Day one of the much hyped and highly anticipated Stone Temple Pilots tour featuring Chester Bennington kicked off at the Sands Event Center this past Wednesday night in the most epic of fashions.. The evening of rock got started off with a cranked up performance by the on the rise rock veterans, Filter. The band, whose only current original member is vocalist Richard Patrick, just released a new album titled “The Sun Comes Out” this past summer. Their 9 song setlist contained a good variety of new and old songs which was great because it kept the crowd moving the whole time. The real highlight of the night came on the band’s last song “Hey man, Nice Shot” when Richard Patrick spent the entirety of the song amongst the fans in attendance. My only real complaint about the performance was that 45 minutes just wasn’t enough stage time for them, they deserved a full hour, hell maybe even an hour and half but they will have this time soon because they have a headlining tour coming in October that should not be missed. Filter is back and better than ever with their current line up, be sure to catch them on tour with STP or this Fall at a venue near you.

From this moment forward we will put the past few months of musical drama behind us because Stone Temple Pilots has been essentially reborn into what is really a true rock super group with the addition of Chester Bennington of Linkin Park. Stepping into a band this late into a career is risky thing to do and filling the shoes of the previous singer (whose name needs not to be mentioned) was not going to be an easy thing for Chester to do but he knew this when he accepted the position. Fans who have seen STP in the previous few years prior to this current formation had voiced mixed feelings about the performances calling the shows “sloppy,” “drunken,” and even “reserved.” Despite these clearly negative words a lot of fans got offended and hostile when the original singer was kicked out of the band.

 As the lights came up inside the Sands Event Center they illuminated a giant STP logo above the drum kit. You could feel the anticipation and anxiety about what was to come building in the crowd. The night began in a legendary fashion with a STP fan-favorite, “Down,” with opening lines of “pleased to meet you” being belted from Chester Bennington in a way they never had been before. By the time the band had hit the 5th song it seemed as though the crowd had put aside any prior reservations they had about Chester being in the band and began to enjoy the rock show.

As the night came to a close on the opening night of STP featuring Chester Bennington tour a few thoughts came to my mind. The first thing I noticed from the very beginning was that Chester made the songs his own, he the right notes that were close to the original tracks but he wasn’t afraid to add in his own section sounds and screams at the right spots. This decision really worked in his favor because he owned the performance. The rest of the band was spot on, they haven’t looked that happy and energized on stage in years. The interaction between all of them, including Chester, was great too. All baggage aside this was a great show and that is what needs to be said about it. Bands change and fans need to understand that it isn’t an easy thing for them either so spewing hatred on the web doesn’t help. Fans of rock, metal and STP fans need to get to a show on this tour because it is a once in a life time tour that you won’t want to miss.

Filter

Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington