In the most unlikely venue, the strangest things can happen. Challenge Stadium is a large, soulless basketball arena that has now played host to three of my favourite live concerts in recent years; The Black Crowes, Them Crooked Vultures and now Stone Temple Pilots.

After a hiatus of more than 5 years during which Scott Weiland became a bogan of sorts and glammed up the "Guns 'n' Roses sans Axl" meathead band Velvet Revolver, Stone Temple Pilots reformed; clean, sober and slightly irrelevant. Having hit their stride in the early to mid-90's on the back of the grunge/alt rock movement, STP were often a more experimental and psychedelic offering than their cohorts, earning praise and derision in equal measures. Weiland's on again/off again love affair with the The Big H also caused problems, serving stints in prison between tours and follow-up albums.

As the 90's turned into the 00's, bands like Stone Temple Pilots found themselves flirting with the bargain bins more often than the upper reaches of the charts, although it should be noted that, in my humble, the quality of their recordings hardly faltered. Their sophomore effort, 'Purple' still stands as the high watermark of their career, and they have continued to dance between genres, picking up where they left off with the patchy but poppy 'Shangri-La Dee Da' on their new album, titled just 'Stone Temple Pilots'.

In front of a blood red backdrop referencing old and new styles with a Shepard Fairey-influenced gold leaf motif, STP bounded onstage after what seemd like an eternal wait following the bloated excuse of a support band, Grinspoon. Still, they received warm applause from an audience primed for a good showing from a band with a 20 year career that has never actually played in Australia before. Perhaps acknowledging this, STP launched immediately into 'Crackerman' and then 'Wicked Garden' both from 1992's gazillion-platinum selling album 'Core'. Choice cuts from 'Purple' (Vasoline) and 'No.4' (Heaven and Hot Rods) followed with Weiland taking command of the stage from the get-go, snappily dressed and strutting like a frontman who knows his turf. He spends most of the night soaked to the skin in perfectly-tailored pinstripe shirt and trousers, elevated on a series of stage risers, megaphone in hand. From a distance you could be forgiven for thinking you were watching the rebirth of 'Thin White Duke"-era David Bowie.

Their new material sits comfortably alongside the greatest hits, 'Between The Lines', 'Hickory Dichotomy' and 'Huckleberry Crumble' received a good response, suggesting that many were hearing them for the first time. 'Big Empty' gave the band an opportunity to exert some musical muscle, the DeLeo brothers, Robert and Dean on bass and guitar respectively, leaning so far back on Eric Kretz's relaxed back-pocket drumming they threatened to topple several times. But no matter how heavy the riff, or how deep the pocket, the band were together drawing the ritard back like an archer's bow, only to release the song into an explosive, lurching sing-along chorus. Fans were rewarded for their loyalty with brilliant renditions of 'Plush' and 'Interstate Love Song', two of their biggest hits, as they reached a crescendo relying again on songs from 'Core'; 'Sex Type Thing' and 'Dead and Bloated' before capping the night off with a frenetic and powerful version of 'Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart', the only song from 'Tiny Music…Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop' featured on the night.

STP's members, now well into their forties, proved that vitality is not the exclusive property of young up-and-comers who prefer their pants skinny and their guitars at nipple height. Grab a Les Paul, play it at crotch level and don't be afraid of rock cliché. There is still an audience out there for it. So we filed out the designated exits, ticking another band off our "must see" lists. At least for once the experience wasn't tinged with anything approximating disappointment. You should have been there.

Setlist:

Crackerman
Wicked Garden
Vasoline
Heaven and Hot Rods
Between the Lines
Hickory Dichotomy
Still Remains
Big Empty
Silvergun Superman
Plush
Interstate Love Song
Huckleberry Crumble
Down
Sex Type Thing
Dead & Bloated
Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart