October 13, 2009
Stone Temple Pilots @ The Fillmore
Given good bands get big and more popular and need more space to play, The Fillmore is my favorite non-summer concert hall. Big enough for big names. Small enough so it doesn't suck -- like the Pepsi Center. Randomly, STP decided to get back together to do a quick fall tour of a few cities and Denver made the cut. Yeah! Seems like this happens each year now. My last STP concert was actually just last summer at Red Rocks. Prior to that, I think I have seen them 3 times (Purdue, Oakland, San Jose)...maybe more? Anyway, with Kim going out of town suddenly, I figured the ticket was a waste. However, our neighbor, Ashley, came through for me and put the kids up for the night. Rock-tober begins!
Given most of my bands are heavier than STP, the crowd ended up being pretty tame -- even up front. A handful of dudes and some chicks getting antsy about being pushed. Go to the back if you don't like the feel of the shove in your back! I was sort of stuck about 12 rows deep for the first 1/4 of the show. No pits at all! Nothing to cut through to gain ground. That's my tactic! Finally, one opened up and I got in. Danced around. Pushed around, then parked it up near the front. Probably 5 or 6 rows deep now. Much better. The best part was this dude wearing some type of "dress shirt" was getting all pissed at anyone who touched him. I swear I saw him grabbing people and yelling "Don't touch me!". WTF, dude -- go to the back. Finally a bouncer came and removed him from the section and moved him off to the side. Let the rock continue.
The show was good but sort of felt like a greatest hits show -- because there is no new music of course. Plus, I have seen STP a bunch so there wasn't that energy that I have seen at other shows with some of their stunts. This was more "normal". Too bad.
I had my Flip in the truck by accident so I decided to take it. Usually, I don't because of A/V policies but tonight I didn't really care. I carried it inside right in my hand during the security pat-down. Nobody cared. I wanted to see how it would come out. Figured it would be spotty given the other videos of concerts I have watched before -- but it gives a good idea. Could use some image stabilization with all the crowd movement. Hard to hold still. Sort of bummed about the audio quality through -- it could be better. But I wouldn't want to drag some $1000 HD camera in there to risk getting a beer spilled all over it in the pit. So here you go. It is long but if you like STP, it gives you a taste of every song they played tonight!
Good show. Glad to have gotten the opportunity to get out. Next Rock-tober appointment -- about 2 weeks.
