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CREED, 3 DOORS DOWN, FINGER ELEVEN In Houston, TX With Photos!

By Larry Petro, News Monkey
Thursday, September 19, 2024 @ 4:07 PM

It's the Summer Of '99 All Over Again At The Woodlands Pavilion, September 14th

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All Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography

You know, it's a wonderment to me that some of the most successful rock artists in history are also some of the most despised. NICKELBACK is one that comes to mind. All they have done throughout their career is release hit album after album and numerous singles that have graced our airwaves in constant rotation, not to mention very successful tours. Yet they seem to be the brunt of more disparaging remarks and ridicule than many others combined. And then there's CREED, who find themselves pretty much in the same boat. Despite having several multiplatinum albums and a few megahits under their belts they too find themselves on the end of disdainful groans at just the mere mention of the name. And yet when their first reunion tour in over a dozen years was announced last October, all 40 shows on the first leg of the tour sold out in short order. Take that haters.

FINGER ELEVEN was the opener for the entire run of shows and depending on your market you got either 3 DOORS DOWN, DAUGHTRY, TONIC, SWITCHFOOT or BIG WRECK, with the overwhelming majority of shows having 3 DOORS DOWN, including the September 14th stop at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, or Woodlands Pavilion for short, in the Houston suburb of The Woodlands, Texas. This show was actually one of the first to sell out and secondary market tickets even including the day of the show were commanding high prices. Houston, dare I say Texas in general, loves CREED. In fact, I covered the show at this very same venue in 2009 when the band, on their 'Full Circle Tour', set a world record for the most cameras used to record a live event (239). This performance would become the DVD CREED Live.

Despite having our first 'cool' front of the fall a week prior, summer had refused to give up the ghost and returned once again as temperatures for this show were once again in the upper 90s with the humidity making for plenty of discomfort among the roughly 17,000 in attendance as openers FINGER ELEVEN took the stage. Themselves enjoying a resurgence of sorts this past year. With a total of over a billion career music streams and a new single "Adrenaline", the Canadian act is primed to release a new album in 2025.

The band kicked things off by going all the way back to their 1997 debut Tip for the track "Above" and from there it was a solid rock performance in the setting sun of the Texas evening. The band was tight and having fun as they made the most of their 30 minute stage time for songs like "First Time", "Quicksand" and the aforementioned new song "Adrenaline" which went over well with the crowd. Of course the crowd went wild when they performed their smash hit "One Thing" and then again for closing number "Paralyzer" which included an intro of the GENESIS hit "That's All" and then a mid-song interlude of AC/DC's "Black In Black", the melody of which they would use to finish off the evening. Look for more of this band in the coming year.

Setlist:

"Above"

"First Time"

"Quicksand"

"Together Right"

"Adrenaline"

"One Thing"

"Paralyzer"

Mississippi rockers 3 DOORS DOWN took the stage next. I admittedly hadn't really paid much attention to these guys over the years and so I was pleasantly surprised that I recognized so many of their songs. The crowd was pumped by the time they hit the stage with "Train" and then my favorite track of the night, "Not My Time". Vocalist Brad Arnold, sporting longer locks than previously known for, was on point throughout the evening, showing appreciation for CREED for taking the band on their very first tour back in the day and thrilling the crowd with hits "Loser", "Here Without You", "Kryptonite" and closing number "When I'm Gone". Other notables during their performance were "Duck And Run", "Time Of My Life" "Let Me Go". Never ones to shy away from controversy regarding their conservative nature and values, the night saw guitarist Chris Henderson sporting a t-shirt that said 'My Pronouns Are Fucking Patriot' and Arnold taking time to proselytize to crowd a bit about his faith in Jesus Christ before they performed "Away From The Sun", something the crowd for the most part roared in approval.

Setlist:

"Train"
"It's Not My Time"
"Loser"
"Duck and Run"
"Here Without You"
"Time of My Life"
"Away From the Sun"
"The Road I'm On"
"Never Look Down"
"Let Me Go"
"Landing in London"
"Kryptonite"
"When I'm Gone"

Finally, after a hiatus of nearly a dozen years it was time for the return of CREED. As soon as the lights went down the capacity crowd went nuts as the band launched into longtime opener "Bullets". For the next hour and a half Scott Stapp (vocals), Mark Tremonti (lead guitar), Scott Phillips (drums), Brian Marshall (bass) and touring guitarist Eric Friedman took us on a time warp back to a better and easier time with a setlist of material comprised of their first 3 albums, My Own Prison, Human Clay and Weathered, released in 1997, 1999 and 2001 respectively. It was hit after hit with the band on fire along with plenty of pyro with inclusions of "Are You Ready?", "My Own Prison", "One", "What's This Life For" and monster hits "With Arms Wide Open" (featuring the entire crowd with their phones lit up) and the pre-encore closer "Higher".

The entire set by CREED was music with an uplifting theme, something that I think we could all need right now in this crazy world we currently live in. A definite highlight of the evening was prior to playing "What If", Mark Tremonti addressed the crowd and stated that he would be giving his guitar away to one lucky fan who was the loudest and most rowdy. At its conclusion he pointed to a young boy in the pit with a red mohawk by the name of Zachary who would be the lucky recipient as he was brought onstage to retrieve his prize. CREED is doing this little 'giveaway' at each stop on the tour, a nice way to keep music alive for future generations.

Following "Higher" the band returned once again for 2 encores, "One Last Breath" and "My Sacrifice" before calling it a day, satisfied that they had once again laid waste to a Houston crowd.

The "Summer Of '99" tour concludes on September 28th in Atlantic City, NJ but CREED will be back at it with the "Are You Ready?" Tour which kicks off November 2nd in Oklahoma City and runs through December 5th in Orlando, FL. Get tickets while you can or miss out on one great show in 2024!

"Summer Of '99" Tour Dates:

September 18| Raleigh, NC | Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek + =
September 20 | Tampa, FL | MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds + =
September 21 | West Palm Beach, FL | iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre + =
September 24 | Jacksonville, FL | Daily's Place x =
September 25 | Alpharetta, GA | Ameris Bank Amphitheatre + =
September 27 | Darien Lake, NY | Darien Lake Amphitheater + =
September 28 | Atlantic City, NJ | Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena + =

+ 3 DOORS DOWN
x TONIC
= FINGER ELEVEN

"Are You Ready?" Tour Dates: