Creed - Summer of ’99 Tour: Group takes Houston 'Higher' in sold-out show

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - In a show that can only be described as bringing back the old days for some and just pure rock face for others, the Summer of ’99 Tour, featuring Finger Eleven, Three Doors Down, and the headliner, Creed, didn’t disappoint for fans.

The tour stop, which took place at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on  Saturday, September 14, began with Finger Eleven taking the stage around 7 p.m. took fans on a whirlwind of songs including, "Above," "First Time," "Quicksand," "Together Right," "Adrenaline," "One Thing," and fans took to their feet for one of Finger Eleven’s most popular songs, "Paralyzer."

During the "Paralyzer" performance, fans could be seen on their feet enjoying the performance and singing the full song, from start to finish, with the band.

Their set lasted about 30-35 minutes.

The next group featured, 3 Doors Down, which has made stops to the Houston-area, with many performances. And the band’s lead singer, Brad Arnold, made sure to remind the crowd with numerous thank you’s, as well as a personal statement to the fans at the sold-out show of over 16,000 people.

Arnold could be heard saying, "You are enough and that’s because Jesus Christ loves you," prior to the band’s performance of "Away From the Sun."

The band’s performance lasted a bit longer than Finger Eleven’s at 45 minutes or so.

Then the headliner, Creed, which came out to a special light show, almost like the stage was warming up with the band’s name flashing repeatedly, with the fans cheering every time the band’s name popped up. The band, with lead singer, Scott Stapp, took the stage, to a high-energy performance of "Bullets," with pyrotechnics shooting flames up into the air.

The next song in the list, "Torn," was also a fan favorite with fans remaining on their feet continuing to rock on with the band.

Within the set, the band went back full throttle with Stapp asking the audience, "If they were ready?" The fans loudly cheered back, ‘yes’ with the band going into "Are You Ready?" which was also full of pyrotechnics and the use of smoke cannons.

The band continued in their set, which was almost two hours long, featured songs of "Never Die," "My Own Prison," and "Weathered."

As the group moved into another fan favorite, "What If," the band’s guitarist, Mark Tremonti, announced to the whole crowd that he would give away his guitar to the craziest and loudest person in the whole pavilion.

At the conclusion, Tremonti selected a young boy, who was in the pit area, to come on stage, who looked like the next rocker in the making with his mohawk red hair, accepted the guitar and held it proudly into the air.

The set continued with song performances including, "Say I," "Faceless Man," and "One."

As the band was rounding out its set, Stapp took time to talk with those in attendance about addition and mental health issues. He said, "In 1994, 1995, Mark had a friend who was on his way to college and killed himself, committed suicide. Had a full ride with a Division 1 University on an athletic scholarship. Had everything going for him. Good family. But for some reason, he decided he wanted to give up on life, and this guy didn’t give up on anything. There are people hurting in this world, and it’s moreso today than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. Kids are so confused at such an early age on what they’re identity is supposed to be and what they’re supposed to become. But inundating with this indoctrination that’s just wrecking people’s minds, it’s wrecking people’s soul’s, it’s separating them for the existence they’re supposed to have as human beings. We have 22 or more veterans a day that are killing themselves."

Stapp then asked if there were any veterans in attendance, and numerous cheers could be heard throughout the pavilion, to which Stapp thanked those veterans for their service.

Stapp continued on saying, "I have faith in humanity, I have faith in Texas. Oh, I got faith in Texas. I know there are people out there right now that may be looking like they’re having a great time on the outside, but they go home and they suffer in silence. Their life is falling apart, and they consider sometimes, what exit may be an option. If you’re having those thoughts or thinking that, I know, right here in Houston, that you talk with someone in front of you, behind you, or on either each side of you, and you say, ‘Man, I’m having those thoughts," there’s a brother and a sister that are here right now that’ll wrap their arms around you and walk you through tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, to get you the help that you need. I tell you what, don’t be afraid to ask for help. And hey, people who aren’t suffering, we have instincts, we have intuition, start reaching out to people, break down the walls, you know. You see someone hurting, go talk to them. We see it every day. That’s what this song is all about, it’s what it was inspired by." And the band performed, "What’s This Life For?"

As the band continued, Stapp spoke about the next song, which the band is well known for, called, "With Arms Wide Open." During his speech, he asked everyone in attendance to turn on the lights to their cell phones saying he wanted to see, "20,000 cell phone lights." During the performance, there couldn’t have been a single voice not heard during the song as everyone was on their feet with their cell phone lights and singing along.

Then to wrap up the band’s main set, Stapp asked the crowd, "Are You Ready to get Higher"" to which every fan, who wasn’t already on their feet, sprang up immediately and started shouting in sheer excitedness, myself included.

The performance of "Higher," once again, saw the return of the high-energy, with smoke cannons, flamethrowers and pyrotechnics. It was an amazing performance that every fan had waited the whole night to see, hear, and experience for themselves.

In the band’s encore performance, Stapp and his bandmates, performed "One Last Breath" and "My Sacrifice," which ended with numerous pyrotechnics and sheer thanks from the band for all attendees who showed up for the sold-out performance.

My own personal review, which does not reflect the views of FOX 26 or FOX Corporation, and will probably differ from others, was it brought me back to my high school days as I wanted to see them when I was much younger but was unable to attend before the band broke up. Hearing the songs that I remember rocking my head off to when I was younger gave me goosebumps and had me banging my head again like I was 15-16 years old. It was just an amazing experience for anyone who didn’t get the chance to see the band perform many, many years ago.

For those of you who didn’t get a chance to see the performance in the Houston area, the band will be returning to Texas with performances in Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, and Austin on November 12, 13, and 15, respectively. The band’s next performance will be on Monday, September 16 in Brandon, Mississippi, at the Brandon Amphitheater before moving on to Raleigh, North Carolina on September 18.