Scott Weiland Photo: Kathy G

This is a week late, but I had to post.

Last Sunday, I went to the WBCN River Rave here in Boston. For those that are not from here, WBCN is a local rock station that hosts several top bands at a festival-like concert each year. Many of us in Boston see it as a "first concert of summer" type show, whether you go or not.

This year, it was announced that Stone Temple Pilots would be playing. If you don’t know about STP and the illustrious Scott Weiland, click on his name. Bottom line is none of us ever know if the band will stay together, or if a show will even happen for that matter. Scott’s been in rehab more times than anyone can count and if he’s not in rehab he’s usually in jail. STP took a break for a while, so hearing that they’d be headlining this show, well, I thought it would be one of the last times we may see them.

How I was able to get pit tickets still amazes me, but the marketing for this show was a bit odd. I’m on all the concert alerts so I got an alert for STP first and not WBCN. "STP tickets" were on sale thru Ticketmonster and didn’t mention radio station festival. As I listened to WBCN over the weeks, I found thatTHEIR pre-sale was the following day?? Whatever.

I got the tix as soon as they went on sale, got thru (online) right away, and got GA. Score.

Oddly, I hadn’t seen any of the bands on the bill, but "knew of" most of them:

-STP -Pennywise -Filter -Everlast -10 Years -Street Dogs -Girls, Guns and Glory (local contest winner)

J had seen Filter and STP in another life, so he at least knew what to expect. I was just excited to go to the show, and honestly, I was going more for the honor of saying: "I saw STP before (fill in the blank here)" and then people would be jealous. I had no idea how blown away I would be that night.

My husband and I did some tailgating before the show, which was a blast. Had a couple beers and some food and headed in. We caught most of 10 Years set, which was great.

10 Years Photo: Kathy G
I had heard a single of theirs on the radio and really liked them. They didn’t disappoint and made fans out of both of us. I even got to shake Jesse’s hand (the lead singer) as they left the stage.

Everlast Photo: Kathy G

Everlast was extraordinary. This guy has been around forever and he even stated several times that he’s been in the record business for over 20 years! He was spot on, sounded awesome and was really funny. He’s a white dude and his backing band was all black.. he called them "The White Folks." LOL

The crowd had thickened in the seats when Everlast was on and I was happy. The guy really delivered, even though the sun was still blaring (he went on at 6p).

Filter was next. Robert (lead) was mad due to "no darkness" as their set was still earlier on in the evening and the sun hadn’t set. It didn’t matter though. He brought the dark, heavy chords and lyrics as if it was pitch black. Robert is a badass and I literally said that as soon as I saw him. Dressed all in black and wearing "The Fly"-like black shades, he was the quintessential rock and roller. I knew many of the songs, but even the one’s I didn’t, I still loved. All their albums are now on my iPod and I’m officially a fan.

Robert Patrick of Filter Photo: Kathy G

I wasn’t impressed with Pennywise at all. They are not my type of band. I’m a bit into punk, etc., but just wasn’t impressed with these guys. I’m still not sure why they got second to the last billing behind STP. I don’t know much about them, so I assume they have a new album out or something? Who knows? I don’t even want to go and look it up.

Scott's in the House!
Scott and Robert, STP Photo: Kathy G

Although we had to wait over 30 minutes for STP, it ended up being worth the wait. Scott was in fine form, out of jail (thank God), and the band was tight. People in the pit were a bit a-hole-ish (why do you HAVE to talk during the entire set????), but we finally found a place to stand where people were actually listening to the show. I got some amazing shots and two of them I’m extremely proud of.

The set consisted of "greatest hits" and I was surprised how many I knew. At one point, Scott said: "It seems that our songs have really stood the test of time.." and everyone cheered. He was very humble and authentic when he spoke, almost like he was even surprised about how long their songs have held up.

