Scott Stapp of Creed

Thomas Flowers of Oleanderphoto by Glyn Emmerson © 1999 NY Rock

Of the three acts in the lineup, only openers Oleander had a secular name, and apparently with good reason. "All the motherfuckers who ever put you down… fuck them," opined lead singer Thomas Flowers – not exactly the Sermon on the Mount. They did, however, pick a uniquely appropriate song for their entrance: "Sister Christian." Though Oleander's hard-edged pop sound is nothing you haven't heard before, there's just something likeable about the way these guys do business; maybe it's Flowers' energy, or the quirky, Nintendo-inspired riffs with which guitarist Ric Ivanisevich embellishes tunes like "Stupid" and "You'll Find Out." Ivanisevich further ingratiated himself to me by unexpectedly open-tuning his Strat for a spacey, psychedelic instrumental. The mellowness, however, was short-lived: "What's the name of my band?" Flowers demanded of the audience repeatedly before relinquishing the microphone. The audience shouted the answer. Flowers: "That's fuckin' right."

Raine Maida of Our Lady Peacephoto by Glyn Emmerson © 1999 NY Rock

Our Lady Peace came out next to deliver their darker and more dissonant, though no less formulaic, brand of pop. The Canadian foursome wasted little time in trotting out their radio hit "Superman's Dead," vocalist Raine Maida sounding characteristically quacky. As though making up for the brevity of Oleander's set, OLP played for a long time, turning in a rather messy and lackluster performance. The crowd seemed to like it well enough, though, communicating their pleasure with enthusiastic body passing as the set wound down.

Sometimes it's the little things that make a concert, you know? For instance, on this evening, as a result of the reasonably priced beer and some excellent set-change music on the P.A. – Zeppelin II – I was in high spirits when it finally came time for the headliners. Excitement mounted as unearthly, vaguely medieval-sounding ambient music replaced the Zeppelin, and crested as "CREED" appeared in glowing, ten-foot-high letters above the stage, superimposed on a talismanic-looking symbol. The band greeted their fans with a scathing rendition of "Ode," following it up with "Beautiful," a track from the recently released Human Clay. Also off the new album was "Say I," which lead singer Scott Stapp described as "a six-minute trip to the clouds." During "Illusion," guitarist Mark Tremanti briefly let loose, offering a rare burst of improvisation in what was otherwise a rather canned, straight-off-the-album set. The real show was not the solos but Stapp's tremendous stage presence. The long-haired vocalist prowled the stage, dispensing words of wisdom and touching the outstretched hands of his devotees – sound like anyone you can think of? Everyone around me seemed to know the words to every tune – the obscure ones as well as the big radio hits like "My Own Prison" and "What's This Life For?" – so that when Stapp exhorted the audience to sing along, he was, so to speak, preaching to the choir.

October 1999