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S.T.P. with Rival Sons and Tyler Bryant & TS – The Met, Philadelphia, PA – 9/19/19

October 23, 2019

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Stone Temple Pilots

Special Guests: Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown & Rival Sons

The Met – Philadelphia, PA – 9/19/19

Review and Pictures: Tara Lakatos

Stone Temple Pilots brought down The Met in Philadelphia, PA on September 19, 2019. They brought with them two super talented bands, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown and Rivals Sons. This show was an all out rock fest. The musicianship from all three bands was out of bounds. For the two support acts we were not allowed to stay in the venue so I was only able to see the first three songs of each while I was shooting, which was a bit disappointing.

Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown

Nashville’s Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown kicked off the evening. TBSD consists of Tyler Bryant (vocals, guitar), Graham Whitford (guitar), Noah Denney (bass) and Caleb Crosby (drums). This was my third time seeing them and I can’t wait for the next time they roll through my area. The venue was very sparse when they hit the stage which was quite disappointing, the concert goers had no idea what they were missing.

Tyler’s style is so infectious and he plays with so much emotion. His vocals are unique and can be easily picked out of a crowd unlike many other artists these days. Graham has a style all of his own, shredding under the misty smoke. Noah is a much more reserved member of the band and Caleb likes to draw attention to himself by standing up on his kit and bringing a drum to the front of the stage.

The 1^st three songs they played were all from their recently released album “Truth and Lies”. They performed “Drive Me Mad”, “On to the Next” and “Ride”. “Drive Me Mad” was super high octane with a blues riff and swing based drums. Tyler’s solo’s ripped, while he ran around the stage. “On to the Next” and “Ride” had the guitar fuzz turned up to 11. “Ride” has such a great groove, it’s all about the guitars. I wish I would have been able to catch the rest of their set because they are just so good, I hope the arriving audience enjoyed the “ride”.

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Rival Sons

Next up were Rival Sons. Rival Sons consist of Jay Buchanan (vocals), Scott Holiday (guitar), Dave Beste (bass) and Mike Miley (drums). By the time they hit stage the venue was packed with eager fans. They played a 12 song set that lasted well over an hour.

They opened up their set with “Back in the Woods”, the guitar riff felt very 70’s punk rock. Jay has super powerful vocals that are bluesy and soulful. He performed as if he were possessed by rock and rolls past.

Next up was “Open My Eyes”, which had a heavy blues feel all around. The guitar and bass were super tight, the groove was heavy and smooth. The last song I was able to catch was “Pressure and Time”. This song made me feel like I was hanging at a bar in Memphis. This song was heavy, full of southern rock appeal.

Two things that cannot be overlooked in the entire performance were, Scott’s guitar prowess and general coolness, and Mike’s drumming was phenomenal without being flashy. Rival Sons are definitely a band that have to be witnessed live. While their recorded material is quite good their live energy just cannot be captured.

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Stone Temple Pilots

Stone Temple Pilots closed out this musically jammed packed show. STP consists of Jeff Gutt (vocals), Dean DeLeo (guitar), Robert DeLeo (bass) and Eric Kretz (drums). This was my second time seeing STP and neither time was I fortunate enough to see Scott Weiland perform. I saw them in 2013 when Chester Bennigton was touring with the band and now with Jeff. All I can say is Jeff had pretty big legacy to fill left by Scott and he smashed it out of the park.

Stone Temple Pilots opened with “Silvergun Superman”. To me this was an interesting song to open their set with since it’s one of their slower tracks. I guess they wanted to ease the audience into set. There was nothing super notable about this performance, it was done well but there was no wow factor. Their second song “Wicked Garden” gave me the punch that I was looking for. Jeff’s vocals were on point. He spent quite a bit of the song at the edge of the stage interacting with the fans and holding his mic stand out for the crowd to sing along. Robert also found his groove interacting with the crowd, pointing to fans in the back of the venue. The fans ate up the love from the band, giving back a ton of energy.

Rounding out the first three was one of their biggest hits, “Vasoline”. There is just something about Dean’s guitar lick in this song that brings me overwhelming joy. To me it’s one of the most recognizable licks of all time. This performance was vibrant and infectious. Jeff jumped into the photo pit and stood on the back of the rail singing to fans in the front. Possibly my favorite moment was snapping a photo of him singing to a young girl that was leaning against her mom. The sense of joy on all of their faces is exactly what live music is all about. He created a moment that neither of them will ever forget.

Stone Temple Pilots played 16 songs, filling the set list with plenty of other big hits including “Crackerman”, “Big Empty”, “Plush”, “Interstate Love Song”, and closed out the evening with “Sex Type Thing”. The band was exceptional throughout the night and Jeff did an incredible job with the vocals. With many of the songs being over 20 years old at this point, they still felt fresh. I’m hoping that the band is around for a long time to come. From what I saw on this night , there are a few generations that will continue to support their legacy.