On Saturday night, lights flashed and music thundered near the Mississippi River, as Creed brought their “Summer of 99” tour to the Treasure Island Amphitheater in Welch, MN. For most attendees, the night brought back a ton of nostalgia, as the songs of our teen years filled the air.
The first band to start the evening was the Canadian band, Finger Eleven (Scott Anderson- vocals, James Black- lead guitar, Rick Jackett- rhythm guitar, Sean Anderson- bass, Steve Molella- drums). I’ve known of the band for decades but never paid attention to them. To my surprise, I knew nearly every song they played, including “Above,” “First Time,” and “One Thing.” I couldn’t take my eyes off guitarist, Rick Jackett. He would often lift his strap over his shoulders and throw his guitar wildly above his head, playing like a pure madman. It was great. Near the end of their set, the band introduced a new song called, “Adrenaline.” It features great riffs and is one of the band’s heavier songs, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Finger Eleven closed their set with their massive hits, “One Thing” and “Paralyzer.”
Next up was 3 Doors Down. This is another band that I haven’t followed, but I recognized many of their songs. They opened up with “Train,” their hard-hitting single from the 2008 self-titled album. The show kept getting better as they proceeded to play “It’s Not MyTime,” “Loser,” and “Duck and Run.” The entire crowd found it easy to sing along to “Here Without You” and then rocked out to the much heavier, “Time of My Life.” For a few minutes, the band left the stage and frontman Brad Arnold shared his faith in Jesus. When he invited the crowd to pray a blessing, I heard many yell “Amen,” but also witnessed one woman giving him the double fingers. I respect people who share what has given them hope and are willing to share it with others, but it will often come with mixed responses. The southern rockers ended their time on stage with their colossal hits, “Kryptonite” and “When I’m Gone.”
The headliner was Creed (Scott Stapp- vocals, Mark Tremonti- guitar, Brian Marshall- bass, Scott Phillips- drums, Eric Friedman-touring guitarist). Love or hate them, there’s no denying that they were the biggest rock band in the world in 1999 and this tour proves they are still in the game. For the last two decades, Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips, and Brian Marshall have had incredible success in Alter Bridge and Scott Stapp seems to have had success with his solo career; however, I never imagined these four musicians getting back together to headline a tour. I’m glad they did, though, as this was my first time seeing Creed and they knocked it out of the park!
As the stage lit up, they opened with their heavy hit, “Bullets,” and the crowd went wild. Flames often shot up during the song. I was also happy they played old songs like “Torn” and “My Own Prison” because those were the first two Creed songs my cousin played for teenage me when their debut came out. Man, it brought back memories.
What shocked me most, was how flawless Scott Stapp sounded on vocals. He never wavered in pitch or stamina. Likewise, Mark Tremonti never stopped wowing us with his incredible guitar solos. The band just released a 25th-anniversary remastered version of Human Clay, so nearly half the setlist was chosen from that album; and rightfully so, as it has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. It seemed like the band was having as much fun as the crowd as they played “What If,” “Say I,” and “Faceless Man.”
Halfway through the set, the band announced that Mark Tremonti would give a new PRS guitar to the fan who rocked out the most. After playing the next song, Mark asked a young boy near the front to come up on stage and receive the gift. After Stapp thanked the different generations of fans who came out to celebrate with them, they began to play “With Arms Wide Open, ” It was stunning to see thousands of fans light up the amphitheater with their phones and lighters.
To close their set, the band played “Higher.” Everyone sang along and nearly drowned out Stapp altogether. As the men walked off stage, the Minnesota crowd knew the band hadn’t played two of their biggest hits and demanded an encore. After several minutes, Creed reemerged to play “One Last Breath” and “My Sacrifice.” I have been to hundreds of shows in the last 25 years and I’m tempted to say this one made the top ten. If you can still see this tour, I highly encourage you to do so!
