On a beautiful fall night at Blossom Music Center this week, The Jubilee Tour came to town and shook up the quiet start of the night with some great music as Stone Temple Pilots, +Live+ and Soul Asylum just tore it up. STP and +Live+ were celebrating the 30th Anniversary of their great albums “Purple” and “Throwing Copper”.
Opening the show was Soul Asylum who gave an energized 7-song set which leaned on their album “Grave Dancers Union” with the highlight of their short set being “Runaway Train” and they ended with a driven version of “April Fool”.
Co-headliner +Live+ was next and even though the only original member left is Ed Kowalczyk, that was really all that was needed as Kowalczyk was as energetic as I’ve ever seen him and the voice was strong. The band surrounding him gave a tight performance and during their 14-song set they dove deep into their discography, but the highlights of the night came from “Throwing Copper”. Songs like “Top” which opened the show to “All Over You” and “Selling The Drama” had the crowd on their feet all the way through the encore of “I Alone” and of course, “Lightning Crashes”. I wasn’t sure what to expect from +Live+ at this point of their career but I was surprisingly impressed at what was on that stage.
Rounding out the night was Stone Temple Pilots. STP was another band I wasn’t sure about seeing live now. I remember seeing them at their peak with Scott Weiland who was a force of nature on stage. His voice to me is STP but I will give props to Jeff Gutt who has filled in remarkably well as the frontman of one of my favorite bands. Even though he has been with the band since 2017, this is the first time I’ve seen and heard him and I was impressed. For me the highlight of the whole night was the fact they were going to play “Purple” in its entirety and listening to it front to back live made me remember just what a great album this was. Of course, “Interstate Love Song” which I think is one of the most complete songs I’ve ever listened too was great but hearing “Pretty Penny”, “Silvergun Superman” and “Unglued” got me realizing that the album had some hidden gems and hearing them live, just made it all the better. It took me a couple of songs to get used to Gutt but by the time they hit “Interstate Love Song” his voice seemed to belong. The DeLeo brothers, Dean and Robert were as strong a statement on stage as I’ve ever seen them. They are the glue that holds STP together.
After running thru “Purple” the band rounded out their set with “Plush”, “Dead And Bloated”, “Crackerman” and “Sex Type Thing”.
Overall, a really surprising night. I went in with low expectations and wondering how I was going to write this review, but I left there happy I got to hear a great night of music with my ears ringing.
