STONE TEMPLE PILOTS @ Rock USA – Oshkosh, WI
July 14, 2018
Photos by David Urmanski
BAND MEMBERS: STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
Dean DeLeo – Guitar
Robert DeLeo – Bass
Eric Kretz – Drums
Jeff Gutt – Vocals
BAND BIOGRAPHY: STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
Stone Temple Pilots are reborn on the band’s latest – Stone Temple Pilots (2018). It’s the group’s seventh studio album since its 1992 debut, but the first to feature new singer Jeff Gutt. The band’s founding members – Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz – officially welcomed the Detroit native to STP last year after conducting an 18-month-long search for its third singer. Dean DeLeo says they wanted someone who had the vocal range to do the catalog justice, as well as the confidence and creativity to carve out a new path forward with the band. “We got our guy,” he says.
Soon after, the newly minted quartet assembled in Los Angeles with engineer Ryan Williams at Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz’s studios to begin writing and recording STP’s first album in eight years. Gutt moved quickly, crafting melodies and writing lyrics for tracks the band had finished, and collaborating with them on new music. Robert DeLeo says: “What impressed all of us is how he lets the song dictate his direction instead of the other way around.” Kretz adds: “The chemistry was there from the start…We ended up finishing 14 songs, which is the most that Stone Temple Pilots has ever recorded for an album.”
Despite being one of the best-selling bands of the 1990s with platinum records and a Grammy® to its credit, Dean DeLeo says, “We are thrilled about what lies ahead. The best way for us to honor our past is to keep making new music.” The band does just that on Stone Temple Pilots (2018). The first single “Meadow” and “Never Enough” channel the gritty guitars and swaggering rhythms that STP perfected on Core (1992), Purple (1994) and No. 4 (1999). “Roll Me Under” glides along a nimble bass line before slamming into the chorus, where Gutt’s muscular baritone digs in.
Elsewhere on the album, the band tempers that unbridled aggression with a willingness to take the kinds of musical risks that enriched albums like Tiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop (1996) and Stone Temple Pilots (2010). On “Thought She’d Be Mine,” Gutt laments a lost love accompanied by a kaleidoscope of swirling guitars that slowly dissolve into a sparkling coda.
The dreamy vibe continues on “The Art of Letting Go,” a wistful ballad anchored by Gutt’s heartfelt lyrics and haunting melody. It also happens to be the first song all four members wrote together. “Dean was messing around with some chords on an acoustic and I started to sing along,” Gutt recalls. “All of a sudden, the pieces fell into place and we had a song. That experience truly helped us gel as a band.”
This year, STP will begin writing the next chapter in its storied career with a new album and the group’s first North American tour since 2015. “It feels so good to put the band back on the tracks, and we can’t wait to get out there and see all of you,” Dean says.
Website: www.StoneTemplePilots.com
CONCERT REVIEW RATING SCALE:
1 = Poor
2 = Average
3 = Good
4 = Excellent
5 = Extraordinary
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Concert Rating: 5
THE VENUE: ROCK USA Scheduled for July 12-14, the 2018 Rock USA music festival brands itself as ‘Solid Rock. No Limits.’ and will open its gates to one of the nation’s biggest annual rock events with three incredible days of a broad, world-class, limitless mix of rock at discount pricing in an effort to kick up the rock festival experience. Join Rock USA for camping, shopping, great food and drinks and an always kick ass band lineup. Rock fans get more and pay less! Absolutely out on the edge. Address: 4125 Washburn Street, Oshkosh WI 54904 Phone: (920) 882-4949 Website: www.RockUSAOshkosh.comwww.Facebook.com/OfficialRUSA Concert Tickets: www.RockUSAOshkosh.com/Tickets
