A Gentler, Warmer Rebellion

Is rock’s teen audience tiring of the relentless anger and outrage?

An American flag and a “United We Stand” sticker on a band tour bus outside the Arrowhead Pond on Saturday were the first hints of something different about the annual, usually testosterone-heavy Family Values Tour.

The more typical symbol at earlier editions of the rap-rock tour was as a raised middle finger at the world.

Saturday’s warmer feel continued inside the arena. Two more flags were draped alongside the illuminated tour logo above the stage, and the stage curtain mirrored the flag’s red and white stripes.

The patriotic touches can be traced to the nation’s mood following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but the more moderate tone of the music in the 41/2-hour concert itself was a sign of change in rock’s landscape.

Though veterans Stone Temple Pilots headlined, the hotter album sellers on the tour are Staind and Linkin Park, whose last two CDs have sold more than 7.5 million copies collectively.

Both bands have dark, confrontational elements, but the music is cushioned by a welcome sense of civility and hope.

Anger is an essential element in rock and rap, and it can be a liberating force in the hands of such inspired figures as Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Ice Cube and Eminem.

But too much anger can turn to ugliness and melodrama, and both rock and rap both saw that happen in the late ‘90s.

Staind and Linkin Park stop short of that. Staind’s Aaron Lewis complains but doesn’t whine. He speaks about hard times without self-pity and accuses others without failing to acknowledging his own shortcomings.

After opening sets by Deadsy and Static-X, Linkin Park energized the crowd with a mix of rock and rap that had its anti-authoritarian elements, but no ugly or violent undercurrents.

The audience sang along gleefully when the band urged them to say “shut up,” presumably to parents, in “One Step Closer,” but it’s simply therapeutic rebellion. You felt sure the teens were still going to take the trash out Monday nights.

Though Linkin Park’s music seems undistinguished on record, except for the interaction between singer Chester Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda, there is an energy and and a dynamic live that give the group considerable force.

The evening’s only hint of rap, Linkin Park did such a good job of stirring the crowd that you wondered just how Staind would be able to successfully follow it.

Lewis, Staind’s lyricist and lead singer, has so little flash on stage that it’s tempting to rename the Massachusetts quartet Staid.

But he is a strong, convincing new voice in rock, someone whose tales of adolescent struggle for self-worth carry the force of such early Pearl Jam works as “Jeremy” and “Daughter”--and the audience responded strongly.

There is a genuineness to his lyrics and such an accessible, melodic framework to songs such as “It’s Been Awhile” that it’s easy to see why the latter was the most popular song on modern rock radio for four months.

After the low-key nature of Staind’s set, Stone Temple Pilots came on so furiously you’d think they had been shot from a cannon.

The quartet--which also consists of brothers Dean and Robert DeLeo on guitar and bass, respectively, and Eric Kretz on drums--was downgraded by critics in the early ‘90s as being echoes of the grunge scene. But they have evolved into a much more varied and appealing entry.

Though the set leaned heavily on the band’s early hits, the presentation, from frontman Scott Weiland’s unapologetic rock star prancing to the instrumental textures, seemed more in line with the teasing, sensual celebration of Bowie-era glam.

But there’s not much depth in those early songs, and the opening glow grew dim by the end of the 75-minute set, with Weiland resorting to mooning the audience in a search for showmanship ideas.

If the Pilots could add Lewis’ purpose and emotional heart to their flash, they might be the most successful band this side of Dublin. Or maybe vice versa?