Scott Weiland held it together for Boston.
After reportedly running an hour late the last two nights of Stone Temple Pilots’ reunion tour, there was much speculation about the troubled vocalist’s ability to make it on stage and deliver a full set with the looming 11 p.m. Massachusetts curfew. But Weiland was only 10 minutes late for Boston and, along with drummer Eric Kretz, and DeLeo brothers bassist Robert and guitarist Dean, STP delivered the goods miraculously well to a nearly packed Tweeter Center last night, headlining this year’s WBCN [website] River Rave.
Wrapped up in a leather jacket, skin-tight jeans, sunglasses and a white cowboy hat, Weiland led the band through a torrential set that was all the reminder anyone needed of why STP remains an FM radio staple: talent and charisma.
No, his stage banter wasn’t 100 percent coherent, but from the slow-churning groove of the opener, “Big Empty,” to the tribal-rhythm-meets-glam-sass of “Big Bang Baby,” Weiland’s bluesy growl-n-howl sounded spot-on powerful.
It remained so for the duration as the San Diego four-piece cranked out its trademark grungy sound with palatable pop edges. Weiland shimmied, swiveled and shook through “Vasoline,” “Interstate Love Song” and the Nirvana-inspired “Creep,” which had the entire theater in a Bic-lighted sing-along.
STPs surprise triumph put a positive spin on a so-so afternoon of music, made strange by the volatile booze-marinated crowd.
Short sets from WBCN Rumble winners Girls, Guns and Glory; the Dropkicks-meets-Bosstones super group Street Dogs; and Knoxville, Tenn., quintet 10 Years were mostly ho-hum. Everlast, aka Erik Schrody, added diversity to the lineup with his all-black White Folks band cooking up a heavy bottom end. Schrody’s punchy metallic blues was augmented with plenty of hip-hop attitude .
Before a spirited but musically miserable set of selections from Hermosa Beach’s Pennywise, Richard Patrick and his new incarnation of Filter tried their best to rile the throng into a frenzy. Patrick’s performance was inspired and, once warmed up, his vocals were riveting. But things didn’t really gel at River Rave until Weiland turned up and everyone could breathe a sigh of relief.
That his performance was of such amazing quality was an unexpected joy.
