Stone Temple Pilots Headline Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival

Fuel

It was the first day of a three day festival that’s been happening since 1983.

On the bill, not one, but three great bands. Friday’s line up was Fuel, Lit and Stone Temple Pilots. All three are American rock bands formed in 1989, saw success in the 90’s and are still active today although some of the members have changed.

Getting in and out of the festival required a hefty amount of patience due to the fact that there is only one road in and one road out. It took us a full hour to go the last 5 miles.

Once inside the outdoor event, the vibe was great they had a section with vendors set up and beer and wine tickets were sold. People brought chairs and blankets to kick back on the grass, sip their drinks and watch this lineup of great talent. It was a perfect day to dress in layers, warm in the day, cool at night. The attendees could take their beer or wine anywhere on the grounds and were not confined to a fenced off beer and wine garden.

On both sides of the stage were large screens giving a close up view of the show. Behind the bands was another large screen that alternated between showing the bands logos and graphic video show. Two stages were going at the same time, a main stage and a smaller wine stage. I spent most of my time at the main stage where Fuel kicked off the show, followed by Lit and last but definitely not least headliners Stone Temple Pilots.

Fuel

When Fuel hit the stage, the crowd was light because so many people were still stuck in the traffic line to get in. Those that were there for Fuel were lucky because so many of the attendees were still trying to get in.

The band has had some members come and go over the years the most notable being vocalist Brett Scallions who was the original singer who departed for a 2^nd time in 2020 and is no longer active with the band. Aaron Scott who was a contestant on season 19 of The Voice now handles the lead vocals and rhythm guitar. He got the crowd going asking “Temecula, How loud can you get?” The crowd cheered and responded loudly. Original member Carl Bell was on lead guitar ensuring the fuel guitar sound was optimal.

Fuel has a total of 6 studio albums and while they released “Anomaly” in 2021, most of their set drew from their first three albums. They played hits like “Bad Day” and “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)” which was their final song of the day. The band was sharply dressed in all black with a touch of red. They gave an awesome performance to a very receptive audience. All and all a great performance by Fuel and an excellent choice of band to kick off opening day at the festival. They ended their set by Scott saying “We are Fuel, thank you Temecula, we hope to see you again. I too hope to see them again.

Fuel is

Carl Bell – Lead Guitar, Kevin Miller – Drums, Mark Klotz – rhythm guitar,

Tommy Nat – bass and Aaron Scott – lead vocals, rhythm guitar

Next up was Lit

LIT

They performed their classic hit “Miserable” which you may have seen video featuring Pamela Anderson. The band sounded solid, put on a great show and were a worthy addition to this bill.

As they played the attendance continued to grow as people made their way into the event. Their singer Ajay stated that they too got caught in traffic on the way in and unfortunately missed Fuel’s set, but would be sure to have a drink with them after they were done playing.

The crowd came alive when they played “My Own Worst Enemy” their biggest hit which is the only Lit song other than Miserable that I was familiar with and to be honest I always thought that song was a Green Day song. To me the band has a similar sound. Their sound is a mix of alternative rock, grunge and punk. It’s powerful with attitude. They have 7 studio albums, but they are mostly known for their album “A Place in the Sun” which is the album the fore mentioned songs are both off of. A Place in the Sun is 25 years old, but the songs still stand strong today.

LIT

Lit is from Orange County, CA and headed up by two brothers Ajay Popoff on vocals and Jeremy Popoff on guitar. On the drums is the very talented hard hittingTaylor Carroll and kick ass bass duties are credited to Kevin Baldes.

Stone Temple Pilots

Headliner’s STP made a powerful entrance with their tune “Wicked Garden” which was followed by “Vasoline” Then proceeded to play all their best material including “Down” and “Plush” This was a vintage STP performance that commanded full attention of the now tripled in sized crowd.

The crowd welcomed the band cheering and singing along. Other memorable songs in their set were “Crackerman” and “Interstate Love Song”. They also played Dead and Bloated followed by Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart which attendees were treated to a special surprise guest. Nino Bettencourt of the band Extreme who came out and played guitar on that song. For the encore the band played “Piece of Pie” and “Sex Type Thing”.

On the vocals was Jeff Gutt who joined the band in 2017. The band played one of their newer songs,“Meadow”. Meadow was the debut single off their 7^th studio album and the first hit to feature Gutt on vocals. The song peaked at #6 on the Billboard Mainstream charts. This was the only song they played that was originally recorded with Gutt. They instead chose to play the familiar classics that we all know and love.

The concert had an awesome old school rock show vibe. It would have been criminal to not play all the classics that they did.

Stone Temple Pilots

Fans of the band will no doubt remember Scott Weiland who was the original vocalist and passed away in 2015. His daughter Lucy was at the festival and the band brought her out and introduced her to the crowd.

Stone Temple Pilots

Gutt’s incredible voice suits the music well, he and the band sounded awesome with great energy. He connected well with both the band and the audience. He could be seen walking on the top of the barricade which was not very sturdy, prompting the security to spot him, making sure he didn’t fall as he reached into the crowd.

While the opening bands were excellent it was easy to see why STP was the chosen headliner. They brought and incredible energy and a passion for playing that those who were there will remember for years to come.

STP members are brother’s Dean DeLeo on Guitar and Robert DeLeo on Bass, Eric Kretz on Drums and Jeff Gutt on Vocals.

The only bummer with this event was the parking situation, getting out of the parking lot proved to be even more difficult than getting in. The event would have benefited from having a traffic control crew to help drivers merge on to the single road in a more efficient way. Oh and I didn’t see a single balloon at the Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival, luckily I wasn’t there to see the balloons. I was there for the music and the music did not disappoint.