STP Plays With Renewed Commitment

After being hamstrung by singer Scott Weiland’s drug-related legal and health problems, Stone Temple Pilots made a strong, belated Los Angeles concert appearance to promote their new album . . .

Wait. Haven’t we done this before?

Indeed, in 1996, the DeLeo brothers (guitarist Dean and bassist Rob) and drummer Eric Kretz, having waited out Weiland’s court-ordered drug addiction treatment, reconvened with the singer at the Universal Amphitheatre in a show that revealed the blossoming of the frontman’s dynamics and the band’s versatile power.

So it was again in the band’s first full L.A. concert since then, a “surprise” show at the House of Blues on Wednesday. Weiland, who spent much of last year in jail and rehab, was even more commanding via a heavily Bowie-esque appearance and manner. The three players pounded out hard-rock crunch, tempered by delicate acoustic segments. And, where in ’96 the DeLeos and Kretz barely interacted with Weiland, Wednesday’s set was marked by playfulness and a renewed aura of commitment.

It’s hard to say whether they can spur momentum for last year’s “No. 4,” which has sold fewer than 500,000 copies, as compared to a total of 10 million for the three previous albums. But STP did make a strong case for its body of work Wednesday, evoking not the ‘90s grunge with which the band was lumped, but earlier rock traditions: the ‘60s of the Doors (with Doors guitarist Robby Krieger joining on an encore of “Roadhouse Blues”), the ‘70s of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and the ‘80s of Metallica and Guns ‘N Roses.

There’s a bit of a classic-rock jukebox impression stylistically, but the GNR-Nirvana hybrid “Sex Type Thing,” the lovely acoustic rendering of “Interstate Love Song” and even the recent pummeling “Down” came off as rock radio classics in their own right.

All in all an encouraging welcome back--but hey, Scott, let’s not do this another time. OK?