darien lake amphitheater

This summer is seeing the return of Creed -- one of the biggest music acts of the late 1990s. The band has recently completed a pair of cruises and now embarks on an extensive tour that visits outdoor amphitheaters this summer and arenas in the fall.

It’s not the first time Creed has reunited. The first time, in 2009, the band’s reunion tour the following year saw fairly lackluster ticket sales. But this year, the cruises were instant sellouts and ticket sales for the tour have been robust. What’s more, the band’s 2004 greatest hits album has been re-released and is climbing the charts for multiple rock genres.

Guitarist Mark Tremonti offered his take on why Creed is enjoying this renewed wave of popularity.

“I think ’90s music in general is having a resurgence,” he said in an early July phone interview. “I think people want to go back and relive some of their younger years when they were going through college or whatever it was and want to get back out and relive those days. So I think people just want to get back together with their friends and go see the concert that they saw 20 years ago.”

It’s not just fans who bought some of the more-than-20 million copies of the first three Creed albums -- “My Own Prison,” “Human Clay” and “Weathered” -- that are snapping up tickets for the tour. A new generation of fans has discovered Creed on Tik Tok and other online sites, through the use of the Creed hit single “Higher” by last season’s Texas Rangers as the team’s theme song and via a popular Super Bowl ad that included Tremonti and singer Scott Stapp.

It turns out our largest fan base of the tickets that have been sold is between 25 and 35 years old,” Tremonti said, citing data the band receives from ticketing outlets. ‘Those are (mainly) people that wouldn't have quite been old enough to experience a Creed concert.”

Fans will be seeing the classic Creed lineup of Stapp, Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. That unit formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, Florida, made a big splash with its 1997 debut CD, “My Own Prison,” which sold six million copies and spawned four number one hits on “Billboard” magazine’s Hot Mainstream Rock Hits chart.

The follow-up, 1999’s “Human Clay” (which is getting an expanded deluxe reissue in August) was an even bigger blockbuster, selling more than 10 million copies and producing multiple hits, including “Higher” and “With Arms Wide Open.” That latter song won the 2001 Grammy for Best Rock Song. 

The third CD, “Weathered” became another big hit, selling six million copies, but after that CD was released in November 2001, things started to go off track for the band when Stapp was involved in a 2002 car accident that delayed a Creed tour. The singer then developed nodules on his vocal cords and was prescribed prednisone to combat the inflammation. Unfortunately, he began having anxiety issues as a side effect of the drug, and hoping to counteract his anxiety attacks, began drinking to excess.

A couple of embarrassing public incidents – the release of a sex tape he made with Kid Rock and some willing female participants and a drunken performance at a Creed show in December 2002 in Chicago – only made things worse, and in 2004 the band called it quits, with Tremonti, Marshall and Phillips moving on to form Alter Bridge with singer Myles Kennedy.

Tremonti said the four musicians are hoping this second reunion sticks, and there will be Creed albums and/or tours every few years. Creed’s activities will have to happen between other projects (Stapp and Tremonti both continue to release solo albums) and projects by Alter Bridge, which very much remains an active group. 

“I think at this point now we've all seen enough, we've all been in enough bands, we've all had all our projects, to know that we're all going to be busy doing all our own things throughout the years,” Tremonti said. “We're going make it a best effort to be able to continue to keep Creed active at least every few years.

“We just have to plan way ahead, just gotta make sure that everybody has all their T’s crossed and I’s dotted in advance so we can make sure that everybody's other projects have their time and a life as well,” the guitarist said.

For now, Creed will tour, and fans can expect to hear the songs they know and love.

“Our setlist will initially start out pretty similar to what we had done on the cruises, playing the hits along with some of the favorite album tracks,” Tremonti said. 

“As the tour goes on…(we’ll) probably dive into a handful of songs that we didn't play on the cruise and then from there as the tour goes on we'll just keep on adding songs.”

Creed plays at Darien Lake Amphitheater on Friday, September 27.

When Lynyrd Skynyrd arrived at the Ryman Auditorium in November 2022 for a concert that was going to be filmed and has now debuted in select theaters nationwide, the veteran band’s core members – guitarist Gary Rossington, singer Johnny Van Zant and guitarist Rickey Medlocke, along with a guest performer for that evening, former 38 Special singer and Van Zant’s brother, Donnie Van Zant -- had something of a full-circle moment before taking the stage.

