Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Concert Review: Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts

To say that Scott Weiland is one of the more tragic living figures in rock music is a bit of an understatement.





The wildly talented frontman/songwriter for Stone Temple Pilots has been dogged for years by his demons which eventually led to his dismissal from the iconic alt-rock band which is now fronted by the guy from Linkin Park (ugh).

Despite his past, he continues to look to the present and future with his new band The Wildabouts behind him to write a new chapter in an already vivid odyssey.

After seeing him for years in amphitheaters and arenas, it was a thrill to see him from the front row in an under 300 seat, dinner-style venue in my little town of Annapolis, MD at the Rams Head On Stage. But there were certainly some concerns going into the show. A week before this clip of him "performing" "Vaseline" hit the interwebs and well, you can see for yourselves.




There were a number of "reports" on the performance, that I won't speculate on and instead will tow the party line that his ear monitor was broken. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried going into the show.

From the first song, "Crackerman" off STP's debut Core, I knew there was no need for concern as Weiland and his band proved that they were there to rock our faces off for the next 90 minutes. The entire show was in overdrive. He then played two from his new album with the Wildabouts, "Modzilla" and "Amethyst" before "Meatplow" from Purple.




While rarely engaging the crowd (beyond telling us to stand up when the show started...a no-no at Rams Head, yet we all obliged without a fuss by the staff), Weiland had full control of the stage and showed why he is one of the best showmen in rock.

After playing another new one, "Way She Moves" he had the room grooving to "Big Bang Baby" off STP's Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop.





A trio of Wildabouts songs followed as the band blazed through "Hotel Rio," "Parachute," and  "White Lightning." While the latter of which was not the legendary George Jones songs he nailed David Bowie's "Jean Genie" two songs later (I should note he does a killer version of T. Rex's "20th Century Boy' on the new album."

Before the Bowie cover though, Weiland did a fiery version of "Vaseline" and then ended his set with "Dead and Bloated."




The band went mostly acoustic for the first song of the encore as they played "Circles" off the latest album, which went into a totally punked up, high adrenaline version of Purple's "Unglued" to close out a night of high energy rock and roll.


Scott



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