Live Music Hall, Cologne, Germany25th June 2019
Stone Temple Pilots - STP European tour 2019 - Special guest: Walking Papers
The legendary, best-selling band of the 90ies Grunge wave is staging a comeback. Having successfully auditioned for new singer Jeff Gutt, the Los Angeles band STONE TEMPLE PILOTS is ready to begin writing the next chapter of its storied career by promoting their newest self-titled album on a comprehensive European tour, which includes three stops in Germany as well as a bunch of festival appearances. One of these stops led them to Cologne’s Live Music Hall the other night, where fellow grunge veterans ALICE IN CHAINS reignited their career one year earlier. So it was time for old fans to unearth their SONIC YOUTH- and LEMONHEADS band shirts from the bottom drawer of their closet, beat the heat, and have a look at how well Jeff Gutt would fill the shoes of his deceased predecessors Scott Weiland and Chester Bennington.
Walking Papers
The six-piece Blues Rock band from Seattle, Washington was accompanying STONE TEMPLE PILOTS on the European leg of their tour. The band around ex-THE MISSIONARY POSITION singer Jeff Angell and ex-SCREAMING TREES drummer Barrett Martin has released two studio albums with ‘Walking Papers’ (2013) and ‘WP2’ in 2018. https://www.facebook.com/walkingpapersmusic / https://theboredomkillingbusiness.com
Music & Performance
A little earlier than originally expected, WALKING PAPERS started their set around 7:45pm with their new single ‘Trophy Wives’ and did their best to lure the fans from the outdoor area of the Live Music Hall into the sweltering venue. After all, it was the hottest day of the year so far, and temperatures inside the venue were in the high thirties.
Singer Jeff Angell, together with his five band mates, announced that they were here to warm up for the STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, as “we figured you might be a little cold”, which earned them a few exhausted cheers. In terms of music, WALKING PAPERS delivered an interesting, multi-faceted set, which profited from the additional instruments (keyboard and saxophone, that is). Their version of Blues Rock evoked a dusty, desert-like feel. Jeff did his best to spice up the comatose audience by performing arty tricks with his mic stand and swinging his mic on its cord in huge circles, even while he took a walk through the audience area in front of the stage. However, the reaction from the audience remained mute, as the heat inside the hall prevented most people from moving too much.
Setlist
01. Trophy Wives
02. I Belong to You
03. My Luck Pushed Back
04. Death on the Lips
05. Hard to Look Away
06. I’ll Stick Around
07. King Hooker
08. The Whole World’s Watching
09. A Place Like This
10. This Is How It Ends
11. The Butcher
12. Every Man For Himself (The Missionary Position cover)
13. Capital T
14. Two Tickets and a Room
15. Your Secret’s Safe with Me
16. Leave Me in the Dark
17. Red & White
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 6.5 / 10
Stone Temple Pilots
The band from San Diego, California goes back to 1989, where they quickly signed a major record deal and recorded their debut masterpiece, ‘Core’, which enjoyed stellar success in the years after its 1992 release, helping the band to sell over 40 million records worldwide. However, the perils of success did not spare the band’s singer Scott Weiland, which led to the band’s dissolution in 2002, with Scott moving on to join rock supergroup VELVET REVOLVER. What followed was a reunion in 2008, but it proved that ties between Scott and the other band members could not be mended, and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS fired their Singer in 2013. Later that year, the band performed concerts (and recorded an EP) with Chester Bennington, but he left the band two years later to focus solely on LINKIN PARK.
In 2017, the band successfully recruited X Factor season 3 participant Jeff Gutt to be their new singer, and the band embarked on a huge co-headlining tour with BUSH and THE CULT, while releasing a second self-titled album in 2018. Find out more about the band via https://www.stonetemplepilots.com or https://www.facebook.com/stpband.
Music & Performance
Finally, after 30 excruciating minutes of waiting time in the suffocating heat inside the hall, around 9pm it was time for band of the evening, when a classical music intro resounded from the speakers. The four band members took the stage and opened their set with ‘Wicked Garden’ from their 1992 debut album, ‘Core’. This immediately made the present old-school fans feel relieved that the band would not deny the existence of its repertoire of older songs. Of these, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS played plenty, as ‘Crackerman’ from the same album and ‘Vasoline’ from the 1994 sophomore album ‘Purple’ were up next.
An undisputed highlight in the setlist was the unexpectedly low-key rendition of the band’s uber hit ‘Plush’ towards the middle of the set, which guitarist Dean DeLeo intonated with a clean guitar tone, while singer Jeff showed his immense vocal qualities, causing goosebumps on the present fans, a thing hard to achieve at temperatures that felt like in the forties. This was also a turning point in the mood of the audience. While previously, the people seemed reluctant to celebrate their love for the band, after this track the audience was fully on board, and sang along to the songs and some even stirred up the cirlcle pit. After a good 65 minutes of playtime, the band waved goodbye and disappeared, only to re-appear a few minutes later for a two-song encore. Although everyone was soaking with sweat and painfully deprived of oxygen, the chosen songs led the crowd to mobilize whatever energy was still in the tank. The virtual curtain then fell around 10:45pm, after the final chords of ‘Sex Type Thing’ had been played.
All in all, it has been one of those magic music nights, which - despite the tropical climate inside the Live Music Hall - made it utterly clear that STONE TEMPLE PILOTS not only have a great past but also a bright future.
Setlist
01. Wicked Garden
02. Crackerman
03. Vasoline
04. Silvergun Superman
05. Lounge Fly
06. Big Bang Baby
07. Glide
08. Big Empty
09. Creep
10. Plush
11. Pruno
12. Down
13. Meadow
14. Interstate Love Song
15. Sex & Violence
16. Roll Me Under
17. Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart
---
18. Dead & Bloated
19. Sex Type Thing
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10
All pictures by Marcus Nathofer
Comments powered by CComment