By Nicolas Henderson

Staff Writer

@happenstance98

DALLAS – “First in line,” Metro Tickets owner David Christopherson said as he opened the doors to let in the biggest Scott Weiland fans of the night. A look inside South Side Music Hall on this past Monday evening showed a V.I.P. seated section stretching from right in front of the stage to about halfway back, giving way to standing general admission throughout the rest of the venue.

To get access to this private event you either needed to shell out a good chunk of money for a V.I.P. table, or get lucky and figure out how to acquire free general admission tickets. I did the latter. Essentially the tickets given out were to fill in the venue, like casting extras in a movie. Free Scott Weiland tickets just to help fill the venue? That is perfectly fine with me!

The first band to play was a local band called The Kul. A mix of soul, some funk, and rock and roll, it put on a great set, including originals and an excellent rendition of the Jimi Hendrix classic, “Foxy Lady”. While the music was great, the band had trouble connecting with the V.I.P. crowd, as unfortunately it seemed that many people in the seated section were not there for a rock show but more for photo opportunities with their friends. I am sure the question, “Who is Scott Weiland?” was asked more than once throughout the night.

The second band, Acidic, flew in from California for this show and made sure the crowd knew it. It also requested the crowd to make some noise, which is fine, except the lead singer seemed to yell, “Make some noise Dallas!” after every other word.

By the time the lead singer ran into the crowd while performing a terrible rendition of “Come Together” by The Beatles, stopping right in front of my table and holding the mic out towards me, forcing me to sing along, I was ready for its set to be finished. Finally, at around 9:30 p.m., Acidic ended its set, and the stage got set for Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts.

At exactly 10:00 p.m., the house lights went down and the intro music began. Usually when the house lights go down and the

band walks on, the crowd goes crazy. That was not the case on Monday night. The crowd of approximately 200 made absolutely no noise as the house lights went down. As Weiland walked on stage, he immediately made his way to the front of the stage and yelled to the crowd, “Stand up!”

The Wildabouts set opened with Stone Temple Pilots classic “Crackerman”, as his sets have for many years now. This was

Weiland’s first visit back to Dallas since April of 2014, and his band has changed a lot since then with the addition of drummer Joey Castillo (formerly of Queens of The Stone Age), and guitarist Nick Maybury, replacing former guitarist Jeremy Brown after Brown tragically passed away at age 34 the day before The Wildabouts debut album Blaster was released. While the energy from all band members was high from the very first note, it did not take too long to notice that Weiland was having vocal issues.

Notorious for his unpredictable behavior, Weiland did not necessarily appear severely intoxicated, but he did appear a little lost on stage as he soldiered on despite his vocal difficulties. According to one of Weiland’s longtime crew members that I spoke to after the show, Weiland was ill with the flu on this night, and he had also apparently done “a lot of yelling” at the Dallas Cowboys game the previous night, which would help explain his vocal issues and his slightly “out of it” demeanor.

These issues did not hinder The Wildabouts from putting on an excellent set, tearing through STP classics such as “Big

Bang Baby” and “Vasoline”, as well as some new songs off of Blaster and a great rendition of “The Jean Genie” by David Bowie. The band was incredibly tight, rivaling the professionalism and talent of the original STP. Though even Weiland himself was aware that his voice was not at it’s best, he still brought his signature stage moves and mesmerizing stage presence that he is famous for, though the lack of crowd reaction seemed to drain some of the energy Weiland and co. exerted.

All in all, despite Weiland’s vocal struggles, The Wildabouts still managed to put on a great show (meeting Weiland on Sunday before the show and Maybury and Castillo after the show did not hurt the experience either). It turns out we were lucky that the show went on as Weiland ended up having to end the next night’s set in Baton Rouge, LA early and cancelled Wednesday night’s Little Rock, AR performance due to his illness. Weiland and co. will be back in Dallas at Gas Monkey Live! for a public performance on Dec. 12, and I highly recommend anyone who likes STP, Velvet Revolver or rock music in general to check out one of our generation’s greatest frontmen in this intimate setting.