411 Concert Review: Creed (Manchester, NH - 8.06.02)

411 August 28 2002

Godspeak in the air, tight leather pants and Superfan? Creed must be in town.

Rock star bravado? Macho swagger? Lead singer disease? Yep, Scott Stapp’s got it. But his band, Creed, also has a big tour going and if it works, why fight it?

The band known for flowing easily between Modern Rock radio, Top 40 and Adult Contemporary without batting an eye hit up the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH, on August 6th for a near sold-out show, opened by Jerry Cantrell.

Part of Creed’s success is the above mentioned fact - they appeal to a sh*tload of people. The crowd ranged from teeny-boppers to Gen X and Gen Y to older adults to grandparents. Yes, grandparents. And somehow Stapp managed to bring all factions together in a great rock show that combined all the elements - good songs, theatrics and a crowd ready to release themselves into his grasp.

Opening the show with Bullets off their latest effort, Weathered, the show started with that feel like something was going to happen. Fusing Mark Tremonti's guitars with some impressive pyro, Creed set the tone that would keep the crowd on its feet for the entire show, the first such arena show I’ve ever seen that happen at.

Stapp brought the crowd along through all of the band’s hits, mostly relying on Weathered with the occasional big tracks from My Own Prison and Human Clay with “What’s This Life For,” “My Own Prison,” “One,” “What If,” “Say I” and “Arms Wide Open,” their mega-sappy megahit.

At this point, I feel it’s time to introduce you to SuperFan. SuperFan was sitting about three rows in front of me and was a mid-30s looking guy with a semi-attractive girlfriend/wife. About three or four songs into the show, I could help but notice these giant arms in the air waving around. That was SuperFan, who decided to act out every…single…song to his girlfriend as if his membership in the Creed Fan Club depended on it. I pointed this out to my roommate and bet him that when “Arms Wide Open” was played, he would throw his arms out wide open. Not 30 seconds into the song, it happened and we lost our sh*t. He even acted out Stapp’s vocals ‘tears stream down my face,’ which easily was the highlight of my night. Then, things got interesting.

My roommate and I were in our Insult-Safe range without fear of SuperFan detecting us. But then he started angrily pointing in our direction, getting genuinely pissed at something. Other friends of mine starting pointing at us like we did something wrong, which we hadn’t since we were talking to each other. For a brief second, I thought we were busted for something we didn’t do. Come to notice, SuperFan was angry at someone directly in front of us and a yelling match ensued.

However as if written in a bad tv movie, SuperFan made up with the other guy during Creed’s inspirational song, “One,” as if the song had helped him see the errors of their ways. Unbelievable.

Back to the show, I can see why critics dog Stapp at times. He can come across as very full of himself and when he interacted with the crowd, it wasn’t a “Hey Manchester, how you doing?” but rather odd diatribes that seemed more like part of a sermon. His mannerisms are very rock-star, but that’s what a rock star is supposed to do. Hell, for $50.50 a ticket, I would hope the band would do more than just sit there.

Higher, My Sacrifice and some other song comprised the encore, closing out a great show full of that essential rock star mojo that more bands should develop. Recommended? Yes. Just don’t act out the songs, ok?

Opener Jerry Cantrell, however, does not come recommended from yours truly. A fan of Alice In Chains, I was looking forward to his solo effort but his stale stage presence and overall bland set didn’t do much for me. Besides the Alice covers (Would and Down In A Hole), there was nothing worth mentioning about Jerry’s set.

.Josh Nason