“Gary, Johnny, myself and Donnie, we had this small little dressing room,” Medlocke shared in a mid-July phone interview. “We kept laughing about how it reminded us of the real old days when you had these little dressing rooms and all of these people in them. You couldn’t hardly turn around and get dressed. We kept laughing about it. It was like the brothers in there sharing a moment. That will forever last with me, that Gary was in there with us.”

That show at the Ryman turned out to be the final performance by Rossington with Lynyrd Skynyrd. It’s captured in the aforementioned film, titled “The 50 th Anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd.” The last remaining original member of the band, the guitarist passed away in March 2023, after having for years soldiered through a myriad of health problems, including heart conditions that had required major surgeries, a pacemaker and multiple stents to maximize his blood flow.

In 2018, Lynyrd Skynyrd had actually announced a farewell tour. Rossington and his bandmates wanted to end Skynyrd on their terms, while the band could still perform at a high level. But that final extended outing got interrupted in 2020. When the pandemic eased, Lynyrd Skynyrd returned to the road, but with the tour rebranded as the Big Wheels Keep on Turning tour, not a farewell outing. Rossington’s health issues, though, prevented him from participating in nearly all of the tour.

Still, Lynyrd Skynyrd moved forward, announcing a co-headlining tour with ZZ Top that began this past summer and continues this winter and spring, only to see Rossington pass away in March of last year.

The guitarist’s death is still a raw subject for Medlocke, who was actually in the early lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1971 to 1972 – as the drummer -- before departing to start his own band, Blackfoot. He had grown close to Rossington since rejoining Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1996.

“I mean, you don’t spend that long of a time with a guy that all of a sudden something happens that you’re not really, you’re hit square in the face with it,” Medlocke said. 

But for now, the guys in Lynyrd Skynyrd are looking ahead, having been told by Rossington’s wife Dale (herself a long-time member of the Honkettes, the backing female vocal trio that remains part of Skynyrd’s touring lineup) that Rossington wanted the band to continue bringing their music to the band’s loyal fans.

“Right now there’s really no plan at this point to ever call it, to call it a day,” Medlocke said. “As long as the fans keep coming out and they keep wanting to hear the music and they’re asking for it, we’ll continue to go out.”

So the story of Lynyrd Skynyrd, one of the most tragic and eventually triumphant sagas in rock music history, continues, as today’s band -- Van Zant, Medlocke, Michael Cartellone (drums), Mark Matejka (guitar), Damon Johnson (guitarist/singer in Brother Cane, who has taken over for Rossington), Peter Keys (keyboards) and Keith Christopher (bass) – hit the road with ZZ Top.

The original band is widely credited with pioneering the Southern rock genre, with early hits like the signature epic “Free Bird” and radio favorite “Sweet Home Alabama” helping the group gain an early foothold. Lynyrd Skynyrd appeared to be hitting a musical peak with their fifth album, the 1977 release “Street Survivors.” But the album had been out only three days when an October plane crash claimed the lives of singer/songwriter and band leader Ronnie Van Zant, as well as guitarist Steve Gaines and backing singer Cassie Gaines (Steve’s sister), among others.

It looked like Lynyrd Skynyrd had come to a sudden, premature and tragic end. But in 1987, surviving members Rossington, guitarist Allen Collins, bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboardist Billy Powell and drummer Artimus Pyle decided to revive Skynyrd, bringing in guitarist Ed King (who was in Skynyrd from 1972 to 1975) to replace Gaines and singer Johnny Van Zant to replace his late brother, Ronnie, in the new edition of the group. 

Lynyrd Skynyrd have been together ever since, releasing eight studio albums and several live releases. What’s more, a box set called “Fyfty” was released in October 2023. It features 25 songs from the original band and 25 from the post-’87 unit and there’s talk of doing a new album.

For now Medlocke is excited to be on the road with long-time friends ZZ Top. Fans can expect many of their favorite songs and a few surprises from Lynyrd Skynyrd on the tour. 

“You always like to try to do some standards, but also dig down into the catalog and try to pull out things that normally you wouldn’t do, just to let the fans hear it,” Medlocke said. 

ZZ Top performs at Darien Lake Amphitheater on Thursday, September 12.

ZZ Top’s “Raw” is as close to being an accidental album as it gets. 

The album, which was released in July 2022, is drawn from a session at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas in which singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard played versions of such familiar songs as “La Grange,” “Tush,” “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Legs” in the most live, spontaneous and basic setting possible.

The performances were filmed for use in the recent ZZ Top documentary celebrating the band’s 50-year history with its classic lineup, “That Little Ol’ Band from Texas.” When the trio unplugged and left Gruene Hall that day, they thought it was mission accomplished. The footage was shot and recorded, end of story.

