Scott Stapp Brings an Offering of Praise and Powerful Acoustic Rock to Houston's House of Blues

Scott Stapp set out last week on another acoustic tour, but unlike his similar venture last fall, this time he has taken it even more stripped-down and to the roots, playing his first date in Walker, MN with only two guitarists, songwriter Andy Waldeck and all-around musician, Brent Look. Imbuing a more delicate tone to his Creed classics and solo favorites, the all unplugged accompaniment serves only to highlight Stapp's ever renewed vocal vigor these days, with no safety net of amplification. During his stop in Houston, though, Stapp and his new collaborators welcomed new and old friends to join in for the night, including bassist Mitch Burman, who worked with Stapp on his first solo album, 2005's The Great Divide, and then toured with him in 2006 and last fall. Burman then scouted out a drummer with just two days of practice to round out the set for the night!

Stapp tore into "Are You Ready?" as if it was 1998, except for the shorter hair, hardly containing his body onto the stool as body and voice fused for the message of the blazing opener, the packed crowd already singing every word, and ignoring the seats behind them. While headlines are rife with the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Chris Brown, and Charlie Sheen trying to convince themselves and their followers that destructive behavior is "winning!", Stapp is personifying accountability, as in the past, through songs like "Weathered" and Creed's original introduction anthem, "My Own Prison", and solo stand-outs "Hard Way" and "justify". Beyond the music, and behind it, too, he is proving that his restoration to whole life and relationship to God is real, and as he recently told Christian radio host, Paul Edwards, he wants his fruit to be the test, not his words. Stapp praised God and his fans from the stage, and beyond, not only pointing out, connecting, and smiling with fans in every reach of the venue, but naming them by name-it does not get much more personal than that, refreshing when even an artist's real voice is hard to discern amidst the distortion of rampant Auto-Tune. Stapp's solo material was particularly powerful, in this setting, and he used the material almost like parables to his audience. He realizes that he brings acknowledgment and adoration of God to hearts and minds seldom, if ever, plowed, and courageously becomes the sower, and still stands as the full rock artist. Prompting without provoking, Stapp delivers his crowd to higher realms, even as they breathe beer and smoke, still reminding them "I'm just like you!" in his lyrics, and smiling as he tells them he's "trying everyday" just like the rest of us along the human journey, but now with a more personal understanding of the conqueror within. Applause interrupted the proceedings of the set more than once between songs, and the chorus of the crowd drowned that sung from the stage. It could not have been more fitting that "Overcome" was chosen for an encore, its emotion flowing through the crowd like drops of anointing oil.

Always balancing between extremes of admiration and disdain in press and public, but fully grounded in his personal and spiritual identity, Scott Stapp moves forward, with and without Creed, ever aware of the force of human and divine devotion that inspires him.

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Sources:

Performance attendance.

http://www.godandculture.com/blog/creed-frontman-scott-stapp-on-the-paul-edwards-program