[souldancer]

I'm having trouble finding the NY Eve thread too...it's getting a mess here on this board, but I liked this one, thought I would post it here for others..hope no one minds. It just had great deails and was uplifting

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First off...I hate New Year's resolutions, but I made one on New Year's Eve night that I am know I can stick with. If Creed ever plays another New Year's Eve concert, I will be there. End of story.

I took an 8 hour drive to catch Creed at the Spectrum. This was my fourth show this year. The "Bullets" intro always reels me in, it a great opener. I was pleasantly surprised by the new backdrop, a huge embossed Creed "crest" on a rough background. Scott S immediately started pacing the stage, taking total control of the crowd with the first notes pumping his fists to emphasize his lyrics and emotions. It was almost impossible to keep my eyes off of him.

The band really had it together. Mark spent most of the show in his trademark headbanging pose. He was adding extra riffs here and there to add complexity to the music. Scott P is probably one of the most entertaining drummers to watch, the man is a constant blur. I got to see a lot of Brett this show and was really impressed by his interaction with the audience. All in all, a very solid performance.

Mark was a monster on "Say I". Lots of noodling, I think he had some fun with the intro to this one. He was professional when his guitar malfunctioned on "Torn". He spent the better part of a verse switching guitars, it was the perfect example of the band being totally in tune with each other. Everyone covered for it, so the event was hardly noticeable.

But my eyes kept going back to Scott S. The man was "on", totally connecting with the audience. Lots of eye contact and pointing to fans who were holding signs or were really singing along to the music. He was also interacting with the band a lot, at one point he walked out on the center ramp, finished a lyric, and walked back pointing at each band member in time with the music as a form of recognition for their contributions. You can tell there is a lot of mutual respect in this band.

This show got quite a few special "events".

1) They played "Ode", need I say more?

2) Midway through the performance, 3 stools were brought out. Scott S mentioned that this was not only a special treat for us, but for him too. "I get to sit for a while" he said with a huge grin on his face. "Weathered" and "My Own Prison" were played acoustically. Brett, Mark, and Scott P laying down solid music while Scott S emotionally emphasized the lyrics while at points writhing on the stool. He looked like he was going to leap out of it at any moment.

3) The band let this guy Matt propose to his girlfriend on stage.

4) The band's families and crew were invited on stage for the countdown. Scott S sang "Auld Lang Syne" from a cheat sheet and afterwards lots of hugs went around.

5) Scott S announced that Scott P and April are expecting a child. (Congrats!)

6) Scott S grabbed a drum stick and helped Scott P out on the cymbals for a while. That was fun to watch.

7) And probably the most emotional moment of the show was Scott's intro to "With Arms Wide Open". He talked about how parents can learn so much from their children and about how he needs to take the advice he gives in this song. It was a very emotional moment for him and for the audience. The passion he feels for those sentiments and that song was apparent as tears rolled down his face.

At one point Scott introduced a song, I am pretty sure it was "Torn", by saying "Don't sing along because it happened, sing because you feel it". A lot of people felt it during this concert, and that's what made it a fantastic show!

--- review on the Pit from "shirtlessstapp"....