Top Dogs, Hot Dogs Fire Up Weenie Roast

You’ve got to feel for Aaron Lewis.

With his band Staind in a key slot at the ninth annual KROQ-FM (106.7) Weenie Roast at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on Saturday, he had a chance to prove that the huge debut of its “Break the Cycle” album (700,000-plus opening week sales) was no fluke and that the Massachusetts quartet belongs in the big time.

But circumstances conspired against Staind on Saturday. For one thing, the band’s set followed a show-stealing surprise cameo by Shaquille O’Neal, who rapped his song “Psycho” with the band 311 and even engaged in a little crowd surfing--all 300-plus pounds of him.

And following Staind would be an unannounced appearance by Stone Temple Pilots, the show-stealers of last year’s Weenie Roast and still among the most accomplished and commanding of major alt-rock bands active today.

And that’s not to mention engaging, colorful closing sets by current KROQ favorites Blink-182 and legendary band Jane’s Addiction, as well as an earlier crowd-winning appearance by the reunited Cult.

All this while such other new-rock entries as Disturbed, Stabbing Westward, Papa Roach, Linkin Park and Crazy Town also sought to establish or renew a bond with the audience.

As if that weren’t enough, the helicopter carrying Shaq back to Krypton buzzed the audience and then hovered over the stage during Lewis’ solo, acoustic version of Staind’s breakthrough hit, “Outside.”

Lewis already seems hypersensitive to pressure, his lyrics exploring how painful he apparently finds everyday life, and his performing posture Saturday generally found him doubled over as if he’d had a particularly bad burrito.

But to his credit, Lewis merely paused a moment to suggest everyone flip off the chopper and continued his song, his sad-sack expression never changing.

Maybe he realized that the bigger problem was that Staind didn’t exactly deliver a knockout punch Saturday. Yes, its gift of melody and song structure did stand out, but the tepid pace of the songs left much of the audience seated and uninvolved. And though both Lewis’ regular-guy appearance and low-key manner set him apart from the posturing competition, there simply was nothing revealing in either the music (recycled Metallica at best) or lyrics (banal observations that it’s tough to be young).

That left Linkin Park and 311 as the day’s breakthrough acts. The former is notable for its balance of hip-hop and rock, with color added by the pairing of rapper Mike Shinoda and singer Chester Bennington and by rich turntable accents from Joseph Hahn.

311 has earned on-the-verge status via years of hard work and has honed its rap-rock-reggae mix into an often enticing blend. The Shaq cameo was merely a bonus.

Three other sets of true distinction, though, provided lessons for all the other acts. In Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell, STP’s Scott Weiland and the Cult’s Ian Astbury, the bill sported three bona fide rock stars who command attention with both talent and presence.

The reunited Jane’s Addiction set was a bit hampered by technical problems and never quite caught fire, but both Farrell (in a shiny, lime-green pimp suit) and body-painted guitarist Dave Navarro can’t fail to make an impression. Weiland’s stage dynamics and STP’s still-growing catalog of strong material both evoke and reinvigorate classic rock values associated with such giants as Led Zeppelin and David Bowie. And Astbury and his Cult showed earnest rock spirit.

San Diego’s Blink-182 did nothing to diminish its status as today’s premier potty-mouthed, punk-pop pranksters. But if the trio is to have a long, healthy career, it will be the smart substance of its songs--observant portraits of youth, in contrast to Staind’s trite generalizations--that will do the trick. That’s there for anyone who wants, or cares, to see through the silliness.

Distinction failed in the case of Coldplay, though. Where the English band’s reserve and humility were charmingly attractive at KROQ’s indoor Almost Acoustic Christmas show in December, those elements got a bit lost in this setting.

But at least Coldplay was better off than Stabbing Westward and Disturbed, which were merely ridiculous--joyless young men in black working way too hard to appear dour and menacing as beach balls bounced around the audience in the blazing sun.