Stone Temple Pilots @ The Air Canada Centre, Toronto

As I mentioned in the last post, I won tickets to see the Stone Temple Pilots and I must say even though I was on the opposite side of the stadium in seats it was still a great show. Cage the Elephant was insane. Matt Shultz, the lead singer, is wild. He was running all over the place and after he was bored of crowd surfing he decide to stand on the crowd during their last song. The microphone setup was a little off for both Hot Hot Heat and Cage the Elephant, because it was often hard to hear and understand the lyrics over the music. Luckily it was fixed for STP.

STP played a good full set and included all my favourites, so I was pleased. If you like blues rock or just blues I would definitely go see them live. They play just like their records but add all sorts of riffs and jams (I should mention that I've read accusations of lip syncing from Scott Weiland, but I watched him and it looked legit). Most songs start with either the bass or lead guitarist going off on a sweet blues jam. The stage was trippy. A full wall of lights showed some rough images, but mostly just psychedelic visualizations (similar to those in Windows Media Player but better). There were a few things I didn't like about the show. From my seats in the 100 level, in arguably one of the best places, I couldn't even make out band members faces. I am also not a fan of sitting down at rock shows, especially for bands as energetic as Cage the Elephant. It is quite awkward sitting there watching someone run around, jump, and blast great music when you have to space to get up and jump yourself. It's for this reason I've never enjoyed the ACC as a concert venue (with the exception of Trans Siberian Orchestra). You might say to buy floor tickets, but those are usually expensive and even then nothing can beat seeing your favourite band in a small intimate club venue.

Overall, STP were great and I can check them off the list of the many bands I have to see, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see them again. But, I wouldn't mind seeing them play a smaller venue. I would definitely like to see Cage the Elephant again once they have released more albums. It is hard for them to play a full set when they only have 12 track album. I'd want floor tickets for that too. STP is worth seeing live, but seeing as they've been on hiatus and split before, who knows how many more tours they have left in themselves. So if you have the chance to see STP on this tour I would make sure I get there.

By the way, I got a place and I'm moving back to school this weekend. So once I'm settled in and I get through the first week of parties, I will get some more articles and reviews out.