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Go Home Already: Make Room
Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
During the dark years before neo-garage and 1980s post-punk revivalism saved modern rock radio from itself, the airwaves were ruled by a gaggle of stultifyingly awful rap-rock outfits united in their middle class yowl and bent on demonstrating that the suburbs were, indeed, killing them. During that period, however, a critical need emerged for the fans of the popular mook rock: namely, some vaguely sensitive sounding shit that could help them convince that girl who was kicked off the field hockey team to put out. To fill that need, there emerged another group of bands, capable of producing sludgy and overwrought midtempo baritonica by the metric ton. Of that second group of bands, none ruled the landscape with a more glittery rock scepter than Tallahassee’s Creed.
Fronted by the energetic eyebrows of former law student Scott Stapp, Creed’s schtick was to blend their late 90’s watered-down grunge stylings with lyrical content suffused with heady Christian overtones. The faith-based content was kept subtle--more in the "Campus Crusade for Abercrombie and Christ" vein. The combination proved irresistible to fans, who gobbled up Creed’s albums by the yard and sent four singles from their initial public offering to the top of the Billboard charts. Last year, Stapp released his first solo record since the break-up of Creed, The Great Divide, and this past Tuesday night, Stapp was on hand at the 9:30 club. DCist was there to capture the experience, and ended up learning ten interesting things about the solo Scott Stapp.
(Photos by Kyle Gustafson)
1. Free tickets to last night’s show were available at the door, and by “at the door”, we mean literally taped to the door with a sign that said “FREE.” We initially considered making an immediate update to DCist to that effect, but thought better of it after realizing that we’d only subject ourselves to the outcry of the True Fans angry that we’d blown another special deal. For Stapp’s part, he can content himself in the knowledge that his draw in Washington is roughly identical to the Bicycle Thieves.
2. Apparently, Stapp has some anger issues for which he needed some time to vent. The concert began with a group of songs that were relentless in their yell-at-the-top-of-your-lungs bleakness. Stapp definitely has some things in the current events file that are among his foremost concerns: his crazy feud with 311, his arrest for public intoxication at LAX, and, of course, the blowback from the recent news of the generous sperm donation he made with Kid Rock. It was relief when the show finally took a turn for the happier, because initially, one wondered if some sort of meltdown was imminent.
3. Scott Stapp is even chattier than Perry Farrell at his drugged-out best. To serve as Stapp’s lead guitarist, you must be willing to provide endless pre-song vamping as he converses with the audience. Last night, the highlights of Stapp’s raconteurism had to be his thoughtful address to the crowd: “I’ve been thinking a lot about bullets…and how bullets are like words…they can hurt people.” Hey, who hasn’t had their flesh torn asunder by words, be they of the .22 caliber variety—like “apothecary”—or semi-automatic armor piercers like “disintermediation”?
4. Stapp’s show is generously salted with all of Creed’s greatest hits—“My Own Prison”, “Higher”, “My Sacrifice”—they’re all there. It makes one wonder what the terms of separation are between Stapp and his former mates. If, for example, Alter Bridge wants to play “My Sacrifice”, do they have to call it “Scott Stapp’s Sacrifice”?
5. One of the Creed songs Stapp played at the 9:30 club was “What If?”, from their 1999 album Human Clay. Hearing it was enough to inspire one’s own “What if” questions. Such as: what if it turned out the toms could have been miked louder? What if soul patches come back in vogue this year? What if the guy standing by the bar screaming “Whooo! Whoooeeooo!” every five seconds is doing so because of a medical condition and not, as one might assume, because he’s a gigantic fan of the Stapp? And what if the gigantic drop that reads “Scott Stapp” in massive letters isn’t enough to let people know that Scott Stapp is here tonight, indeed, playing onstage at this very minute?! So, remember: Scott Stapp gives you a lot to think about.
6. Stapp is prone to talking in life-affirming bumperstickerspeak. “This is my happy place.” “We’re all just here, if you think about it.” “Hang in there.” “You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps.” “I brake for bass fishing.”
7. It’s true: music can be played too loud. But, as the deafening low-end churgle rattles your ribs and inexorably stamps out any trace of melody, it does offer the listener the time to take a moment and think to oneself: “My God. Scott Stapp really does have one awesome head of hair.
