August 20, 2010 - Chicago, IL - Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island

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General Information

Artist: Stone Temple Pilots
Date: August 20, 2010
Location: Chicago, IL
Venue: Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island
Address: 1300 S. Lynn White Dr, Chicago, IL 60605 [ Venue website ]
Box Office Number: (312) 540-2668

Additional Information: Thanks to Plush4life and Vegas Crackerman for the set list!

Set List

• Crackerman
• Wicked Garden
• Vasoline
• Heaven and Hot Rods
• Between The Lines
• Hickory Dichotomy
• Still Remains
• Cinnamon
• Big Empty
• Dancing Days
• Pretty Penny
• Silvergun Superman
• Plush
• Interstate Love Song
• Huckleberry Crumble
• Down
• Sex Type Thing
• Dead And Bloated
• Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart

Reviews (5) [ send in your own review/pictures of the Chicago show ]

Thanks to CoS: A refreshing, late summer breeze off of Lake Michigan, coupled with a 40% chance of rain, made Stone Temple Pilots' Friday performance all the better. Tucked away behind Chicago's "museum district" – that being, the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, and Adler Planetarium (and, okay, we'll throw in Soldier Field for kicks, too) – the L.A. quartet roped in a modest crowd of forty-somethings, all wasted and obnoxious as ever*, at Northerly Island's Charter One Pavilion.

"It's very sticky out tonight," frontman Scott Weiland remarked, decked out in shades, skin-tight jeans, and, surprisingly, a thick leather jacket. Despite sweating up a storm and asking for a heat stroke, the lanky singer never skipped a beat, keeping banter to a minimum and rocking to maximum capacity. He wasn't the only one, either.

Alongside Weiland, guitarists Robert and Dean DeLeo kept busy, as well. Dean whipped up a storm song after song, hanging over the lip of the stage during most of his solos. And although Robert remained fairly static at the mic, providing all the lush (and very necessary) harmonies, he charmed nearby fans by inciting sing-a-longs or fist pumps. Drummer Eric Kretz couldn't leave the kit, but he shook things up, including some time changes that made past hits like "Interstate Love Song" and "Big Empty" a little more interesting.

For this tour, the band's been working off a new set, one that focuses less on the hits and more on new material and live rarities. This didn't fare especially well with the Northerly crowd. After cracking open the night with three hits, fans became weary as the band then dished out new material ("Between the Lines", "Hickory Dichotomy", "Cinnamon"), worked on an extended jam, and dragged an oldie "out of the mothballs," as Weiland explained before they nailed "Still Remains", a track off of 1994's Purple they hadn't played in years. All of these saw some fans singing along, but most of the crowd engaged in loud, drunken conversations, tossed beer cans on the ground, or screamed out idiotic comments like, "Play something old and good."

The thing is, the band sounded good. Really good. With every member awash in a digital bath of color, no thanks to the remarkable, engulfing multi-color light display behind them, there wasn't really a dull moment. (Actually, those extended jams were sort of a bummer, but…) As a result, new tunes like "Between the Lines" or "Huckleberry Crumble" felt just as vital and energized as "Down" or initial set closer "Sex Type Thing". In fact, on-stage, these songs actually fit comfortably into the group's canon of work. They're more playful than they are on record.

There's something to be said of this band, though, and this past week, Harry Painter nibbled at the right idea during his interview with Dean DeLeo. This reunion isn't like most of the typical '90s rehashes we've seen as of late. Unlike Bush or The Smashing Pumpkins, this band really did pick up where they left off. They didn't replace members, they didn't fracture their sound or style. Instead, they put their collective heads together and turned another page in the band's (apparently) on-going history. Fans don't need to see Dean make out with Weiland to know they still work well together – even though, well, that happened on-stage, anyhow. No, all fans have to do is watch and listen… and not just for the hits, either.

Seriously, you don't want that type of band.

* – What is it about modern rock shows that bring out this trashy, morose underbelly in the human spirit? Where people drink themselves stupid, toss each other around, litter the ground with cans, attempt to copulate (there was one guy who grinded up against an equally drunk woman, licking her from head to toe – no kidding), and screaming obscenities at one another, usually ending with, "Bro, need me to drive home?" What's worse, all of these folks are typically above the age of 30. It happens every time. It's pathetic. It's actually more than pathetic. It's sad. It makes you wonder how they get through their everyday life, but more or less, it just pisses you off if you're interested in actually watching the band. Now, you don't have to be a stiff and stand there silently and awkward, like the majority of the crowds at indie-rock shows (at least here in Chicago), but you also don't need nearly four yards of space to act like a drunken fool, either. Lesson to learn? There's a way to rock out without losing your dignity. That is all.

