On September 30, 2009, I saw Creed in concert at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California. It was their first tour since their reunion. They played a fantastic set and here is my band and concert review.
I recall becoming a Creed fan after hearing their radio songs from their first album. In 1997 and 1998, I heard My Own Prison, What’s This Life For and Torn and decided to buy the CD. I was intrigued by the spiritual messages and impressed by the fast guitar work, booming bass guitar and tight drum rolls. I was also impressed by Scott Stapp’s wailing baritone voice.
In 1999, I recall listening to the Human Clay album in a Boomer’s parking lot in Escondido with my Christian college youth group friends. They were intrigued by Creed as well. Scott Stapp, being a pastor’s kid, was obviously searching for truth and meaning as he penned a number of his songs. I remember engaging in friendly debate with my friends regarding whether their lyrics were biblical or not. And my Christian friends and I would always shudder a little when Scott sang, “We don’t have to settle no God damned score” because we did all we could to refrain from taking the Lord’s name in vain (which may actually mean something entirely different, like “taking” as in “wearing” or “labeling ourselves with” God’s name and not necessarily speaking God’s name in vain).
As much as the band Creed is about the lyrics, they’re also about the music. Mark Tremonti is an excellent guitarist and he reminded me of Jimmy Page in that there are 5 or more parts in each song….multiple chord progressions, multiple picking parts, guitar solos, etc. Creed certainly is not a band who would play the same chord progression for the verse and the chorus!
Mark Tremonti looked like his old self. I noticed him doing a palm muted arpeggio in one of the songs (and a regular arpeggio in another). He played so very fast - both power chords and notes - all over the neck. He also used drop D and possibly other alternate tunings.
Random things I noticed….Mark Tremonti played the picking part in Arms Wide Open with his fingers. Their bassist Brian Marshall played his instrument with his fingers and never a pick. Scott Stapp had a buzz cut which grew on me while their drummer Scott Phillips had longer hair.
I’ve always been impressed by Scott Phillips on the drums. Wow, he manages to squeeze all kinds of rolls and funky sounds into tiny spots. He’s very fast and knows how to build a sound, when to back off and simply how to maintain a beat with the ride (like in the bridge for What If).
Creed used a lot of fire! This reminded me of their show at San Diego State University’s Cox Arena many years ago. I saw them there in 1998 and I also saw them perform in Irvine when Collective Soul opened for them. This time, they used pyrotechnics in about a quarter of their songs. It was so hot that I could feel the heat from my 19th row seat in the Orchestra section!
Scott Stapp sang like a possessed man on a mission. His energy did not seem contrived or showy. He belted out each song with conviction. After singing Faceless Man, he told the crowd it was his favorite Creed song. Walking up and down the ramp, he was an appropriately animated force to be reckoned with.
Throughout the show, they played all of their hits like My Own Prison (concert video), Torn, Say I, Never Die, Unforgiven, Beautiful, My Sacrifice and Faceless Man. Since their new album wasn’t out yet (Full Circle is scheduled to drop on October 27, 2009), they only played one or two new songs. I didn’t know their new album wasn’t out yet because I obtained a copy of it two or three weeks before the show.
After Creed’s set, they left the stage to cheers from the crowd. After a few minutes, they returned and played three songs. They opened the encore with One and finished with Higher. During their final song, I felt it was a spiritual moment of sorts for me, so I raised my hands to the heavens.
Since Scott Stapp was a pastor’s kid, I’m sure he was exposed to faith at a young age. When he wrote these Creed lyrics, he was in his yearly college years in Florida and was seeking. They’re quite interesting and I think they give some good insight to a PK who wants to find the truth – the truth that will help him, the truth that will stand the test of time.
The opening band was brutal. I was waiting in my car for the first band to end and when they did, I started to walk to the concert. If you’ve ever been to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, then you’ll know that the parking is very far from the stage. Well, as I was approaching the place where they take tickets to let people in, the music started playing. Thinking it was Creed, I hurried by walking fast and going right to my seat. Unfortunately, it turned out that Staind was playing. As I could decipher their music and words, while I approached my seat, I thought they sounded different. I thought it could have been some unfamiliar new material, but it was Staind. They were pretty bad and played pretty long, so I had to wait nearly a full hour before Creed came on. Bum deal. In all fairness, I haven’t heard much of Staind and they looked talented enough. I taught one of my students one of their songs, but I forget which one. I just didn’t know any of their songs and I planned to get there right before Creed started playing and it didn’t work out.
During the show, Creed used an extra guitarist to fill in the sound. Eric Friedman, reportedly one of Mark Tremonti’s long time friends and protégés, did a good job on the electric guitar and mainly played rhythm. At one point, Tremonti was fingering a solo and walked to Eric’s side of the stage. He looked at Friedman and paused a second like he wanted him to play something, but Eric just looked back at him. He was probably a little intimidated or something. Oh well. We could have had some dueling guitar solos!
At times, while Scott Stapp sang some of the more spiritual parts of his songs, I noticed him glancing at Mark Tremonti. I found this a little peculiar and wondered why. Perhaps Tremonti is a skeptic or perhaps they’ve had friendly debates in the bus late at night. Who knows, but for whatever reason, I did notice them making eye contact and connecting and Tremonti generally staring at or shrugging off Stapp.
On the song Never Die, I was surprised to see Mark Tremonti playing the four bent notes in the main hook (D#, A#, D and A) up and down the neck. They are right next to each other on the 7th and 8th frets on the G and D strings. I imagine he knows how to play it several different ways and alternates based on his mood.
In summary, I thoroughly enjoyed this show! It’s great when I can hear a band that has been around for awhile right before their new album drops. They usually play all the old material I want to hear! That’s what happened on this night and Creed really nailed it! Great job, boys. Carry on.
