Stone Temple Pilots announced a 2018 west coast tour with new singer Jeff Gutt yesterday, where you can get the band’s new album if you buy a ticket. Guitarist Dean DeLeo discussed moving on without Weiland in a new Billboard piece, praising the legendary singer but also discussing how he held back the band’s ability to move forward.
“I don’t really feel that pressure,” Gutt says. “I was studying Scott when I was coming into singing myself, and I learned so much from [listening to] him. It was fun to incorporate all those things in my own way and still sing true to Scott’s stuff and really keep that as true as I could.”
DeLeo adds, “[Weiland] did not make this an easy task. I’ll put the blame on him; The guy was incredible in every sense of the word. He was an extraordinary poet, an extraordinary lyricist. He had this gift of melody and he really knew how a song worked. And that’s what really turned our heads with Jeff, because he brought that in, too.”
“I felt like I was slighted with Scott,” Dean DeLeo later explains. “As great as he was, my entire life was two steps forward and three steps back. So I’ll tell you, it was a real pleasure to be able to write and record a record under these circumstances (with Gutt). It’s something I haven’t experienced in decades, so this feels great.”
2018 STP Tour Dates:
March 2 Santa Clarita, CA @ The Canyon
March 4 San Diego, CA @ Observatory
March 8 Pasadena, CA @ The Rose
March 9 Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
March 10 Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee
March 12 San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
March 13 Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
March 15 Portland, OR @ Roseland
March 16 Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
March 17 Billings, MT @ Pub Station Ballroom
April 28 Jacksonville, FL @ Welcome to Rockville*
April 29 Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Fort Rock Festival*
May 20 Columbus, OH @ Rock on the Range*
* Tickets do not include digital album
