To my surprise, he and the band did indeed make it out to Sacramento last night, where they rocked the Memorial Auditorium.
Can they still rock? You bet. Despite a surprisingly undersold venue, they hit the stage and cranked out many of their classics, as Weiland strutted around the stage like a Mick Jagger in training. They've definitely got some of the catchier tunes to come out of the 90's rock scene, and it's tough to argue with hearing them live.
However, while it was a good show, I will say that I've seen better. The band sounded great, 
but at times it seemed like they were just going through the motions rather than really getting into it. With a song catalog filled with rockin classics, you'd think that a reunion tour would be a live performance of a greatest hits album. Several of their best songs were left out of the set, including Interstate Love Song and the Grammy-winning Plush. In their places were a few slow jams that never really went anywhere and kinda killed the mood. A one song encore of Dead and Bloated was offered, but really only as a courtesy gesture. I was a little surprised when it came to an end, because there were still songs that needed to be played and plenty of time to play them. Good show, good performance, but not great.But perhaps the reason for this was the audience of Sacramento folk. Everyone was surprisingly tame for an open-floor rock concert.
Not all that long ago, these guys were selling out stadiums around the world. While other performances on this tour were sold out, this one left plenty of elbow room. Plus not too many people were singing along, not too many people were dancing or banging their heads. They were just kinda standing around, as if they were watching a political speech. I was able to walk right up to the front with ease only moments before they hit the stage, and actually had two people get mad at me because they didn't want me standing in front of them. C'mon people! That's Scott Weiland standing ten feet away from you! Do you realize how amazing it is that he didn't do something stupid and get arrested on the ride over here? Do you even know who these guys are?
I'm not a die-hard fan of these guys, but I certainly like their work. I couldn't believe the tameness of the audience. Where I come from, if you're that close to the stage,
you're probably going to get smashed around and kicked in the head a few times by crowd surfers. Here, if you bumped into the person in front of you, they'd turn around and shoot you a glare. Now, I have no need to find myself in a mosh pit at my old age, and I certainly appreciate being able to watch the show from so close without getting pummeled, but it didn't seem like anybody in the audience really wanted to be there. This is the second concert that I've been to in Sacramento, and both were surprisingly tame. I can't say that I'd blame the band if they chose to forgo an additional encore, because these people probably didn't deserve one.
At the end of the night, I enjoyed myself, but certainly left feeling like I should have had more coming to me. Still, I'm glad I caught these guys, and I'd be willing to give them another chance in a better city. I'm glad to see they're back, whether or not anyone else around here gives a damn.
