WORDS AND IMAGES: CHRIS LOOMIS | The summer of 2024 ended in epic fashion on Labor Day weekend as the reunited Grammy Award winning rockers Creed headlined The Summer of ’99 and Beyond Festival with eight other bands at the historic Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino, CA on Saturday August 31. Touring for the first time in over a decade, Creed is selling out dates across the country with 3 Doors Down and Finger Eleven but on this day in California, Creed corralled several additional bands that have been special guests on the tour in various cities and the show was a day long celebration and no doubt the largest of the 40-date tour.
It was a hot one with temperatures right at 100 degrees, but the performances were hotter as Verve Pipe, Vertical Horizon, Dorothy, Fuel, Hinder, and Daughtry were the added guests to this show which made it a must see to end the summer. With doors at 1PM, the music started at 2PM and for the next nine hours, Glen Helen was rocking like the summer of 1999.
Melodic Rock veterans Verve Pipe kicked off the day of music in solid fashion as the band took the stage with all members in all white outfits as vocalist Brian Vander Ark and his brother on bass Brad Vander Ark led the band through a short set that included hits “Photograph” and “The Freshmen” as the Verve Pipe diehards braved the mid-afternoon heat—a successful start to the day. Vertical Horizon served up a bit of alternative rock with a country song mixed in next with original vocalist Matt Scannell sounding fantastic.
The incredibly beautiful Dorothy and her soaring voice delivered a bit more of an upbeat set followed by Fuel who took the oomph up a notch as frontman Aaron Scott prowled around the stage as founding guitarist Carl Bell shredded through the hits that included “Shimmer” and “Hemorrhage (In My Hands).” Now, as killer as all the bands have been up to this point the highlight of the early afternoon was Finger Eleven as these guys played the most powerful and energetic set so far as they blasted through 35-minutes of beautiful chaos. With Scott Anderson’s powerful vocals and the insane guitar antics of James Black and Rick Jackett—especially Jackett who constantly looks like he is in a battle with his guitar—Finger Eleven infused a new energy into the day.
Hinder followed with another high energy set full of upbeat hits that kept the momentum going before the final three bands took the stage even though vocalist Marshall Dutton was suffering from a head cold. As the sun started to set and the temperatures cooled just a bit, Daughtry appeared to a now packed amphitheater and delivered a powerful 8 song set. The American Idol alumni, Daughtry is obviously a fitness buff as he is in fantastic shape with some rather bulging arms. He sounded fantastic as he covered Journey’s “Separate Ways” and the Deftones “Change (In the House of Flies)” and ended the set with the mid-tempo rocker “Artificial.”
3 Doors Down has been direct support for Creed on this tour and they took the stage and delivered the perfect set as vocalist Brad Arnold, with a heavily bandaged finger, and the band had the crowd’s full attention for their 60 minutes on stage. Of course, the hits “When I’m Gone” and “Here Without You” were played with the highlight and biggest fan reaction coming from the mega-hit “Kryptonite.” After seven hours in the extreme heat, the fans were hot and sweaty but ready for what they have been waiting for all day.
At 9:20 Creed hit the stage with the super menacing and powerful “Bullets” to open the show that had Scott Stapp lurking across the front of the stage belting out the vocals with conviction while original members Mark Tremonti on guitar, Scott Phillips on drums, Brian Marshall on bass, and touring guitarist Eric Friedman nailed their instrumental parts respectively. The stage backed with giant video screens and filled with lights and lots of pyro shooting up from the perimeter of the floor made for an epic backdrop for this show.
Stapp looks and sounds as powerful as ever and had many positive encouraging words in between songs. His stage presence is larger than life and it is no surprise this Creed revival has been so successful. Tremonti, Marshall, and Phillips are no strangers to each other as they have been playing together outside of Creed in Alter Bridge. Tremonti is a top-notch guitarist and songwriter and is quite a spectacle to hear and watch in a live setting.
Creed has no shortage of hits and their entire catalog is stage worthy as they played “My Own Prison,” “What If,” and “Higher” that had all in attendance singing the lyrics along with Stapp. The night ended with “One Last Breath” then the final song “My Sacrifice” which culminated with tons of pyro, sparklers, and CO2 canons as the band left the stage with this music marathon now complete. Creed exceeded any and all expectations—this reunion is solid as a rock and the band was having a blast onstage, delivering a total banger of a show. The Summer of ’99 and Beyond tour ends in late September so there is still time to catch this lighting in a bottle when the tour hits your city.
CREED
3 DOORS DOWN
DAUGHTRY
HINDER
FINGER ELEVEN
FUEL
DOROTHY
VERTICAL HORIZON
VERVE PIPE
