TORONTO - With Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland behind bars, fans are likely to get a rare chance to have a taste of the group in concert with a live video and possibly a companion live CD.
The day before Weiland was packed off to prison on a parole violation this summer, the group managed to get in one two-hour show at Las Vegas' House of Blues -- a concert they captured using four video cameras, and recorded on a 24-track audio recording machine.
"We knew what was in store for Scott. We didn't have time to put together a video," bassist Robert DeLeo said Thursday in Toronto.
"But that last show, we did tape it and film it, so we have audio and video footage from it.
"With quite a few things lately, it really is a case of we don't really have a choice," he said of the group's situation -- trying to promote a new album with one member behind bars until at least early in the new year.
"We have to kind of squeeze out whatever we can. We don't really have a choice. That's what we have to deal with."
At the very least, the concert will yield a promo clip for "Down," the first single from the group's new album, "No. 4," which arrives in stores Oct. 26.
But yesterday during interviews to promote the new album, the band members said there's already talk of MTV airing a one-hour version of the concert (MuchMusic in Canada is also interested in the show),and they'll consider releasing it as a live album, too.
"If there is one thing I can say, we are playing probably the best we have ever played," Robert DeLeo said.
"That's the ironic thing about it. Now that we are kind of singerless, for the time being, we are sounding great right now," he said, adding he and fellow band members -- drummer Eric Kretz and guitarist Dean DeLeo -- have screened the finished footage and were impressed with the results
"It was really satisfying playing the show."
Once promotional duties for "No.4" are completed, Kretz and the DeLeo brothers are scheduled to return to their Los Angeles homebase to edit together a video for "Down." The video will mix live footage with "conceptual" scenes.
"I think what we are going to do is use the studio track of "Down," synch it up with footage from that show, and then put some conceptual stuff in there with it," Robert DeLeo said.
Added drummer Eric Kretz: "For me, I am excited about it. When it comes down to choosing a director, it is usually, what does the director want to do with the band, what kind of situation? In suits? In colours? You get a little anxiety going, 'Oh shit, is that how we want people to see our performance?'
"In this case, this is what we do. This is live. We are very comfortable playing before an audience."
Prior to recording "No.4," the group also used a simple home-video camera to tape a gig at Los Angeles' Viper Club, and Robert DeLeo said he would also like to see that tape released.
"It's pretty crude, just one video camera. But I would love to release that. It sounded really great that night, too," he said.
Added Kretz: "If the Blair Witch Project can do it, so can we. I'm hoping for the IMAX version, man. I want to see myself 50 feet high. I have a pretty big nose, and I want to see my nose 50 feet by 70 feet."
NOTE: Coming this weekend, our full STP feature.
