Creed-Status Green—The PNC Arts Center—August 16—LIVE!
You really have to give these guys all the credit in the world. In a time where so many great Jersey bands wander the musical desert wondering where their headed, Status Green moves in a direct line towards their own success, taking action and scoring some sweet gigs in the process. Their only full-length CD release to date is entitled Greatest Hits, a name that was a kind of an inside joke, but after you look at their persona that’s really not a stretch because their assimilation of the ‘60s pop rock genre and their material on that disc is so seasoned it’s uncanny.
These pop purveyors kick out three-chord dynamite in the vein of The Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, The Romantics and Weezer with great traditional feel and flourish. Watching this band is probably not much different than if you were watching The Dave Clark Five back in the day. Embracing their pop ancestry is completely natural for Status Green and that belief in what they do is what’s garnering success for the band.
Their latest accomplishment was achieved through the most simple of ways. They responded to a post on Sonic Bids that Live Nation was offering the opening spot for Creed at The PNC and they won it.
Hitting the big stage uniformed in their trademark ties, suits, and guitars, Status Green put on a fast moving show (it lasted a quick 20 minutes) and they squeezed some of the best tunes into that space, creating a sing along situation with the crowd and just basically taking over the whole arena with ease. The set list included “Juggling Knives,” ‘Room To Play,” “Dancing To Your Drum,” “Denver After Dawn,” “Diana” and “Big Debut,” which is being played during halftime at all the New York Giants home games.
It was a comfortable event for these guys, having already shared a big platform with Bon Jovi at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, several recent shows at Jones Beach in New York opening for Blink-182 and Nickelback and other events. A whirlwind gig for sure, their display of grace under pressure, working with Creed and Live Nation, was par for the course for these guys and the show in turn was awesome.
At this point I would love to see Status Green get hooked up with a big management firm as they’re at the stage where bigger direction is needed. And while many including myself don’t see a major label as a smart fit for lots of groups, this band is the exception to that statement. With their broad appeal, they would already be signed and into their second record if some smart firm had picked them up last year.
I believe great things are coming for this band (don’t break up guys) just around the proverbial corner. There’s not a person I know that’s not routing for this band’s well-earned success. Remember the deal guys, you get famous, I get a new truck and a bass boat. For more information on Status Green head over to myspace.com/statusgreen.
By the time Creed hit the stage the Arts center was completely packed. I was amazed at the crowd these guys can still command. This band has always been embroiled in artistic controversy having been hailed as the hard rock U2 and scoffed at as dramatic Pearl Jam phonies, but either way, after a six-year separation guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, drummer Scott Philips and Creed singer Scott Stapp have put their differences aside and gotten back to the business of Creed. And it’s been a complex business since the Weathered tour in 2003, and frontman Stapp’s infamous drunken meltdown in Chicago, a show that made rock and rolls most shocking concerts list and allegedly ending up with Stapp being sued by fans (the suit was dropped).
Sporting aggressive new material, attitude and a sober perspective, Stapp and crew ran through a mixture of Creed standards and raw new tunes from the soon to be released new CD titled Full Circle which includes their first targeted hit, “Overcome” a sound that’s good enough for me to move them out of the “Winger” category and back into the “serious rock and roll contenders” section.
You could tell the band was working hard on towing the line and projecting a streamlined image with new tunes, returning to a darker, more edgy Creed than their former ‘90s stadium stuff. Fewer ballads in the mix equals more muscle when your coming back up against Daughtry or good ole’ Nickelback.
Many groups that are lucky enough to survive and reform come back strong because they are genuinely grateful and matured. If Creed can hold this course with new tunes like “Overcome” and “Away In Silence” they just might reclaim their crown. Check up on Creed over at creed.com.