He said something amazing that I wish I wrote down, but he said something like: "I think our songs have stood the test of time because they found us. We wrote them, but the songs were out there and found their way to us." I didn’t do that quote justice, but he said it so poetic, like a true songwriter. From there, the band broke into "Plush."

Here’s the set list from the NJ show the night before. I wasn’t able to find a Boston setlist, although I know they had to cut out 1-2 songs towards the end due to coming out 10 min late and getting a time warning (the Tweeter Center has a 11p curfew):

Big Empty / Wicked Garden / Big Bang Baby / Vasoline / Lady Picture Show / Lounge Fly / Crackerman / Sour Girl / Creep / Plush / Interstate Love Song / Coma / Down / Sin / Sex Type Thing / Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart

My feet were killing me by the end of the night, but I was so happy we had the "seats" we did, and that I got to see all these great bands. I hope that STP will be around for a long, long time, but if not, I’m proud to say that I saw them, and for very different reasons than I originally intended.

Take care of yourself, Scott. There are more songs out there that are looking for you, and we’re anxiously awaiting their arrival.

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brittanybf says:

it's been years since i've been to the River Rave but their songs must stand the test of time because i feel like they played that 10 yrs ago too. my brother went and also said stp did a great set.

Posted 3 months ago | Delete

I recently saw yet another alert for one of these "big" shows, and I had a reaction. Come along with me, won't you?

For those of you that go to numerous shows, or just look at the concert calendar for any major city, you may have been seeing these massive "3 band rock tours" coming your way. I am referring to the examples of: Def Leppard/REO Speedwagon/Styx trainwreck, Poison/Dokken/Sebastian Bach (which I am actually going to and will explain later), and the most recent upset of Journey/Cheap Trick/Heart.

Now, most of the time I have no issue with these types of things if it's for a great cause, such as Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour. It also makes sense that she has 80s bands along with her, and even bringing on some no names to show us some new music. It supports the Human Rights Campaign, and it's something I can stand behind. Go Cyndi. She's a badass.

Another example is the show I'm attending--the Poison/Dokken/Sebastian Bach tour. For one, I love 80s metal. Two, I LOVE Sebastian and all his antics. And three, for what I could research, all these bands have the original artists in them. And I'll get more specific, HAVE THE SAME LEAD SINGER. Most of you that know me will know where I'm going here, but read on anyway.

If you take my first example (Def Leppard/REO Speedwagon/Styx trainwreck), this has many issues on first glance. First, WHY IS DEF LEPPARD TOURING WITH REO SPEEDWAGON AND STYX?? Metal and pop?! Now, I know some of you may argue that Def Leppard is pop, as in the 80s they were played on the pop stations, but please. If you put Def Leppard and REO in a room together, you guess who's gonna kick who's asses. But don't get me wrong, I love REO; they are just not metal, and don't belong on this tour.

Second, Styx? Just saying the name of the band pisses me off. For those that don't know, Dennis DeYoung, the "voice of Styx" (oh sorry, I am not allowed to say this per a court order from the band), is NO LONGER IN THE BAND. He sadly left the band initially due to health issues, but from reading updates over the years, there seems to be other, let's just say, "artistic differences" causing problems. And, oh and by the way, he's better now.

I have boycotted seeing them since I saw the "Styx: Behind the Music" on VH1 years back. What is the deal with people kicking the lead singer out of a band that CREATES THE SIGNATURE SOUND? Did I mention that he was also in the band for 39 years?? Can these so-called men act like real men so we can actually enjoy these shows? I've been so mad at this Styx issue since I saw the show that I have NO idea who the lead singer is and haven't even heard him! Sure, Tommy Shaw is kickass, and he has a few hits to his name, but take a look at the singles and you tell me who's the man while viewing this Wiki.

