Scott Weiland
Photo: Kathy G
This is a week late, but I had to post.
Last Sunday, I went to the WBCN River Rave here in Boston. For those that are not from here, WBCN is a local rock station that hosts several top bands at a festival-like concert each year. Many of us in Boston see it as a “first concert of summer” type show, whether you go or not.
This year, it was announced that Stone Temple Pilots would be playing. If you don’t know about STP and the illustrious Scott Weiland, click on his name. Bottom line is none of us ever know if the band will stay together, or if a show will even happen for that matter. Scott’s been in rehab more times than anyone can count and if he’s not in rehab he’s usually in jail. STP took a break for a while, so hearing that they’d be headlining this show, well, I thought it would be one of the last times we may see them.
How I was able to get pit tickets still amazes me, but the marketing for this show was a bit odd. I’m on all the concert alerts so I got an alert for STP first and not WBCN. “STP tickets” were on sale thru Ticketmonster and didn’t mention radio station festival. As I listened to WBCN over the weeks, I found that THEIR pre-sale was the following day?? Whatever.
I got the tix as soon as they went on sale, got thru (online) right away, and got GA. Score.
Oddly, I hadn’t seen any of the bands on the bill, but “knew of” most of them:
*STP
*Pennywise
*Filter
*Everlast
*10 Years
*Street Dogs
*Girls, Guns and Glory (local contest winner)
J had seen Filter and STP in another life, so he at least knew what to expect. I was just excited to go to the show, and honestly, I was going more for the honor of saying: “I saw STP before (fill in the blank here)” and then people would be jealous. I had no idea how blown away I would be that night.
My husband and I did some tailgating before the show, which was a blast. Had a couple beers and some food and headed in. We caught most of 10 Years set, which was great.
10 Years
Photo: Kathy G
I had heard a single of theirs on the radio and really liked them. They didn’t disappoint and made fans out of both of us. I even got to shake Jesse’s hand (the lead singer) as they left the stage.
Everlast
Photo: Kathy G
Everlast was extraordinary. This guy has been around forever and he even stated several times that he’s been in the record business for over 20 years! He was spot on, sounded awesome and was really funny. He’s a white dude and his backing band was all black.. he called them “The White Folks.” LOL
The crowd had thickened in the seats when Everlast was on and I was happy. The guy really delivered, even though the sun was still blaring (he went on at 6p).
Filter was next. Robert (lead) was mad due to “no darkness” as their set was still earlier on in the evening and the sun hadn’t set. It didn’t matter though. He brought the dark, heavy chords and lyrics as if it was pitch black. Robert is a badass and I literally said that as soon as I saw him. Dressed all in black and wearing “The Fly”-like black shades, he was the quintessential rock and roller. I knew many of the songs, but even the one’s I didn’t, I still loved. All their albums are now on my iPod and I’m officially a fan.
Robert Patrick of Filter
Photo: Kathy G
I wasn’t impressed with Pennywise at all. They are not my type of band. I’m a bit into punk, etc., but just wasn’t impressed with these guys. I’m still not sure why they got second to the last billing behind STP. I don’t know much about them, so I assume they have a new album out or something? Who knows? I don’t even want to go and look it up.
Scott's in the House!
Scott and Robert, STP
Photo: Kathy G
Although we had to wait over 30 minutes for STP, it ended up being worth the wait. Scott was in fine form, out of jail (thank God), and the band was tight. People in the pit were a bit a-hole-ish (why do you HAVE to talk during the entire set????), but we finally found a place to stand where people were actually listening to the show. I got some amazing shots and two of them I’m extremely proud of.
The set consisted of “greatest hits” and I was surprised how many I knew. At one point, Scott said: “It seems that our songs have really stood the test of time..” and everyone cheered. He was very humble and authentic when he spoke, almost like he was even surprised about how long their songs have held up.
He said something amazing that I wish I wrote down, but he said something like: “I think our songs have stood the test of time because they found us. We wrote them, but the songs were out there and found their way to us.” I didn’t do that quote justice, but he said it so poetic, like a true songwriter. From there, the band broke into “Plush.”
Here’s the set list from the NJ show the night before. I wasn’t able to find a Boston setlist, although I know they had to cut out 1-2 songs towards the end due to coming out 10 min late and getting a time warning (the Tweeter Center has a 11p curfew):
Big Empty / Wicked Garden / Big Bang Baby / Vasoline / Lady Picture Show / Lounge Fly / Crackerman / Sour Girl / Creep / Plush / Interstate Love Song / Coma / Down / Sin / Sex Type Thing / Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart
My feet were killing me by the end of the night, but I was so happy we had the “seats” we did, and that I got to see all these great bands. I hope that STP will be around for a long, long time, but if not, I’m proud to say that I saw them, and for very different reasons than I originally intended.
Take care of yourself, Scott. There are more songs out there that are looking for you, and we’re anxiously awaiting their arrival.
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