Critic's evaluation
Different. Different is the word that defines Scott Stapp's second Brazilian trip to promote his solo career. In 2016, the singer was in the country to perform only one show, made at Tropical Butantã, in São Paulo (SP). This year, on the other hand, Stapp played six shows and the São Paulo capital was responsible for closing his tupiniquim trip, with a show scheduled at Audio Club.
On November 17, 2019, the sidewalk that permeated the concert hall was already, at 6 pm, filled by a line that stretched for kilometers. Inside, although both venues had the same capacity, the present venue was visibly more crowded.
The public, thirsty for Stapp's presentation, who is currently promoting his third and latest solo studio album The Space Between the Shadows, had to wait longer to see it. This is because at 7:28 pm who took the stage was the opening band Removing Silence. Presenting a blend of grunge with stoner rock, the group had a performance with sound that was of poor quality and poor mixing, and which, for this reason, did not survive for long. After two songs without being able to understand a phrase sung by the singer, the audience began to disperse and hope that the set would end as soon as possible, which happened at 7:57 pm.
It was then that a period of boredom and anxiety began. For an hour, the audience witnessed a slow and lazy stage organization while listening to a full set of rock songs from the 1990s, a factor that reduced the feeling of tiredness and boredom. When the stage was cleared of the stage crew, the audience became tense and even more excited.
It was then that, punctually at 9pm, the time scheduled by the organizers of the event, that Scott Stapp and his backing band took the stage causing even more delirium in those present. And as it happened in 2016, when Stapp was promoting Proof Of Life, his second solo album, the track chosen to open the show was the explosive Bullets, responsible for creating an atmosphere of hysteria in the audience, who were recording the moment with cell phones, jumping and screaming, and aggressiveness in the sound propagated by the musicians.
Next, Stapp and company brought World I Use To Know, the opening track from their recent studio album. With a performative and intense presentation, the singer managed again to get the audience off the floor and create constant uproar until its end, when the people present started an endless round of applause.
"Let's go back to the beginning", Scott Stapp said later into the microphone to introduce My Own Prison, single song from the eponymous debut album of the Creed career, the group that established him as a lyricist and vocalist. In the song, hands drawing the rock horns were seen everywhere while the gongs, already hoarse, tried to accompany the singer in the lyrics.
Face The Sun, also from The Space Between the Shadows, was a song with extreme sound pressure, thanks to the chemistry created between guitarists Yiannis Papadopoulos and Ben Flanders, bassist Sammy Hudson and drummer Dango Empire. Again, heads were seen going back and forth with force and hair was flying everywhere. It was also in this song that it was possible to notice some of Stapp's body vices. During the instrumentals, the vocalist would make awkward waving movements across the stage while keeping his lips rigidly in the shape of a beak.
In Overcome, single from Full Circle, Creed's last album released until then, the audience went crazy, jumping and singing along with the singer. Due to the consequent receptivity, Stapp assumed nervous features after each sung phrase and, holding the microphone while keeping the body leaning to the left, made circular movements with both hands, denouncing, finally, another body addiction.
Inside Us All, the next track, was the first song responsible for bringing tears to the audience. Its melodic and harmonic sound brought feelings of melancholy and uncontrolled shivers in the audience, which, despite the feelings, sang at the top of their voices the part "there's no peace, oooh there's no peace inside us all".
Breaking this energy down, came the killer and pulsating What If, another Creed track. However, the pressure and aggressiveness with which the song was presented made the feeling of those present was that the song was current, as the rhythmic garb was audibly heavier and more aggressive.
"When I was a boy, something happens, something that hurts me", said the vocalist with a reflective look on his face as he introduced the deep and reflective Name. With an intense and sentimental performance, the audience was moved by the story told in the lyrics and by the experience of seeing it being played live, which was divided between groups who watched in awe and others who sang and recorded the moment at all costs.
Moments that marked the show were also present in Survivor, when the audience, with a totally Brazilian accent and language, shouted "Olê olê olê olê Scottê, Scottê". It was interesting to have the audience's chorus being joined by drummer Dango Empire, who hit the bass drum to the rhythm of the audience's chanting.
Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington were not left out of the show either. After all, Gone To Soon, the song made in honor of the musicians was included in the set among the tracks included in the encore and received a good response from the audience, which was emotional and melancholic when remembering the death of the musicians. However, when Stapp decided to sing it sitting at the edge of the stage, the audience came to their senses and, insanely, tried at all costs to touch the musician.
Another defining moment was during the acoustic performance of With Arms Wide Open. Three stools were positioned in the center of the stage and Scott Stapp, together with Papadopoulos and Flanders, played the song in an innovative and sentimental way.
To finish, the track chosen was Don't Stop Dancing, another strong single from Creed's musical catalog. It was here that Scott Stapp found himself surprised by the audience who, in unison, sang the vocal parts of Aimee Stapp, Stapp's sister and backing vocalist invited to record the song.
Scott Stapp's performance was really different. It attracted more audience, was more intense and more aggressive. Also, while the 2016 performance had Jesus Was a Rockstar, Stapp's only solo track taken out of the repertoire and replaced by Don't Stop Dancing, this Sunday's performance was well-divided, containing six solo songs, all from The Space Between the Shadows, and 10 from Creed.
It is hoped that the Brazilian audience will not have to wait another three years to witness the performance of Scott Stapp, a singer and lyricist who, with time, shows himself musically more and more mature and confident in following his own path.
*Review originally posted on Allmanaque
