hit that has filled the alternative music landscape for multiple decades?
About halfway through the night, Weiland reminisced about STP playing MTV’s Unplugged in 1993 (they included the Tubbs brothers from the indie band, The Violet Burning). He talked about how MTV did not want the band to play an unreleased song that was going to be on their next album. They played the track that night, anyway. It turned out to be the monster hit, “Big Empty.” The story and the song brought a big rise out of their fans. Other highlights of the evening were the tracks, “Plush” and “Still Remains.”
More info at the Stone Temple Pilots Website.