8. Scott Stapp is a performer well versed in the typical rockstar moves. But the best move of the evening was his perfectly executed “Towel off and toss the towel into the crowd.” Here’s Stapp’s inner monologue at that moment:
“Yeah! Whoo! Man, this has been an awesome forty-two minutes of rocking! My, oh my…it looks like I’ve got myself a nice film of rock sweat forming on my forehead. Oh, hey! What’s this! Why, it’s a clean white towel! Hmmm...let me heft it, get a feel for the weave. Oh, yeah! That’s not a bad thread count at all! I bet that this baby is super-absorbent! Better get my daub on! Mmmm. Mmmm, yeah. That’s good. Damn, this towel really collects the moisture and leaves my forehead nice and dry! (notices the audience screaming) Oh, yeah! You like that, don’t you! You feel, as I do, that personal hygiene is pretty fucking important! That’s right, this is a quality towel!! Tell you what! You take it! You take it! It’s my gift to you! I bequeath to you this awesome towel! It’s cotton! And that is THE FABRIC OF OUR LIVES!!”9. Stapp tends to introduce each song by awkwardly referencing the title of the song in an attempt to make it seem like the introduction is actually just a part of some casual conversation. “Thank you Washington! You guys mean so much to me. But I wonder if we can take this higher. You think that we can take this higher?! I bet that we can take this higher! Whoa-ho-ho! We’re in luck! It just so happens that I wrote a song called ‘Higher’! What do you think? I bet that it would dramatically enhance our chances of taking this higher.” Imagine if all lead singers did this. It would be like Alex Kapranos saying: “All right, DC! Yeah! Man! I think it’s getting kinda wet in here! Do you feel that? Are you starting to see some puddles, Washington! Well, it looks like I’d BETTER PUT MY BOOTS ON!!”
10. All joking aside, one thing that has to be said about the Scott Stapp experience is that he has got some of the absolute best fans in the world. You’d kill to have these fans. They yell and cheer and jump and wave their arms in the air. They answer back when Stapp points at them. They lustily cheer when they recognize the songs. They loudly sing along like Dashboard Confessional devotees. And they are entirely sincere in their devotion. There is not one trace of pretension to be found. And that’s more than can be said about the hipster dick army that’ll tell you to your face things like, “Rehearsing My Choir is actually a really rewarding listen when you finally, you know, GET it,” while all the while the twinges in the iris of their eye belie the fact that they don’t actually believe a word that they’re saying and that they cannot wait for their shift at the Supercool Factory to come to its merciful end.
Also, they don’t call out requests at the top of their lungs. Imagine that: rock fans who understand the concept of a set list. Many of you could learn from that.
More photos over at Flickr.
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We initially considered making an immediate update to DCist to that effect, but thought better of it after realizing that we’d only subject ourselves to the outcry of the True Fans angry that we’d blown another special deal.
Stop beating me, please.
that is a great entry...hilarious.
Thanks for taking this one for the team, DCists Jason and Kyle.
wonderful review. there's something so bad about this guy that makes me love him. if he could work out a tour with candlebox and nickelback, i might buy a van and hit the road. i need a miracle.
So well written. well done
Dear lord, that first paragraph (well, actually, kinda the whole thing) is so blindingly pretentious I almost wondered if Stapp had written it himself! Hilarious!
The most entertaining piece I've read since I first came to dcist.
How cold was it at the club last night? Reason I ask, Mr. Scott doesn't appear to have taken an opportunity to wear a shirt that could show us his amazing guns for the 34,972nd time, like the post-modern Bowser that he is. Thank Zeus we still have the videos.
seriously! I didn't know you guys had a sense of humor. The monologue was great.
In rock and roll Valhalla thou shalt surely be annointed the scribe.
Something tells me you didn't "take one for the team."
Scott Stapp is the kind of assignment a snarky music critic would kill for.
Well done. You exceeded my expectations.
During the dark years before neo-garage and 1980s post-punk revivalism saved modern rock radio from itself...
Umm... what's "modern rock radio"?
i went for the irony...i stayed for the love. shoot if one person can move that many people, who are we to judge? it's obviously speaking to somebody...and in a much clearer voice than the fucking gibberish spewed by the likes of most serene republic or some shit like dat.
i went for the irony...i stayed for the love. shoot if one person can move that many people, who are we to judge? it's obviously speaking to somebody...and in a much clearer voice than the fucking gibberish spewed by the likes of most serene republic or some shit like dat.
Yeah. Sort of like Sun Myung Moon. Or Lyndon Larouche. Or Weightwatchers.
This is hilarious. You had me at "Stapptasm." This is the best DCist post in recent memory.
