Creed Darien Lake Darien, NY August 8, 2009

August 8 2009 Back Stage Axxess

August 8th, 2009, was a rather overcast day with rain in the forecast for the evening. If you live in Buffalo, you may have heard the term, “Buffalo gray." Well, that’s what everything looked like. That is, until the lights went down on the crowd and up on the stage.

Opening the show was a brand new band called “Like A Storm." The band performed a solid set with well written songs. However, you just couldn’t ignore the giant sheets draped over everything behind them. I thought we’d all have to wait around for a while before Creed hit the stage. I wasn’t keeping track of time, but I’d have to guess that it only took about fifteen minutes. Then, before I knew it, Creed was in my face with high-velocity fog, fire cannons, spark showers, etc. Like ‘em or not, you have to hand it to these guys. They put on a heck of a performance. It’s not performance to the degree of Backstreet Boys choreography, but you can tell that they put a great deal of effort into delivering a great show for everyone who comes to see them. It’s not limited to just the visual aspect either. Musically, everything was tight as a drum – no pun intended. Seriously, I can’t stand when sound engineers cover up a good mix by just cranking everything to eleven. Creed’s sound was perfect. Loud – like rock-n-roll should be, but not deafening to the point that you can’t make out what’s going on. The only thing that may have permanently damaged your hearing that night would be if you stuck your ear directly in the path of the person standing next to you.

I heard ticket sales were around the nine thousand mark. If that is true – that was the loudest I have ever heard a group of that size. Capacity at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center is 20,000. One thing is for sure, Creed fans are a dedicated bunch. And a LOUD bunch at that! As far as the set was concerned, it was a perfect mix of everything old and new. But if I had to pick out the most intense moment, I’d say it was when they broke out with “What if?." It almost looked like the band made an agreement to just go nuts and get dirty at that point. And that they did. You couldn’t tell who was more drenched after that – the crowd on the lawn that was getting rained on, or the five guys on stage who were soaked with sweat. One thing is for sure, Creed gave it everything they had, and the crowd gave it right back.

Something else that needs to be mentioned are the relationships that occurred on-stage. While they may have embraced their touring guitarist, Eric Friedman, the four original guys interacted with each other on-stage in a way that just makes you smile. One moment, in particular, made me aware of just how down-to-earth these guys really are. For anyone who caught Creed’s performance of “Higher” for the Today show, you might have been scratching your head thinking, “did Scott come in early on purpose?" For those who didn’t catch it, here’s the scenario – Scott’s vocals normally come in after 2 progressions of the opening riff. That day, he came in after 1, and subsequently did a little “fade out” technique before he came in for real. Sort of looked like a cover up, but hey – who knows? Right? Here’s where I make my point. Saturday night, after the first progression of Higher’s opening riff, Scott looked over at Mark, smiled and held up two fingers. They both chuckled a little and went about the song in perfect fashion. They could have EASILY not drawn attention to a past mistake, but instead had fun with it.

While some people may choose to dwell on the past and stifle their progress by doing so, the boys in Creed have obviously put differences aside, re-grouped in the spirit of all things positive and brought a show on the road that is great for anyone to see – and a truly spiritual experience for a die-hard Creed fan.

Set List:

Ode
Bullets
My Own Prison
Say I
Torn
Never Die
What If
Unforgiven
What's This Life For?
Overcome
Faceless Man
With Arms Wide Open
Higher

Encores:
One
One Last Breath
My Sacrifice