Grunge legends Stone Temple Pilots set course for Australia as part of the upcoming Under The Southern Stars tour series. Are you excited?
Eric Kretz, drummer of Stone Temple Pilots sure as hell is. "I'm just looking forward to having something to focus on right now," Eric says. "Doing a big international tour again, it looks like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel there."After the debacle of 2020 that saw the plug pulled on live touring, Eric is approaching this year with cautious optimism.
"The mindset is pretty much like everybody else in the entertainment industry: it's looking better. Everyone is still unsure after 2020, nobody knowing how it's going to be," he says.
"I know Australia has been doing such a great job with keeping [COVID] contained and under control, so we're really going to be one of the first international bands coming into that small festival setting, being able to tour, meet people and be able to perform for people.
"I think it's the start of great things to come. . . I get a lot of calls and emails from people ready to see some music and celebrate life."
Among the first international artists to be welcomed back to Australia, Stone Temple Pilots share the Under The Southern Stars line-up with Bush, Rose Tattoo and ‘70s rock heroes Cheap Trick. "Oh, I love it," Eric states.
"It's totally amazing that Australia is going to be the first to have an international festival going on." - Eric Kretz (Stone Temple Pilots)
"We toured with Cheap Trick back in '96 or '97 [it was 1997], and every single night I'd go out there and watch them play. I was such a fan of them growing up, and I couldn't believe I was having the opportunity to be on tour with them.
"To have the chance to get up-close to Cheap Trick; Rick [Nielsen, guitarist] man, he's really good at throwing picks; he can hit people right in the forehead," Eric laughs. "And his picks always have a great picture of himself on there.
"They are really fun, fun-loving guys. The guys from Bush as well, we've toured with them a couple of times already."
The existing camaraderie between the bands will make for good chemistry as the Under The Southern Stars tour moves thorough New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland. "We all get along really well," Eric says.
"Because it's a pretty tight schedule and everyone is going to be travelling together, shoulder-to-shoulder with each other for three weeks, so it's going to be a lot of fun because we already know each other and we already get along so well."
It's put to Eric that both punters and performers are in for a solid period of enjoyment with the Under The Southern Stars tour. "The Ps and Ps are going to have a great time," he laughs. "I've never heard that – 'the punters and performers'. I like that, I think I'm going to use it, thank you."
Like it or not, it's a brave new world in which we live, a cold fact of reality that touring musicians like Eric and his STP bandmates have accepted with good grace.
"Yeah, well, everything's changed, I mean the whole world has changed and that's part of it,” Eric says. "The touring aspect will change, and the fact we're having to do a 14-day quarantine.
"I know the Australian Open was down there and I was reading about them – day five, day six, trying to meditate and get through that time-period.
"Once you're done with it at least we're on the other side of that quarantine and able to get out there and perform. So, it's all part of it, and it's strict now but hopefully in the next year or two, whatever those restrictions will be, hopefully it will be a little easier for everyone travelling all over the world, and we all get used to them and stick to them."
As Eric said earlier, it's light at the end of the tunnel, and he's one of countless touring musicians taking cautious steps towards it. "It's all I've been hearing about for the past year on a daily basis, is what's going on with the virus," he says.
"It's definitely the elephant in the room and we've all addressed it, and it's good to hear that Australia is ready to move forward. You guys have done such a great job, like I said, in managing the virus. It's totally amazing that you guys are going to be the first to have an international festival going on."
Between STP not touring and Australian audiences being starved of live music, it's put to Eric that the band will take to the stage in a blaze of glory and blow all our minds. "Like a bull in a china shop, we're just going to destroy everything," Eric jests.
"Actually, we're still in the process of doing all the production meetings, so we're still getting the stage plan together, but it's going to be a great looking show.
"Granted some of the shows are at sunset, so two of the three bands will be playing right around twilight, but the major light shows and all the fun of production will definitely be for the band going on in the night-time.
"It's going to be great, a night of hits. It's going to be incredible between the bands."
Put a band like Stone Temple Pilots together with the likes of Cheap Trick, Bush and Rose Tattoo in front of an audience braying for live music, and it's easy money betting there will be a lot of sore voices after singing along to an evening of wall-to-wall hit songs.
"Yeah," Eric laughs, "I remember being at Paul McCartney and the group of friends I was with, no one could talk the next day. Of course, he played three hours and we knew every single word of every song, so it was definitely that situation the next day."
Under The Southern Stars 2021 Tour Dates
Fri 30 Apr - WIN Entertainment Centre (Wollongong)Sat 1 May - Camp Shortland Field (Newcastle)
Sun 2 May - The Entertainment Grounds (Central Coast)
Wed 5 May - Qudos Bank Arena (Sydney)
Fri 7 May - Bonython Park (Adelaide)
Sat 8 May - Foreshore Reserve (Hastings)
Sun 9 May - Yarrawonga Showgrounds (Vic)
Wed 12 May - The Timber Yard (Melbourne)
Fri 14 May - Kings Beach Amphitheatre (Sunshine Coast)
Sat 15 May - Southport Sharks (Gold Coast)
Sun 16 May - The Riverstage (Brisbane)
