A heroic first chord sent vibrations through the rafters. There was a slight delay before the audience, in unison, seemed to realize what song had begun. Despite the band’s remarkable commercial achievements, “With Arms Wide Open” from the band’s sophomore title, Human Clay (1999), was their only Billboard Hot 100 chart topper to date. Wednesday night’s RodeoHouston audience reveled in a sound that seemed to arrive from another era. It was a song that had left a clear impression on this crowd, a sonic souvenir from years gone by.
Rumors of a heavy regimen of pyrotechnics had been floating around NRG Stadium earlier in the day, long before the star stage crept across the dirt, into place for Creed’s much-hyped RodeoHouston debut on March 11, 2026. What had, moments before, been the dusty grounds for death-defying sport was transformed into a venue fit for a legendary 1990s post-grunge band, whose music once dominated the turn-of-the-millennium airwaves. And, indeed, there was no shortage of pyro.
Support technicians rolled out carts of stage flames and sparklers, setting them in place around the stage, confirming the rumors. Soon after, the stadium went dark and the stage’s lights turned blue. A suspenseful backtrack began as the group picked up their instruments. The syncopated guitar riff of “Bullets” from the group’s 2001 record Weathered cut through the roar of the audience.
Frontman Scott Stapp wore a simple black T-shirt and black jeans, accented with silver bracelets. His hair was tightly cut and neatly styled—a polished appearance far removed from the singer’s late-‘90s aesthetic. His bandmates—Mark Tremonti (guitar and vocals), Brian Marshall (bass), and Scott Phillips (drums), all wore similarly minimalist, black outfits too.
Creed played through a catalogue of past successes. Songs like “Torn” from the ensemble’s 1997 debut album My Own Prison and “What If?” from 1999’s Diamond-certified record Human Clay (and notably featured in the movie “Scream 3”) had super fans on their feet, while bigger hits like “My Own Prison” (1997) and “One” had even casual listeners engaged. It’s something of an oddity for a band as massive as Creed to hit the road without a new album (or even a new single) to promote. What fans got instead was the relatively rare thrill of seeing a beloved band from years past, recreated in sound as they were at the height of their powers.
“Everyone turn on your cell phone lights, lift them up high. Now look around the stadium… let this light represent the light that’s inside each of you.” Stapp spoke earnestly to an audience that was, no doubt, larger than he was used to playing to lately. The crowd eagerly turned on their phone flash lights and waved them in the air, transforming NRG Stadium into a 360-degree starlight planetarium.
The rock band’s smash hit “With Arms Wide Open” was followed immediately by another anthem of equal cultural impact: “Higher” from the same album. Here, the audience was fully immersed in the spectacle, with pyrotechnics erupting all around, carrying the sharp scent burnt sulfur into the nosebleeds. Stapp finally began fully utilizing the full geography of the star stage, eventually making his way to one of its points which raised him into the air during the song’s famous chorus. It literally took him higher.
Creed closed the night with “One Last Breath” and “My Sacrifice,” both from the band’s 2001 album Weathered. One thing was clear throughout: behind the plumes of fire and jets of fog, the band genuinely seemed to be having a blast on stage. And when the cameras cut to the screaming fans (all 70,007 of them), the sentiment was unmistakably mutual.
SETLIST
“Bullets”
“Torn”
“Are You Ready?”
“My Own Prison”
“What If?”
“One”
“With Arms Wide Open”
“Higher”
“One Last Breath”
“My Sacrifice”