THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010593
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Music review
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Who needs Woodstock?
Before Stone Temple Pilots' set at William and Mary Hall on Wednesday night, the crowd on the floor erupted with thrown plastic soda cups, toilet paper rolls, even a Snickers bar. It looked like fun, if not a defining communal experience. Maybe it was both. A few cups even made it on the stage before the band appeared. Unfortunately, a couple of shoes managed to hit singer Scott Weiland as he was working.
Weiland complained, but it didn't stop him from doing a loose-limbed dance like a whacked-out movie character.
The Pilots' hard rock songs such as ``Vasoline'' and ``Lounge Fly'' were mostly short and to the point. Derivative, sure, but not wholly worthy of the scorn heaped on them since the San Diego band's ascent to multiplatinum status. As if Pearl Jam, their supposed source, never copped a riff or a rhythm from Black Sabbath or R.E.M.
The music was surely a slamming soundtrack for the party on the floor. The group dropped the volume level for an acoustic set that found Weiland leading a clap-along on a brief solo rendition of a Woody Guthrie tune. Then, performing in a mock-up of a cozy living room, he settled in with the other Pilots on ``Pretty Penny'' and David Bowie's ``Andy Warhol,'' among others.
The Bowie tune and the most convincing of the rockers seem to be signals that the band is in this for a little more than a ride on the latest trend.
It was inspiring to see the second-billed Meat Puppets play to such a large and appreciative crowd after more than a decade on the road. The Phoenix band proved its ability to play speedily while maintaining cruising altitude. The trick was pulled off most successfully on ``Never To Be Found,'' which was played even a little faster than its version on the current ``Too High To Die'' album. Guitarist Curt Kirkwood led into the suitelike number's coda with a blast of feedback. His ability to shift from fluid lead lines to such heights of noise, and then to combine the two, remains one of the most distinctive styles in rock.
The band's own short acoustic jaunt was highlighted by the metaphysical acid-country classic ``Plateau'' from 1984's ``Meat Puppets II'' album. The bluegrass-tinged title ``Comin Down'' followed. A lighter-hearted look at the themes of the previous song, it received one of the most exuberant treatments of the set.
A short noise painting segued into the Pups' summer radio smash ``Backwater.'' When Kirkwood's bassist brother Cris stopped playing and lifted a video cameraman onto his shoulders to face the crowd, it was a triumph of the positivity at the heart of the Meat Puppets' music and world view.
Jawbox, the D.C.-based punk band that recently moved up to major label Atlantic records, mock-celebrated their rise in the show biz world with a mention of Buddy Hackett's birthday and kinetic bassist Kim Coletta's silver lame blouse. Their set proved that while Jawbox's songs might not be all the way there yet, their punchy sound is. by CNB