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Rock Publication
Representing The Bay
Area
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"T-Mobile Rocks the Rock" with
"Creed
Rocking the USA! |
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..."Creed," whose
debut album was aptly titled "My Own Prison," and "The
Wallflowers" were featured at concert billed as "T-Mobile Rocks the
Rock" on October 10th on the historic prison island of Alcatraz in the San
Francisco Bay.
..The event was hosted by
T-Mobile, the mobile telecommunications subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. Most
notable is the fact that this is the "first" rock concert held on the
Rock, home to such lovely characters as Al Capone, Stroud - more commonly known
as the Birdman of Alcatraz and other notorious inmates. Alcatraz is a favorite
tourist destination for San Francisco visitors and the central location for the
movie "The Rock" starring Sean Connery.
....At one point, though it was thought that Stapp from
Creed was not going to be able to make the event due to swelling of his vocal
chords caused by excessive wear and tear, he didn't want to let his fans down
and prayed that he would be able to make it through the night to satisfy all
those who trekked over the choppy bay waters to hear them play. Thanks to the
Wallflowers stepping in and lending a hand and delivering an impressive
one-hour set of old and new hits, ....Creed was able to do an abbreviated set of seven
songs. Scott Stapp has incredible willpower. Even
though we were told he had Laryngitis, his vocals are second too absolutely
none. I have never seen a concert or an artist that commands the attention of
such a diverse crowd from start to finish. The fact that he wrote so many of
the lyrics himself makes it easy for him to get emotionally involved in his
expressions and actions. So many of his songs hit home with me, and it was
amazing to see him perform. Mark Tremonti's performance has the best guitar
display I have ever seen. How these two guys hooked up on the same band is
amazing, and it must have been destined by God and everyone beneath him. With
Arms Wide Open had to have been my favorite on the evening, although the other
six songs were a close second. At one point he
mentioned to the crowd, "You make really some good looking prisoners and I
will sing this song 'My Own Prison.'
.." T-Mobile's promotion
of their Western cell phone service awarded 500 "cellmates" with
tickets to the party, including airfare and hotel accommodations, via nationwide radio promotions and more. The official
count of 1500 guests was given wristbands, colored-coded laminates and pat-down
body searches. There were also 500 people from T-Mobile. Tickets for outsiders
were ultra difficult. Those attending were T-Mobile big wigs major customers
and radio contest winners and yours truly. Branded promotional giveaways were
black fleece jackets (T-MOBILE ROCKS THE ROCK), long sleeved t-shirts, caps and
rain ponchos. During the event, T-Mobile displayed Sidekick-their new wireless
device. It is a handheld web browser/email, phone and camera. People were
taking pictures at the concert and emailing them to their friends. The front
stage crowd was pre-cast and pre-selected for "hi-energy and
enthusiastic" people for the VH1 taping. For those of you who were not
able to secure a ticket, the show airs in November. Keep your eyes
peeled.
.....The location, the artists
and the backdrop of the San Francisco skyline combined to make this a memorable
event. After the event, were given a free ride back across the Bay to San
Francisco and the real world. It's for sure that the prisoners who once resided
on The Rock didn't get entertained with this quality of music, or receive a bay
cruise back to their car. Many thanks to T-Mobile for engineering this one of a
kind event! By Randy
Cohen
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...........10/2002
