Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts Review
© 2013 Always Acoustic
The show was marketed as Purple to the Core and Purple to the Core it was as Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts performed eleven songs from those two Stone Temple Pilots’ albums. At no point before or during the show was there ever any confusion that Scott Weiland acted on behalf of Stone Temple Pilots.
Weiland was defiant as he said in his melodic voice, “[We] can play this [song] on tour too!” Defiance can be a good thing at times, especially if you want your voice to be heard!
The Rouge band opened for Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts and then Elliot From, the talented artist from Chicago came on and painted some master- pieces to music. His most popular painting was the Chicago Blackhawks logo, the Indian head.
Several minutes before the show was to start, The Wildabouts performed an opening jam session without Weiland. Scott Weiland entered around 10:59 with his signature entrance of holding a cigarette and sunglasses, but unlike Weiland’s performance on December 18, 2008 where he was dressed in a suit and a fedora, Weiland was more casual by wearing, a hoodie, a vest and a English flat hat.
The smoke machine blasted out smoke into the fuel room that smelled a little bit like vanilla, and the show began.
After the jam session, Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts rocked it to the Core with “Crackerman.” During the song, the smoke continued and Weiland entertained the audience with his megaphone and dancing presence.
Early into Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts’ set list, they interchanged between “Meatplow” (Purple) and “Wicked Garden” (Core) before they performed a bluesier tune in “Paralysis” from Scott Weiland’s “Happy” in Galoshes. On “Paralysis,” the show became really intimate as Weiland worked his way up the staircase singing as he entered into the VIP area upstairs before circling back down the same staircase where he finished the song vocally on-stage.
Instead of playing four cover songs, which included The Doors’“Roadhouse Blues,” David Bowie’s “The Jean Genie,” Jane’s Addiction’s “Mountain Song” and The Libertines’ “Can’t Stand Me Now,” Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts should have performed either “Missing Cleveland” from “Happy” in Galoshes or “Mockingbird Girl” from 12 Bar Blues to familiarize Weiland fans with his solo material.
Guitarist Doug Grean toured with Scott Weiland back on December 18, 2008 at the Chicago House of Blues and worked with Weiland on the “Happy” in Galoshes album.
© 2013 Always Acoustic
During “Creep,” Scott Weiland shook it up a little by changing the lyrics from “Everybody run, Bobby’s got a gun” to “Everybody run, Bobby’s got a squirt gun.” Was Weiland trying to shake up the lyrics a bit by not being stale or appeasing gun control advocates?
Weiland fired off several additional golden nuggets when he remarked, “I hardly sign anything because people can lift it” and “When I was a kid, I wanted to be a dolphin.” These golden nuggets preceded songs “Kitchenware & Candy Bars” and “Big Empty.”
After “Vasoline,” Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts performed “Sex Type Thing” and closed their show before the encore with “Dead & Bloated.” Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts ended their evening with “Unglued.”
Depending on the outcome of Stone Temple Pilots v. Scott Weiland, Case No. BC510040, Super. Ct. Cal. (2013) and Weiland’s cross complaint against Stone Temple Pilots, Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts should have went down in a blaze of glory and pushed it further to the Purple Core by performing “Plush” and “Interstate Love Song.” “Plush” and “Interstate Love Song” would have been perfect replacements for “Can’t Stand Me Now” and “Mountain Song.”
The show became unglued at times because the band performed at a higher decibel level, which suffocated Weiland’s vocals on “Where the River Goes,” “Mountain Song,” “Dead & Bloated” and “Unglued.” You would have thought that Weiland’s vocals would have been at the forefront rather than a runner-up to the band.
What is so disappointing about Weiland’s vocals being strangulated is because you expect more out of a Scott Weiland show. If Weiland’s vocals had been as dazzling on “Where the River Goes,” “Mountain Song,” “Dead & Bloated” and “Unglued” as his stories, it would have been a really good show! Instead, it was an enjoyable show, but not Weiland’s best.
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