Around the closing of the 90s to the beginning years of the 21st century, Creed was one band you could not have possibly ignored. They’re that rock band with the burly vocalist with long, dark, curly dark hair whose voice that draws on the depths of earth or something. Armed with killer guitar solos and lyrics that delved into your existentialist views, Creed is a band that would have made an impact on you regardless of what age group you belonged to. You surely would remember “With Arms Wide Open”, “Higher”, “Bullets” and their more recent and more iconic hit “My Sacrifice” – songs that now seem to belong to a different era, but fortunately, Creed was able to give Manila a taste of it through their concert in the Big Dome last November 11, 2012.

The mesh of foreign acts passing through Manila is no news to anyone, but there’s still a bit of surprise in everyone when it was announced that Creed would play in Smart Araneta Coliseum. We surely haven’t heard much from them in a long time. Hey, we weren’t even sure they were still together. (Remember Alter Bridge?) But whatever the case, anyone who had seen their show that evening was more than glad that they were there to witness the band’s intense performance.


Scott Stapp

Mark Tremonti

Brian Marshall

Scott Phillips

With Scott Stapp on vocals, Mark Tremonti on lead guitar, Brian Marshall on bass, Scott Phillips on drums and two additional touring members, Creed gave Manila a night to remember as the powerfully took on the Big Dome. Their setlist was composed of a balanced mixture of songs from their four studio albums, taking Manila back to the good old days of the post-grunge/heavy rock era.”Are You Ready?”, “My Own Prison”, “What If”, “Unforgiven”, and “Bullets” were played during the first half of the set. Tremonti’s wailing guitar solos, the ecstatic drum beats and Stapp’s characteristically sonorous vocals raised the energy of the entire audience.

Another outstanding feature of the concert was the lighting. It was awesome, in epic proportions. Massive beams of lights flooded the coliseum as Creed’s music blasted through. Never seen anything like it. The lighting definitely heightened the experience of being part of the concert.

Halfway through, Scott accidentally landed on the wrong foot, literally. As it appeared, his leg cramped up pretty badly. Some medics had to take him offstage for a while to aid him. In the few minutes that he wasn’t around, the band members improvised some tunes. After a few minutes, Scott came back, not quite as good as new since he had to sit on a stool. However, he did his best to run the show with the same intensity as before. Although his movements became constricted, he put out his best effort to give Manila one hell of a show.

The most memorable moment of the concert was toward the end, when Creed started playing their most iconic songs. The encore set created an ensemble inside the arena as every person in the crowd passionately sang along to the lyrics of “With Arms Wide Open”, “One Last Breath” and their last song “My Sacrifice”.

One conclusion after the concert: whatever made Creed the great band that it used to be, is still there –Stapp’s powerful vocals, Tremonti’s buzzing guitar riffs, the band’s musical dynamics – everything is still there. They still have it in their capacity to rock out and enthrall the crowd with their music. Their music that delve deep into issues faith, grief and hope can still catch people’s ears after all this time. It was great to be part of the concert just to be taken back to a different taste of music and experience it firsthand.

Written by Sandra Laureano
Photos by Glenn Michael Tan