Episode III: Play "Higher" At My Funeral

Getting T to this concert has became an obsession greater than Ralphie Parker's quest for a Red Rider BB Gun. The right thing to do would of been to skip the concert and be there for my family, but this is me we're talking about. I'd like to think that if someone asked me to not go, I wouldn't of. Thank goodness my family knew me well. I decided to drive to Indy. Go to the concert. Drive home. 12 hours tops. In case anyone had any doubt, my wife is a saint. Off we went.

8/14/2010 - T and the band.
I will not give James Beeson what he covets, a pic of me and Stapp.

We got there. Went to sound check. T got to meet the band. We saw a concert. We came home. That's the simple explanation of events. I don't want to do a review of a concert. I LOATHE music critics . . . and film critics . . . well any critic really. They operate under the assumption that if something is appealing to the masses, it must be a heap of crap. When is the last time your favorite film won an Oscar? When is the last time your favorite band received a butt load of Grammy's or was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? It doesn't happen. The pointy headed elitists want to always remind us their pallet is more refined than ours. / rant.

8/14/2010 - T's guitar heros, ERock and Tremonti.
The seats weren't bad either!

Creed most definitely falls into that category. They've been violated by music critics . . . and music fans  . . . and other bands more frequently than a dainty man in a prison setting (which is why I will forever remain a non - troublemaker). Some of it I can understand. Scott Stapp has brought much of the criticism of the band on all by himself. He's been a major violator of egregious acts of douchebaggery. It got so bad at one point that a class action lawsuit was filed (unsuccessfully) for concert ticket refunds from a show in Chicago because Stapp was too blitzed to perform. He took the stage anyway. He performed laying down. He sang different songs than what the band was playing. Ultimately, Creed gave him the boot and reformed with Miles Kennedy as Alter Bridge. His douchebaggery cost him everything. That was then. Everyone deserves their shot at redemption. What I saw that night from him when I meet him, and while he was on stage, was a man who was humbled and simply happy to be doing what he was doing.

8/14/2010 - Brian and Flip. Did I mention we had good seats?

Some of it is unwarrented. The biggest complaint lobbed at Creed is that Stapp sounds like Eddie Vedder. They're both baritones. That's about it. If you listen to Stapp talk, he sings in his natural voice. (Unlike Scott Weiland of STP who was doing a Vedder impression on their first album) I can't fault a guy for the voice he was born with. Another is that their hits follow a formula. Soft beginning, soaring choruses with mega - distorted guitars, soft and slow through the bridge, and then a big finish. I'm not saying this isn't true. It most definitely is. If you had the winning lottery numbers, would you play different ones? Didn't think so! Every time they followed this formula they shot to the top of the rock charts. This made them enough money to make Gene Simmons blush.

I didn't undertake this series of blogs to convince people of the merits of Creed. They're a divisive band. There's no in between I've seen with them. People either love them or hate them. It's not a little hate either. It's the legless Anakin about to engulfed by the lava type of hate. The haters far out number the fans. That's cool. Dale Earnhardt once said about being disliked and booed, "At least they're making noise. It's when they stop making noise that you know something is wrong." 

This series of blogs are about the ridiculous stuff we do as parents to make memories with our kids. T wanted this. My job was to make it happen. T thinks one day he'll be a rock star. I hope he makes it but he's going to college as a fall back! He told me the other day he's going to play at The Pageant in St Louis. At least he isn't aiming high. We accommodate our kids so they can follow their dreams. We do these things to let them know anything is possible before they become too jaded to believe it. We do these things so one day, long after we are gone, they'll have that one special memory of us. If T's dreams do come true, I know in the moments before he takes that big stage for the first time that night will cross his mind. That to me is worth all the headache, time, and money spent to get him to that show.

You always wonder if the things you do as a parent go noticed, appreciated, or if it meant as much to them as it did to you. When T came in last week, with a little shake in his hand, to show me they were coming back. I knew it did. It got me thinking back to the show. I was looking at some pictures I took that night. I came across the one video I took. It's short but it says it all. Watch the clip and look at the look on that kids face. That's what Rock and Roll is suppose to do, make you feel something. He was happier than I've ever seen him. Because of that, Creed has risen high on my band respect - o - meter. I can honestly say that's one moment in my life where everything was exactly as it should of been. So to all of you that will out live me, when they carry me out make sure they play "Higher". If not, Chucky will be available for kicks after the service.