As one of the handful of acts still standing from the long-dead grunge movement, Stone Temple Pilots has had a career that has not been without turmoil and setbacks, although none of those can be attributed to their music. As a matter of fact, despite the various upsets in the band’s life, they have consistently put out successful records. Alive In The Windy City is a testament to this fact, as the band plays to a sold-out crowd at a 2010 concert at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago.
The performance covers the entire gamut of STP’s adventurous career, showcasing the versatility of this act as they traverse through different genres of grunge, blues, psychedelia, and glam. At the center of it are three superb musicians playing to their hearts content and the man at the crux, Scott Weiland, with his trademark megaphone and cigarette: a rockstar looking unfettered by his dark past. Like a typical STP show, the concert covers all of the band’s classics in this 18 track setlist, which also includes lesser known cuts like “Lounge Fly” and “Piece Of Pie,” making their way in the final moments of the show.
Barring the obvious dominance of tracks from Core and Purple, the rest of the setlist leans heavily towards the band’s 2010 self-titled album, as the concert is part of the tour supporting this record. But the band bangs out the ‘60s style glam rock cuts with as much ferocity as they do with their older, harder material.
The concert is shot in the most unassuming way, but the production does a great job capturing the show from different camera angles, focusing amply on all four bandmembers, separately and together. The editing is clean, as the camera goes back and forth between various angles effortlessly, capturing all viewpoints of the performance. The bonus 15 minute interview with the band, though, is nothing to write home about. It focuses on bland Q&A primarily about the new record, alongwith other generic wishy-washy questions.
There is nothing more thrilling for a band than to put on an exciting show to an enthusiastic crowd, and this concert performance captures this exact sentiment at its sincerest.