Also, they don’t call out requests at the top of their lungs. Imagine that: rock fans who understand the concept of a set list. Many of you could learn from that.
Actually, many of the best shows I've ever been to are for performers who don't pay much attention to the set lists. Pat McCurdy, the live music god of the Midwest, has been known to do away with them entirely. (And, okay, once in a blue moon he'll start doing a song he did earlier in the show. But these song faults are quickly corrected.)
Nice try at posting a "critique" but it seems like you had more of an axe to grind or an agenda to publish. Not that there is much "story" in writing favorable commentary of a popular musician...it's way more cool to be critical. Why is that? No call for jealousy in the press. No need to fear someone who tries to pump out rock w/ a positive message. If you don’t like Stapp..hey, that's cool; to each his own. But if you are trying to act like a music critic, then act. Don’t go off into an imagery that makes a point that his fame has waned, or that this musician is no longer popular or talented. At least put on the act that you are writing an objective piece. And for the record, since it seemed like you watched a different show than I did, it was a great show. Full of energy, rock, and what has made Stapp a legendary performer...charisma. His music is deep enough to send a message. A good message. Oh, and by the way, according to the Record Industry of America (www.riaa.com), his album immediately went platinum upon release. Know any successful artists that would like to fall into that category? Or better yet, while you bash him about his sycophantic, narcissistic banter with the crowd, you forgot to mention the line about how he is donating all the proceeds of the tour to each city's Food Bank. The last time I checked, it's a real short list of musicians donating all proceeds of a US tour to charity. Hmm, genuine interest in helping others from a man who openly admits he's less than perfect or a someone focused on just trying to sell albums and brainwash his crowd. You be the judge...either way, he sends out positive vibes and that is much needed in today's world. At some point, angst, anger, political criticism and a lack of ownership in how to improve your world can only take you so far. The rest has to come from love and faith in something more significant. To be frank, if his message is to love instead of hate or forgive those who wrong you, so be it. If music had more positive messages in it, and less violence or cynicism in it, our society would most likely yield more compassion to the needs of others.
ok,
so why dont you get off stapps dick? look at all the press hes gotten lately! that's wonderful hes donating proceeds to charity. but what about him harassing women in hotel bars- leading to altercations with other musicians on thanksgiving; going on television behaving like a drunken buffoon; having a sex tape come out where your prized line is "its good to be the king", etc. etc. scott stapp is a joke and the fact that tickets were being given away truly shows how far he has fallen. he sucks plain and simple and this article was hilarious and right on the money.
In Clinton's defense, he is right, the DCist really can't say "this musician is no longer popular or talented." To do this, Stapp would have had some talent to lose at some point.
I called the Washington D.C. Regional Food Bank this morning and they told me after Stapp's show he personally delivered $11.50 to their donation coffer of which he drunkenly refered to has "Here's my sacrifice" before stumbling off. They plan on spending the money on two boxes of Triscuits. Also, I hear admission for his next show is going to be 1 non-perishable food item. Stapp commented on this "It's not alot to ask for good rockin', just bring a canned good or some box Mac n' Cheese...hey, I gotta eat somehow."
Re: "either way, he sends out positive vibes and that is much needed in today's world"
He may put some positive messages into his lyrics, but I have never gotten a positive vibe from him. I liked Creed in the early days until I started learning more about Stapp. For me the vibe he puts out is the arrogant, holier than thou, feeling, and is a complete turn off, which makes it difficult to listen to him now. Kind of along the lines of Kanye West.
I thought your article on the Scott Stapp “home opener” was an accurate account of that performance. I thought you might be interested, however, in hearing about something that didn’t happen onstage that night.
About 30 minutes before Stapp took the stage at Hard Rock Live, I met with him personally backstage to accept a sizeable charitable donation from his Scott Stapp Foundation. He related a few stories of growing up in
Orlando
, and of how his mother sometimes struggled to put food on the table. Then he handed me an envelope that contained enough financial resources to allow Second Harvest Food Bank to provide 80,000 meals for children living in poverty in
Central Florida
. Our organization can turn one dollar into 4 meals, so you can do the math.
Our Food Bank has been fortunate enough to receive similar gifts from generous performers such as Bruce Springsteen, Shania Twain, Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Stephen Stills and others with tour stops in
Orlando
. To date, however, Stapp’s gift was the most generous of all. He has plans to make other donations to local food banks (perhaps not quite as much as he did in his hometown!) in each city his tour visits. Having had a chance to look into his eyes and shake the bandaged hand you wrote about, I can tell you that this was no publicity stunt. It was an act of kindness from someone who wanted to help others. All things considered, his publicist probably should have tried to splash the Foundation gift a bit more given his personal struggle in the past few weeks.
