Sydney’s ICC Theatre feels like a time machine set to 1994, and the pilots are in full command. Stone Temple Pilots—Californian rock royalty, grunge survivors, legends in their own right—are here, and tonight, it’s all about Purple.
There’s something mythic about an album that still rattles bones 30 years on. Released at the peak of alternative rock’s golden era, Purple didn’t just follow up Core—it cemented STP as stadium-fillers, as hitmakers, as a band that could shape the sound of a generation. And now, three decades later, they’re giving it the full-album treatment, front to back, no skips, no breaks, just pure ‘90s magic. Here tonight.
Aussie rock titans Wolfmother storm the stage ahead of Stone Temple Pilots tonight, with Andrew Stockdale still oozing the same wild-eyed, electric charisma that made them a global force back in 2004. Defying the laws of time (seriously, has the bloke even aged?), Stockdale and co. rip through a set that’s as thunderous as ever. Naturally, it’s ‘Joker and the Thief’ that sends punters sprinting in from the bar—pints abandoned, arms aloft—because some riffs are just too colossal to ignore.
The STP set kicks off with ‘Wicked Garden’ and when ‘Vasoline’ hits the room is moving as one, a mass of bodies reliving the alt-rock glory days. ‘Interstate Love Song’ lands like a gut punch, its twangy intro met with roars of recognition.
There’s no denying that time has shifted STP’s orbit—the tragic loss of Scott Weiland looms large, a ghost in the wings. But this isn’t a band running on fumes. Their presence is muscular, tight, still brimming with that signature STP swagger. Dean and Robert DeLeo’s riffs still bite, Eric Kretz’s drumming still packs a punch, and Jeff Gutt—stepping into the impossible role of frontman—delivers a performance that honours, rather than imitates.
STP have a string of Australian dates lined up, head over HERE for full details and ticketing information.
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