It was early September and Eric Kretz was eagerly awaiting a brief 11-date headlining tour involving his band, Stone Temple Pilots, and co-star Bush that would precede a longer fall headlining tour. for his group.
“Twice we were going to go to Australia with them,” said drummer Kretz. “The first time was just when COVID came in and it all stopped. Then the developer did their best to find a way to get us back. It looked like early April (2020).
“We found a winery hotel an hour from Sydney so all three groups were going to have the place to ourselves,” he said. “So we were just going to barbecue, play tennis and write songs together. It was going to be awesome. And just, they had a case or two and they stopped interstate travel, so we just couldn’t do that. “
As it turned out, this fall’s US race with Bush was also called off due to the rise of the COVID Delta variant. Stone Temple Pilots, however, continued their headlining tour, which kicked off on October 17. Kretz admitted that there will be challenges for the group, which also includes brothers guitarist Dean DeLeo and bassist Robert DeLeo and vocalist Jeff Gutt, as they will have to adhere to strict protocols to keep the tour on track. The tour stops at the Palladium on November 5.
“It’s tough and it’s going to be frustrating not being able to see friends that you have across the country and hang out with them or go to dinner,” he said. “It just takes one person out of those 25-30 people, group and team. We are all parked somewhere in a hotel. It’ll just be a new way for a while until we all get used to it.
But at least the band will be on tour, which couldn’t happen for most of 2020. But the band members took advantage of the downtime. Dean DeLeo collaborated with guitarist Tom Bukovac on a mostly instrumental album, “Trip The Witch”. The band also assembled a boxed reissue of the 1996 Stone Temple Pilots album, “Tiny Music… Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop”, which complements the original album with previews and first versions of songs from the album. and a 14 song concert in 1997 recorded by MTV during spring break in Panama City Beach, Florida.
“Tiny Music” was a pivotal project for Stone Temple Pilots. The group, with original vocalist Scott Weiland joined by brothers DeLeo and Kretz, burst onto the scene with their 1992 debut, “Core,” and the 1994 follow-up, “Purple,” two multi-platinum albums that have generated hit songs such as “Plush”, “Creep” and “Interstate Love Song”.
As the group’s popularity skyrocketed, many Stone Temple Pilots critics called the group grunge rock copiers whose songs shared the stylistic traits of bands like Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden.
“Tiny Music”, however, changed many of these perceptions and gained the newfound respect of Stone Temple Pilots. The group has broadened their sound considerably, drawing on influences such as classic rock, glam, and psychedelic rock to create a musically diverse set of songs.
“I think we were trying to challenge ourselves,” Kretz said. “Like, OK, we did two albums and we accomplished that, and I think it was more of a way to challenge ourselves and say what we didn’t do?”
While Kretz said the band had a great time doing “Tiny Music,” this period also portended difficulties that would become more difficult with Weiland, whose drug addiction resulted in increasingly erratic behavior, tensions within the group, a breakup in 2003, a reunion in 2008 and a final separation in 2013. Weiland, tragically, never got over his addictions and died in 2015 of an overdose.
“With Scott it was just a slow slide off his fall, you know what I mean. It was just trying to pick him up, and after a while he doesn’t want your help anymore.” , Kretz said.
Brothers DeLeo and Kretz moved forward after the split with Weiland, with Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington entering the vocal slot for a 2013 EP, “High Rise,” before returning full-time to Linkin Park in 2015. Unfortunately, Bennington committed suicide. in 2017, adding another tragic wrinkle to the story of Stone Temple Pilots.
By the time of Bennington’s death, Stone Temple Pilots was already looking for a new singer around the world. Gutt, who had appeared in two seasons of the TV show “The X-Factor”, was ultimately chosen as the new singer. Her performances on her debut album with the band, an eponymous 2018 release, was a promising new start for Stone Temple Pilots, which was only bolstered by the 2020 album “Perdida”, which saw the band perform. change gears to create a largely acoustic sound. album.
And with Gutt fitting in nicely with Stone Temple Pilots, fans will see a band now enjoying a gentler life on and off the stage.
“We love to be creative and we love each other and we love to play for the audience who have memories of the songs. It doesn’t suck, ”Kretz said.
Stone Temple Pilots with Tyler Bryant and The Shakedown
When: 8 p.m. on November 5
Where: The Palladium, 261 Main St., Worcester
How Much: Tickets start at $ 39.50. Visit https://thepalladium.net/ for more details and COVID-19 restrictions.