Third, let's talk about my beloved Journey. Look, I'm a child of the 80s and a girl. Journey is the soundtrack of the late 70s and early 80s, and most of us (especially girls), have some sort of sweet memory regarding this band. I have two. The first is "Open Arms" was my first awkward slow dance in middle school in 1983. I danced with Jay, I grew up in that moment, and Steve Perry was there cheering me on. Deal with it.

The second major memory involves stealing my mom's vinyl of "Frontiers," which we tended to argue about where it was constantly. I still laugh that my mom was that cool back then, but I digress.

There's always been a lot of controversy around Journey, it seems. Some say (including Steve) that Neal Schon kicked Steve out of the band; some say, it was Steve's choice. But once again, if you watch "Journey: Behind the Music" on VH1, I say this is a Neal Schon issue. Now, some of you may be saying: "Damn, Kathy. What's with all this drama? Who cares?" Well, I do. Steve is the "voice of Journey." There is no debating that, even if you don't like the band. Steve IS Journey. To not find a way for Steve Perry to be in this band is just plain rude and wrong, seeing that the band is continuing to tour, make albums, and make a ton of money he deserves.

What I also find bizarre is that they have changed lead singers so many times. There has to be a reason. It's like there's a curse on the band or something. I wonder why? (insert sarcasm here)

However, getting back to my "big summer shows" rant, I just found out minutes ago that Journey will be on tour with Cheap Trick and Heart. Wow.

Now, I knew that they would tour, as I got an alert on MySpace about the new album. I knew months ago when Neal found this new guy on YouTube (no, I am not making this up), and that they'd be back in the studio. See, Neal had a choice there. Could he maybe call Steve to see if he had a change of heart? I guess not. However, not only is this guy going to be the lead singer, but they are releasing a double-disc exclusively at Wal-Mart (don't get me started on that, we'd be here for hours) with the hits, REDONE BY ARNEL.

The press release regarding this info came from the band one night a couple months ago thru a bulletin on MySpace. I have no idea why they chose to accept public comments on this bulletin, but I can tell you 90% of the comments were full of anger and plain WTF? I added my own blurb to maybe get my voice out to the band, or honestly, to Neal. I mean, it's one thing to get a new band member and create new music, fine. But, to blatantly redo the CLASSICS that Steve sang and made into hits?? Blasphemy. I don't care how much this guy sounds like Steve.

Who knows? Maybe the band or the label people who may run their MySpace saw all our comments. Were they afraid that people would boycott the shows due to the choice they made to re-record those classic songs? Who knows? But all I know is that they are now touring with Cheap Trick and Heart.

I heard about the Cheap Trick and Heart announcement (Journey was not mentioned) second-hand from a friend, and almost considered going as I've seen Cheap Trick before and had a blast, but then I got the official announcement from LiveDaily, and my heart sunk.

The thing is they will sell tickets. Most people are not music snobs like I am, and really don't give a rat's A about the drama. But for me, that makes a huge difference. I guess it's about the integrity of a sound and the band.. the sound that I remember and love. For me, it's easier just to put in the CD, reminisce and enjoy it that way. I was lucky enough to see Journey's "Raised on Radio" tour back in the 80s and saw my beloved Steve. Even if it was just once, I get to say I saw Journey--the real Journey.

If you got this far, thanks for reading. I know I can sometimes be a bit snobby when it comes to this stuff, but hey, it's how I feel. I'm not here to tell you what to do, though. If you have tickets for the shows I mentioned, hell, have a great time, but I feel that part of "my job" is to shed light on some of the things that people don't think about. If that changes your mind, great. If it has you research the band more and buy some of the old stuff, perfect. We all have our reasons for listening and attending shows.

For me, if I'm going to spend the money it takes to go to one of these shows, I want the guys that created it from the beginning there (if at all possible). If that's not available, I have a choice.. and I can tell you with Journey and Styx, the concerts will just have to be in my mind for now. Unless they see what they themselves are missing and give us what we want.. someday.

I will never give up hope. Other musical miracles have come to fruition as of late, why not this?

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