Creed

Angst and teenage emotion colored my image of Creed. If you grew up in the early 2000’s, you probably slow-danced to Creed at your high school prom. "With Arms Wide Open" would queue up and you finally worked up the courage to ask that pretty Senior girl to dance. She said yes, because she was nice, but it’s all the same to you. For those 4 odd minutes, you were floating to the voice of Scott Stapp and bass laden guitars.
This rosy memory is quickly replaced for anyone who has seen Creed live. Many forget that these guys come from a grugier time in rock and have as many ties to Metal as they do Adult Contemporary (whatever the heck that is). I had the chance to revise my perception of Creed in 2012 at Dallas’ Verizon Theater.
After seeing their live show, the same tired Creed jokes didn’t to make sense anymore. Their sound is heavy, almost sinister, for a band so often labeled as borderline Christian Rock. I was supremely impressed with the drumming of Scott Phillips as he beat down one of the most intricate drum sets I’ve ever seen. The speed-metal influenced guitar riffs are overlooked on their recordings but take center stage during the live performance. My face was nearly melted off during "Bullets." Even the songs we’ve all heard too many times like "Higher" came off as fresh.
I left with a new appreciation for Creed, a true rock band.

In the popular imagination, Gavin Rossdale is best known as Mr. Gwen Stefani these days, so it’s probably worth reminding you that his band, Bush, were a pretty big deal, once upon a time; their debut record, Sixteen Stone, has been certified six times platinum, and in the U.S., especially, they had a slew of chart hits throughout the nineties - their 1996 album Razorblade Suitcase went in at number one over there. In 2010, they reunited after an eight year lay-off - minus two original members, with family commitments forcing Nigel Pulsford and Dave Parsons to sit out the mammoth world tour that Rossdale and drummer Robin Goodridge had planned. Perhaps inevitably, the reformation focused first on the States, but eventually saw a run of UK shows scheduled for early 2012; opening with Sixteen Stone classic ‘Machinehead’, the band raced through career-spanning sets that typically included five tracks from comeback album The Sea of Memories, as well as covers of Pink Floyd’s ‘Breathe’ and The Beatles’ ‘Come Together’. With another new record planned for later this year, the reunion shows no signs of slowing down; Bush have retained a significant cult fanbase, and one that can presumably look forward to new dates sooner rather than later.