More reunions: STP, Filter

Following in the recent lead of the Smashing Pumpkins, two more '90s acts have announced activity for 2008, joining the comebacks of the Counting Crows and R.E.M. (see below).

According to multiple reports, Stone Temple Pilots are getting back together for a summer tour. So far, only one date has been announced, May 17 at a festival in Columbus, Ohio, but you would have to assume they'll play multiple summer festivals, just like Rage Against the Machine did last year. No word on what this means for Velvet Revolver, Scott Weiland's supergroup with half of Guns 'N Roses; they're supposed to be touring Australia this week, though at last report Weiland was back in rehab. From what I've heard, both album sales for the band's last record Libertad and ticket sales for the supporting tour were weak, so who knows. Slash is saying publicly that recording on Velvet Revolver's third album could begin in April prior to the STP reunion.

What does seem more concrete is that the other STP-related supergroup, Army of Anyone, is pretty much dead, because the DeLeo brothers are back with STP, and singer Richard Patrick says he's getting Filter back together for their first album since 2002's weak-selling The Amalgamut, which failed to go gold (Filter's first two albums both went platinum). Filter are also playing the same festival in Columbus.

All this, of course, got me thinking about Talk Show, the band formed during a prior Weiland rehab stint that was STP with a new lead singer (who sounded oddly like Liam Gallagher). I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Talk Show open up for Aerosmith in the OKC in December of 1997, and they were pretty good. But, their album didn't sell, Weiland's solo album didn't sell either, and Stone Temple Pilots got back together for two more records (not as good as the first three, in my opinion) and a greatest hits set, before breaking up again in 2003.

Here's Talk Show's one hit, "Hello Hello:"

Since '03, the DeLeo brothers have produced an Alien Ant Farm album (which flopped), and formed Army of Anyone, whose single album did not chart. Drummer Eric Kretz has not done anything since STP broke up (according to AllMusic), and sadly neither has Dave Coutts, the lead singer of Talk Show. He's really the Gary Cherone in this whole mess, isn't he?

Considering that both Velvet Revolver and Army of Anyone have been doing STP songs live, there's clearly still a market for the band. Whether or not any new music is forthcoming has not yet been revealed.