Thanks to Atlantic: The crowd is a mix of laughter, some booing, a round of smokers (not cigarettes), and a distant chant of "STP! STP!". Stagehands have broken down equipment, moving in new guitars and testing drums and mics. The distorted, chaotic Cage the Elephant have stopped playing and retreated to the back, maybe even a bit earlier than planned, making me believe they are at least somewhat decent men. We came to see STP.

It is 9:15 when the lights dim. The stage goes dark. There are cheers and clamors, all intended to exclaim some sort of "thank you" to this band who, in a world where we are owed nothing, are here to give us a show. The band comes out, heading off to their respective instruments. 1, 2, 3 and JEEESUS! Scott waves his megaphone as the background graphics begin streaming in the distance. The stage lights are up full blast as Weiland begins churning out the lyrics to Crackerman. Once a blur in crazy latex (2001, Rolling Rocks) and fur coats (1999, Las Vegas), Weiland is now not as animated as he once was. Still, he seems to be everywhere at once. You witness how he can still contort his body into a series of major-league fastball windups, as he showed the world in the Sour Girl video. Halfway into Vasoline, you begin to understand that every band you ever believed to be blowing your mind when you were a teenager was simply a measly messenger delivering a wadded note to you from Stone Temple Pilots, wherever they might have been that night.

Through the beginning chords of Dancing Days, you realize that this experience is nearing religious proportions. You try to figure out how you're seeing what you're seeing while trying to not miss any details. You find yourself paralyzed and damn-near in tears, similar to a housewife at a Tom Jones show in Vegas. You must apologize inside for every single solitary moment of life you have ever wasted sitting still.

From the brooding, brutal riffs of Down and Sex Type Thing, you find yourself with hundreds of others somehow all up against the stage, somehow all in the front row. This lasts until the end of the concert, which seems to have ended as quickly as it began. Still in a daze, you apologize to God and yourself again. This time, for every moment of blood coursing through your veins that you ever took for granted.

Thanks to Nick: Amazing show! Started off with Crackerman, that was amazing. They came out and jammed. The old stuff Is definitely better then the new stuff, but its all good! Beautiful finish too.
4.5/5

Thanks to fredisidle: This was absolutely the best show I've seen since Vegas Jan-2009. Scott was chatty, the band had some great jam sessions, and Cinnamon was perfect to hear live! The highlight of the night was when Dean kissed Scott, although the jam before Plush was pretty good too. They didn't play Dare if you Dare, which was slightly disappointing, but the show was still great without it!

Thanks to IMJ: This was a terrific show. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the band saw our requests for a significant improvement in timing, vocal consistency and a highlighting of Robert and Dean's stage presence. The band was in great time, and Scott was really in great form!

Scott maintained a true stage presence without exerting all of his energy away from his voice - I was very impressed with this and can't speak highly enough of it. The setlist was diverse compared to their last Chicago shows, and there were several straight up improv jam sessions with the band. I really got the impression that the band was placing the music and passion for the songs in precedence over a manic stage presence.

I brought 3 friends with me, two of which who had never seen STP and everyone was really impressed. I'd put this show very high on my order of STP performances, and I finally got to see Heaven & Hotrods live, which was a long time coming. Cinnamon was very well done, and I've got to say that Scott was actually staying in key during Down better than almost any of the other live performances of that song that I've seen.

As an observation, Plush is a completely evolved song from it's original recording now. It's been evolving for years now, but it's been so modified from the original recording, that I think the only remaining components of the original song are it's timing, spirit and backbone from Robert's Bass. The song's guitars are only whimsically associated with the original recording anymore, and Scott even sings the song as if he wrote it recently as opposed to during the Core-era. Everyone in the crowd still sings the full song, and it's such an animal unto itself nowadays that the song doesn't really belong to STP anymore as much as it belongs to everyone during a performance.

If I could make a few nerdy fan comments, I'd say that I would be ecstatic to one day catch one of the signed drum heads that Eric has been throwing out, but that's such a crapshoot that I'll never see it. Speaking of Eric, it would be cool to see him break into a drum solo bash in between songs once in a while, the way that the Deleo's have picked up the ball on their end. Lastly, I give the band major kudos for moving the setlist forward a bit, and I hope that they continue to stay versatile by adding some Tiny Music and SLDD tracks back into the mix.

To wrap it up, I can only say that there appeared to be an effort made by the band towards sound quality, and that effort seemed to touch on all of the beats that we've been criticizing or otherwise commenting on for the last few months. It was such a tight correlation between our commentary and the performance, that I'd wonder if the band's rehearsals were designed around the Below Empty fan community commentary. I'm not saying that this is a true observation, but it helps me illustrate how good this show was. If the band played every show as cleanly and professionally as this one, then they'd probably have a platinum selling self-titled album on their hands.