Saturday Night At The Rust Belt Took Us Back, And Showed Us The Future Of Rock [Photos]
Have I mentioned how glad I am live music is back? Oh, well I'm going to again. I'll never get tired of going to these shows where I get to hang out with you and experience rock. Saturday was no different from start to finish.
The night started with Quad Cities own The Forty Twos. If you missed these guys over the summer with us, you missed a good time. And on the bigger stage of The Rust Belt, they did not disappoint. Starting their set early in the night the instant energy of the show was on display from the guys. They have a great stage presence and sound that got the party started right. They also of course played their first single which you can check out here.
Next up was Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown. I admittedly did not know much about these guys before the show. I played some stuff from there here and there over the week to give you a taste but didn't really research them. I was very surprised at how young they were. They have that great blues-rock sound even doing a cover of a Muddy Waters song during their set.
Those two bands showed us a bit of the future of rock. Then, we all went back to 1994 and enjoyed every minute of it. I saw a lot of people wearing flannel Saturday night. I'm not sure if it's back in style, or they wore it because we were going back to the days of grunge, but I noticed it and thought it was a perfect fit. The setlist for Stone Temple Pilots was everything I was hoping it would be. All the songs we grew up on and loved. We all knew the words. We all sang along. The highlight would be the middle of the show trifecta where Big Empty, Plush, and Interstate Love Song were all performed in a row.
Of course the question of the night from most people was, how will the new lead singer sound. Jeff Gutt did a great job. He's not up there to be Scott. Nobody can be. He did things his own way with a little of that STP flare. The rest of the band (all original from 1989!) sounded tight and filled The Rust Belt with those songs we love.
I was fortunate enough to see STP with Scott back in the day. Of course it was great. But for the night, hearing those songs from STP, along with the new songs from new bands was great. I love experiencing this live music with my friends in the Quad Cities.