Stone Temple Pilots can currently be found out on the road with Godsmack on The Rise of Rock Tour. The tour, which officially kicked off on May 10th in Bristow, VA is running a huge chunk of the year. You can expect to see these bands circling the U.S. east coast and central states all of May-June, then picking back up in September for some west coast dates. We were so excited for the chance to catch this tour early when they rolled into Coastal Credit Union Music Park in Raleigh, NC back on May 16th.
I’m a huge fan of Stone Temple Pilots, and like many the first time I got to see the band live was back in the 90’s. Jeff Gutt had giant shoes to fill when he joined as vocalist in late 2017. I also remember getting to see him perform live in person back in 2019 when they were headlining Gears & Guitars Fest in Winston-Salem, NC. I wasn’t photographing, I bought a ticket and stood in my spot at the barricade all day just to be front and center when STP would hit the stage later. I absolutely loved it, I loved seeing the band I had been such a fan of for years. I loved seeing and hearing Jeff Gutt perform some of my favorite songs and he is truly great at it.
Naturally I was insanely excited for the opportunity to photograph the band when they hit up Raleigh last week. Since it had been a few years, I was anxious about how they’d sound. When they launched their set straight into “Dead & Bloated”, I was already taken back. I remembered exactly when I bought Core and popped it in and that first track started up. This band sounds so good, even though it’s almost 34 years since that release. To be honest, I love all of their albums, I don’t think I’d complain about anything they choose to play live. But their current setlist included all of those favorite tracks from the 90’s and you will absolutely feel like it’s the summer of 1993 when they break into their set. You don’t want to miss this tour live.
For a full list of STP tour dates, visit: https://stonetemplepilots.com/tour-dates/
I’m Music Magazine Associate Editor/Photographer Daphne McKinney
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