Just thought you might be interested in that “postscript.”
Keep up the good work!
Greg Higgerson
Development Director
Greg Higgerson did not post this, it's just an darticle you can find through Google News.
Obviously another lost Stapp supporter.
I don't know why there is a debate here. Scott Stapp is probably a pretentious, holier-than-thou, narcissist who does stupid things, films himself having group sex with Kid Rock and a bunch of groupies, writes terrible overwrought music that is basically the hair metal of the '90s, and is just starting down the long slope to playing Jaxx as a historical afterthought. He is probably also an exceptionally generous person who feels like being rich will help him do some good in the world. A lot of charity in the world is produced by narcissists.
That doesn't change the fact that this article is hilarious.
Good post. Too judgemental, but good. Reminds me of how little empathy blue states show toward red states. That post readers like a few pro-lifers from DC went to an anti-abortion rally in Mississippi.
I've never read a piece with so much commentary about the between-songs monologue. It's really not too important a part of a show. Case in point: Metallica's James Hetfield is among the worst in rock history when it comes to talking between songs, but Metallica is among the best live bands I've ever seen.
Good post. Too judgemental, but good. Reminds me of how little empathy blue states show toward red states. That post readers like a few pro-choicers from DC went to an anti-abortion rally in Mississippi.
I've never read a piece with so much commentary about the between-songs monologue. It's really not too important a part of a show. Case in point: Metallica's James Hetfield is among the worst in rock history when it comes to talking between songs, but Metallica is among the best live bands I've ever seen.
hi-larious. well done.
We are laughing over here in Chicago, which is home to where some of our own tried to sue Creed for sucking: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=News&id=200656
It is posts such as this one that make me so proud to be a part of the -ist family.
This was, hands down, one of the funniest things I've ever read.
A big "Hello" from another Chicagoan here!
And to think we used to take ol' Scottie boy seriously. How embarrassing! Check this story out:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060304/en_music_eo/18485
wow. as a former DC resident now living in chicago, i humbly request you come and post on our *.ist, because that was friggin' hi-larious.
I SAW SCOTT AND HIS GREAT CREW LAST NIGHT IN FT. WORTH TEXAS AND BY FAR IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT. SCOTT WAS VERY UPBEAT AND BOY DID HIS FANS GET A SHOW OF THEIR LIFE!!!!!! I KNOW I DID !!! AFTER THE CONCERT SCOTT WAS VERY FRIENDLY AND BOY DID WE GET A EXTRA BONUS WITH A AUTOGRAPH ETC!!!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY BUT THAT THIS CONCERT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE HIM AND I HOPE HE KEEPS UP THE GREAT SONG WRITTING AND WE HOPE TO SEE HIM AND THE REST @ RED ROCKS THIS SUMMER.........LISA
BUNCH OF HATERS! I SAW HIS SHOW @ THE BORGATA HOTEL IN ATLANTIC CITY & IT WAS A REAL GOOD SHOW. MY HUSBAND STAYED BEHIND WITH HIS FRIEND GOT AN AUTOGRAPH FROM HIM & HE GAVE MY HUSBAND 4 TICKETS TO HIS FOXWOODS CONCERT THE FOLLOWING NIGHT. WELL HUBBY & FRIEND TOLD US HE WAS REALLY DOWN TO EARTH, POLITE & SEEMED REALLY SINCERE (HE WAS ALSO VERY SOBER). SO WHAT THE GUY GOT A FEW PROBLEMS (DON'T WE ALL)!
This post is like a gift that just keeps on giving!
Madonna says she may adopt another child from abroad following her proposed adoption of a Malawian boy...
Madonna says she may adopt another child from abroad following her proposed adoption of a Malawian boy...
I wish Stapp would return just so you guys could re-run this review.
Hello
I want to all of you know, World is mine, and yoursite good
G'night
Seriously, there are a million other things to waste peoples time with. This dude is a "has been" and nothing more is ever needed to be said about how much of an egomaniac he is. His music is terrible and he is a prime example of a closet homosexual. I hope he dies in a plain crash. Creed destroyed what rock music was about and paved the way for other shitty bands. ex. Nickelback, Seether, Hinder...etc. The fact you've spent time blogging about this positive or negative, makes me feel that dcist has hit an all time low. Thanks for wasting my time.