On Saturday night, Denver’s gave concertgoers the rare chance to take in a performance with the polarizing pop/rock group . The band, having reunited in 2009 after a five year break, performed its most successful of four albums, 1999s “Human Clay,” for the mostly occupied and generally enthused room.
The lights went down at 9:30 p.m. and a dark stage was accompanied by an ominous synthesizer, seeming strangely theatrical, but hey, maybe the audience was in for something fresh, something new. Moments later the quintet kicked things off with, “Are You Ready?” the song which does, indeed, open the aforementioned multi-platinum album (11.5 million units sold). It was the end of any sense of surprise, mystery or excitement from the evening.
Given that the show was promoted as a live performance of “Human Clay” (with a few other hits sprinkled in), no innate expectations were broken, and the hard rock fans that filled the rows seemed to get that sense of physical release that Creed’s crushing power chords and crashing cymbals no doubt provide. But there was no urgency to the night, no adventure. These guys literally just played the album that made them famous and wealthy.
Scott Stapp, the band’s frontman and lead singer, while not donning his old leather pants, did sweat it out and crank his pipes, leaving in his path no shortage of vocal filler (“Heh-yeah!”). Likewise, the backing members cleanly executed the songs with welcomed bravado and machismo.
But a nondescript and poorly amplified mandolin solo by backing guitarist Eric Friedman during the opening song begged the question – why? Why was a mandolin even momentarily juxtaposed against a backdrop of thrashing electric guitar and bass? Thankfully, favorites “With Arms Wide Open” and “Higher” — both of which bested Billboard’s Top 100 — left fans engaged and seemingly fulfilled.
At show’s end, many fans streamed out onto Denver’s 16th Street Mall and murmured satisfied reactions, which appears to be what Creed is banking on with this fan-centric tour.
Follow our news and updates on , our whereabouts on and our relationship status on . Or send us a telegram.
Brendan Magee is a Denver-based writer and regular contributor to Reverb. When not writing, Brendan is working on his own music as a singer-songwriter in Capitol Hill.
Alan Cox is the president/creative director of Cox Creative, a Highlands Ranch-based creative shop. He works too much, sleeps too little and spends every free moment coaching baseball, shooting images and hanging out with his rowdy sons and rowdier wife. Check out his photos .
