Flying High Again

After a disastrous performance on May 31 at the PNC Bank Arts Center, Stone Temple Pilots (hereafter referred to as STP) redeemed themselves on August 6 at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater.
The alternative rock band -- consisting of singer Scott Weiland, guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, and drummer Eric Kretz -- set out to recapture their glory days around three months ago after going their separate ways in 2002. During the 1990s, their songs dominated the airwaves along with acts like Soundgarden and Smashing Pumpkins. These groups crafted songs that were an alternative -- hence, the label -- to the hair metal and bubble gum music that populated the Top 40 landscape.
I was lucky enough to see STP live in 1996, when they played a concert at Madison Square Garden, as well as four years later, when they played a show at Jones Beach. Good fortune came my way again in 2007, when I met the Brothers DeLeo while they were promoting their Army of Anyone album at the Bowery Ballroom. (Read about it here and here.) I arrived at Jones Beach around 5:30 p.m. with the hope of extending my luck and meeting the band as a whole. While that didn't happen, I managed to find even greater pleasure in not going home empty-handed.
Mother Nature blessed the day with beautiful weather, and I passed the time by chatting with a few STP fans and entering a trivia contest sponsored by Q104.3. An employee asked questions about the band as well as the classic rock radio station, and I won a DVD chronicling The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live at Monterey for correctly guessing which disc jockey hosts a morning program about the Beatles. My winning streak continued once I entered the venue, where I stopped by the Citibank table and scored a $10 gift certificate from Borders.
Even though I was happy to acquire these items, a voucher for tour merchandise would've been more useful. The t-shirts were expensive (as much as I liked the "Uncle Sam" top, it wasn't worth $45) and the food was overpriced (I still can't believe I paid $8 for a slice of Papa John's pizza and $4 for a cup of Mountain Dew soda) ... but when I thought about the cost of my ticket, I shrugged it off as the price of reliving my late teens and early twenties in a bad economy.
When STP took the stage at 9:25 p.m., they kicked things off with "Big Empty." (Purple is my favorite album.) For the next 100 minutes, the band churned out hits like "Sour Girl" and "Plush" (Scott even had the audience sing the chorus). The band also threw in a few surprises, such as playing underappreciated gems like "Coma" and having the crowd serenade Robert's son, Duke, with "Happy Birthday" (he turned three years old). Other highlights included their cover of "Redemption Song" -- perhaps a not-so-sly reference to the PNC fiasco -- and a stirring rendition of "Lady Picture Show."
Watching STP work their magic on a warm summer night was nothing short of amazing. The best part about the concert was it hinted at greater things to come if Scott remains drug-free. Such an achievement would be music to my ears.