________________________________________________
Stone Temple Pilots – Gramercy Theater, NYC 5.18.10
“You go on a two month tour and you get in to marathon shape, but then you take a break, and your first show back, especially in a sweaty little club…and…we’re not 25 anymore. But we’re throwing it out for you anyway!” – Scott Weiland introducing “Big Empty” – Gramercy Theater 5-18-10
When a big band plays a small room, it’s always nearly impossible to get a ticket. When that same occurrence happens in New York or L.A., those who actually get in are faced with a more annoying situation. Of course, I’m speaking of the hordes of record company / music biz folks who seem to think that being able to say that they were there is more important than shutting up and watching the show. These obnoxious a-holes forget that they aren’t the only ones in the room, and schmooze at the top of their lungs, shouting over the music about who got fired, and what some unrelated act’s Soundscan numbers were this week. Bitter? Yup. I’ve had to remind these people that they’re ruining the show for the real fans, fans who, in essence, keep them employed, on numerous occasions. The STP show at Gramercy Theater was not one of those times.
Though the crowd was heavily skewed towards the music industry (it looked like almost all of Atlantic records was in the house), the room was completely focused on Scott Weiland & Co. from the blistering opening riff of “Vasoline” to the final notes of “Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart”. Along the way, the band reminded me of just how many chart topping hits they have written, “Sour Girl”, “Creep”, and “Interstate Love Song”, introduced some quality new material, “Hickory Dichotomy” and the new single “Between The Lines”, and threw in some more hits for good measure, “Crackerman”, “Wicked Garden”, “Sex Type Thing”, and “Dead And Bloated”.
The 17 song set was filmed with multiple professional cameras, and a number of pushy interns shoving their way through the crowd with HD video cameras. The former being recorded for broadcast on Jimmy Kimmel Live (5/26/10), the latter possibly being shot as part of a stream of the entire show at http://uverseonline.att.net/stonetemplepilots or, perhaps, just as a reminder that, regardless of if they talk in your ear all show or not, record company people don’t really care about real fans after all.
