Review of STP @ Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort

We went to see Stone Temple Pilots at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Mi on Friday night. I'd never been there before; I see most of my concerts in the Detroit area. But I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see STP on their way back around again; they'd already played The Fillmore (formerly The State Theatre on Woodward in Detroit) several months before. I chose not to go because I was a bit put off by their marketing practices. To join their fan club and view their blog it's $45 - that's on top of the $65 to $95 for tickets! A big WTF to STP! I passed. But I couldn't pass on the concert twice. Who knows when singer Scott Weiland might disappear again - or disappear permanently. He'd been busted twice for possession of heroin and cocaine in as many years and even did an eight-month stint for his bad behavior before the tour, at least according to what I've read online.

STP has been one of my favorites since the early nineties, back when Rolling Stone wrote them off as grunge-era copycats. But I knew there was more there than just hard-rock songs about rape, dead bodies and serial killers; there was a singer/lyricist who could empathize with those severely troubled souls - and do it convincingly. That takes a special personality, a troubled personality, or perhaps a very talented actor - but for some reason I don't think Weiland is acting.

The Venue

Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort is a sprawling complex whose driveway entrance is bedecked by two giant eagles with splayed wings and whose enormous, cedar portico covers eight lanes of valet parking. A dozen stories of hotel rooms are located in a seperate building to the right of the casino. Just inside the main automatic doors is the gambling pit. Slot machines and various games of chance chatter just below the pumped-in musical tones, creating a mesmerizing cacophony of sound designed to help part you from your cash. To get to the show, you have to walk past all the gambling action, naturally.

The Soaring Eagle show room is much like you'd imagine Las Vegas show rooms of the past; an enormous open room with maybe three or four levels, each level only elevated a couple of steps below the last, continuing like that toward the stage. But unlike the glamorous Vegas shows of the past which included linen-draped tables and over-stuffed chairs, this one is filled with hard, plastic, stackable chairs laid out in countless rows. Because of the low angle and the fact that there is no stadium seating, the stage is difficult to see from most points in the room when the audience is standing - which, in an American rock show, is almost always.

We were in section L3, seats 31 & 32 about mid-way back and all the way to the left of the stage. The pros were that it was easy and quick to get a beer or go to the bathroom (short, fast moving lines), but the cons were that we could barely see the stage and watched the video monitor through most of the concert. I probably wouldn't come to see a rock concert here again unless I had seating directly in front of the stage.

The Show

STP opened with "The Big Empty" and Weiland, much to the audience's delight, was wearing an Native American Fox Headdress! He tilted his head down while singing so it covered his face completely. It was kind of surreal - especially in an indian-owned casino. A stranger next to me smiled, hi-fived me and said, "Don't take it off! Don't take it off! That's Awwwwesome!" I had to agree. It was a great way to start the show.

Weiland's performance reminded of Jim Morrison's classic performance at The Hollywood Bowl I'd seen play on a loop at The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame just the week before. Morrison was INSIDE his performance - completely removed from his surroundings, a spectacle to behold. Weiland has that same unwieldy, unpredictable and INTENSE nature; it's a drag for his band mates and handlers, a delight for his audience, but probably not sustainable for the long-haul; at 41, Weiland's survived the pure rock & roll lifestyle much longer than he should have - by most accounts he should be a member of the "27 Club" with Janis, Jimmy, Brian & Kurt. According to some reports, his exit may not be too far away; a post at the STP forum claims that Scott has once again left the reservation. Here's an excerpt from the STP forum regarding show at The Chippewa Valley Music Festival the following night.

If you saw tonight's show...you know that Scott is in big trouble. The band was terrible... I don't say this lightly...I've seen STP before, and they were great...What I saw tonight was a dead man walking.

If this tour continues, Scott may not survive. If I don't read tomorrow that the tour is canceled, the rest of the band may have some serious moral issues to deall with very soon.

It's not worth the money. You're friend isn't going to make it. - posted by TheShorn

By the second or third song, Weiland pulled off the fox headdress to display a freshly-shaven dome, an unsettling haircut for what some already consider a drug-addled psychopath. But his performance was sharp and lively, dancin' the "shaky jake" while he blasted through his vocals. Never once during the show did he stand idle or disinterested. At points near the end of the show he waved Native American feathers while doing the traditional pow-wow dance (arms extended like wings, knees bent, flying in circles on the stage).

Between songs, however, he mumbled incoherently. Sometimes it was about existential matters relating to the songs, something about his mother and father, and once he even shared an explanation of his in-ear monitor which, presumably, some audience member close to the stage had asked him about.

"It's just like this," he said, landing a foot on a nearby floor monitor. "And this one, and this one, and this one," making his way to the floor monitors across the stage. "But I can hear myself and I don't have to shout. We can keep the stage volume low," he said. Adding quietly, "and I can speak like this."


I don't have the official set list so I'll just tell you which songs I think I remember. Let's see, in no particular order - "Sex Type Thing" "Coma" "Vaseline" "Plush" "Interstate Love Song" "Hollywood Bitch" "Sour Girl" "Meatplow" "Silvergun Superman" "Big Bang Baby" "Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart" and "Lounge Fly" among others. "Dead & Bloated" was one of the encores. There were choice tunes from every record they released but they didn't play "Days of The Week" or "Pretty Penny" unfortunately. Overall, a very good mix of STP. Hmm, did they play "Unglued" too? Maybe.

Other Facets and conclusions...

The show started about an hour late (around 9:00 pm) and lasted a little over two hours. But it wasn't a long wait and gave us time to get settled in and get beered up.

Robert & Dean DeLeo & Eric Kretz performances were, as usual, energetic and on the mark, a necessarily steady base from which Weiland can jump. Bassist Rob DeLeo's slick-backed hair, tear-drop sun-glasses and satin shirt always cracks me up. It reminds me of my childhood in the late seventies.

The light show consisted of psychedelic overlays on the video feed, various vivid colors and patterns and aircraft lights on towers on either side of the stage that flashed when appropriate. The only props were Weiland's Indian Headdress and feathered handles. Oh, and I think he brought out that wide-brimmed black hat during the encore.

The sound was a little dead in the heavily carpeted and fabric-laden room, but was considerably better toward the rear of the hall by the bar & bathrooms.

The STP merchandise was, as usual, overpriced - about 25 percent above the prices at the online store. There was a really cool looking "Four" t-shirt with the big white star but it didn't come in 3x for big guys like me - so I didn't buy. $50 for a t-shirt is a bit much anyway.

All in all, a satisfying show, particularly for those who could actually see the stage. Let's just hope Weiland leaves plenty of room for recovery during this grueling tour. He's got this week off, so I hope he makes good use of his time. Some long bouts of sleep and some Pedialyte are probably in order.