Live Concert Review-Creed-Post Gazette Pavilion

August 7 2009 Steeltown Rock

Creed made their triumphant and reunified return Thursday night at the Post Gazette Pavilion in front of an audience of over 15,000. Not bad, considering low early ticket sales suggested total attendance wouldn’t come close to reaching half that mark. Nevertheless, Scott Stapp, Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips, and Brian Marshall treated the audience to a rock show reminiscent of those in the late 90’s and early 00’s. “I think all of you know this is the first time we’ve been on stage together in seven years. We had a lot of stuff to sort out,” Stapp announced near the midway point of a 100 set that included the best of the band’s catalogue of tunes.

As the curtain dropped and the band gathered in the middle of the stage in front of Scott Phillips’ drum set, the audience squealed in anticipation. Then, a single spotlight illuminated guitarist Mark Tremonti as he ripped into the first chords of “Ode,” much to the crowd’s delight. They followed with “Bullets,” another shot in the face tune with a full fledged version including pyro and light displays that left onlookers star-gazed. Slowing it down temporarily was a heartfelt rendition of, as Stapp says, “a song that basically started this whole deal for us,” “My Own Prison.” Quickly getting back to rock-out mode, Stapp & Co. slammed through “Say I” from ‘Human Clay.’ The Creed followers’ favorites continued, one after another, including “Torn,” “Unforgiven,” and “What’s This Life For” from their debut, ‘My Own Prison.’

It was followed by “Overcome,” a new song from the forthcoming ‘Full Circle’ which had Stapp singing in a chorus that is bound to be in heavy rotation on an alt-rock station soon. Although it was the first time fans in the audience had heard the song, by the time the second round of the chorus had come around, they were already trying to sing along with Stapp. Creed followed up with “Faceless Man,” which was the only sub-par performance of a song on the night. Tremonti’s guitar stepping on the vocal certainly took away from the track, although Stapp’s incredibly persuasive antics on-stage helped get the audience through it.

Closing out the set with their two huge monumental hits, “With Arms Wide Open” and “Higher,” the Orlando, Florida natives seemed like they wanted to play for another 100 minutes. Stapp’s vocals were perfect on these tunes, and Tremonti and Marshall gave fans and photographers alike dream shots of rock-out postures throughout both tunes. Their 3 song encore, which occurred after an abnormally long break (even for an encore), and was witnessed by about five thousand less people than the rest of their set, featured “One,” “One Last Breath,” and a performance of “My Sacrifice” that gave this critic chills. With the full arsenal of fireworks, lasers, pyro, and over-the-top emotion from Scott Stapp, Creed left quite the impression on the audience at Post Gazette Pavilion, one that will surely have them coming back for another show much sooner than seven years from now.

This show was nearly polar opposite from the last time Creed rolled through the ‘Burgh on their ‘Weathered’ Tour of 2002-2003. Of course, Scott Stapp is no longer comparing himself to God or hallucinating enough to believe that the rest of the band wants him dead. Or were those rumors? Regardless, this is a new day and age for Creed. With the original lineup back in tact, it is a brand new beginning for a band that at one time, for at least a year, was the biggest act in the world.

Watching them on-stage on Thursday, it seems that all has been forgiven, and that the members are not just in a band, but they’re back to being part of a family. The constant high fives and hugs between Stapp & the rest of the band, as well as the remarks from Stapp throughout the night make it blatantly obvious that the 6+ years out of super-stardom have certainly humbled him, and the audience was mesmerized by the performance, singing along to every song without ever taking their eyes off the stage. The real question will be if their longevity is still in tact. Was this reaction merely because they’ve been away for so long, or will they continue to attract fans back to their shows, even after their new album, ‘Full Circle,’ drops this Fall? Of course, only time will tell. One thing is for sure though, as Scott Stapp said before exiting the stage for the final time on Thursday: “I want you to know that we will never forget this night. Never! Thank you, we love, and God Bless.” If I can speak for the 15,000 in attendance at Post Gazette Pavilion, ditto.

.Chad Carlson