It seems that early to mid `90s radio was inundated by Stone Temple Pilots and, for a red-hot minute, Soul Asylum and Live.
As the Grunge scene wound down and artists like Hootie and the Blowfish and Shania Twain ushered in newer, different sounds, these bands persevered and, despite numerous lineup changes, are still performing to this day.
On the road to celebrate a few milestones, Live was celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of their most popular album Throwing Copper, while STP was honoring Purple, their 1994 release (although I personally love the title of their subsequent release in `96, Tiny Music…Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop).
Dave Pirner has been Soul Asylum’s constant driving force and, while they don’t headline anymore, they still sound great and pull some decent numbers. Opening last night’s show, the band played a seven-song set, with the highlights being “Someone to Shove” and their biggest charter, the Grammy-winning “Runaway Train.”
After a short reset, York, Penn.-based Live took the stage. Founding member Ed Kowalczyk, the only remaining original member of the lineup, was all smiles as he took the stage. The often-troubled band, rife with lawsuits and internal discord, seemed re-energized with this newer, younger lineup of musicians. Offering up a 14-tune set, they closed with a haunting take on their biggest hit, “Lightning Crashes.”
Taking the stage close to 10 p.m. were the headliners. Remaining pretty much intact from their inception in 1989 through 2013, the band fired frontman Scott Weiland due to his struggles with addiction, adding Chester Bennington as their lead singer, before setting their sights on current frontman Jeff Gutt in late-2017.
Playing entire albums as a theme has become extremely popular lately, and Gutt and company didn’t disappoint. Out of the 15 tunes offered last night, 11 of them came from Purple, while the other four were pulled from Core, their 1992 debut.
Sold as a pavilion-only show, the 4,000 or so in attendance packed the seated amphitheater at Blossom, delighting the crowd on a perfect late-summer evening.