“The tunes on that occasion unfolded quite in the moment,” Gibbons said, recalling the session in a new e-mail interview. “Our director, Sam (Dunn), wanted a sequence where we played in the present day as a balance to the film’s historical narrative. We got in there and did what we did and later, much later, realized we had an album.” 

As Gibbons indicated, upon further review, the performances captured something that was worth hearing in its entirety – the unmistakable Texas blues-rock boogie of ZZ Top in its most authentic state. And the “Raw” album became a reality.

The album figures to take on some significance as one of the last live documents of ZZ Top with Hill, who passed away in July 2021. Long-time guitar tech Elwood Francis had stepped in on bass on occasions when Hill had injuries or health issues that prevented him from touring.

When Hill died, the band barely took time off before resuming the tour, knowing that’s what Hill would have wanted. 

Nevertheless, Hill’s death came as a shock.

“It was quite sudden and we remained under the assumption he’d rally, recover and rejoin us,” Gibbons said. “There was no anticipation mental or otherwise. We just had to deal with the reality of departure and the quick turnaround helped reinforce “the show must go on” ethos. Our crew, our friends, fans and followers have been a huge source of comfort.”

Now ZZ Top, with Francis considered a long-term third member, are back on tour, doing a summer co-headlining run with Lynyrd Skynyrd, playing a show that touches on all 50-plus years of the band’s history. 

“We know we’ll go as far back as possible… perhaps ‘Brown Sugar’ or ‘Just Got Back From Baby’s’ from the cleverly titled ‘ZZ Top’s First Album’ or even Willie Brown’s ‘Future Blues’ that predates us by 40 plus years,” Gibbons said. “Of course, (we’ll include) a few of the ones well known like “La Grange” and “Legs.” What’s certain is the famed adage of ‘something old, something borrowed and most definitely something blue’ (will apply).”

ZZ Top’s longevity is notable enough, but the fact that the classic lineup remained intact for 50-plus years makes ZZ Top a rare example of stability and sustained creativity and quality in what is often a volatile reality of being a rock band.

The ZZ Top story is told quite colorfully in “That Little Ol’ Band from Texas,” during which Gibbons, Hill and Beard take viewers on a trip through ZZ Top’s 50-year history. The film hits a lot of highlights, including how the trio came together, how the group got its distinctive high-powered sound and their initial commercial breakthrough. From there, the film visits a late ‘70s period that included a hiatus and Beard’s battle with addictions and moves onto the 1980s, when ZZ Top incorporated synthesizers and sequencers into their sound and hit a commercial grand slam with the 1983 album, “Eliminator,” before reaching into the present day.

ZZ Top made their first big impact with the 1973 album “Tres Hombres” and its single, “La Grange.” Subsequent early hits like “Tush,” “Tube Steak Boogie” and “Cheap Sunglasses” helped the band notch a string of five gold or platinum albums during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Then a convergence of factors – the arrival of sequencers and other recording tools, the debut of MTV (which aired the groundbreaking videos for the hit songs “Legs,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Sharp Dressed Man”) and some inspired songwriting – made ZZ Top mega-platinum superstars (with Gibbons and Hill debuting their newly grown outsized beards).

But since reaching their commercial peak with “Eliminator” and the sonically similar “Afterburner” (1985) and “Recycler” (1990), ZZ Top have returned to more of a stripped back bluesy guitar sound on their most recent albums -- “La Futura” (2012), “Mescalero” (2003)” and “XXX” (1999). Sales of those albums have fallen off, but ZZ Top remains a touring powerhouse. 

With Francis on board, Gibbons considers ZZ Top a band that still has plenty to say musically. He’s hinted that an album of new material could happen. 

“Elwood is certainly in with us for the long haul,” Gibbons said. “It’s still ZZ Top, not ZZ Top 2 or ZZ Top with an asterisk. The genuine article abides!”

ZZ Top performs at Darien Lake Amphitheater on Thursday, September 12.

When New Kids On The Block reunited in 2007, it was fair to wonder if the boy band would have more than just a brief second chapter.

After all, it had been 13-plus years since the five vocalists --Donnie Wahlberg, Joe McIntyre, Jordan Knight, Joe Knight, and Danny Wood – had enjoyed an initial run in which they sold some 80 million copies of its four albums worldwide -- with the 1988 album “Hangin’ Tough” and 1990’s “Step By Step” leading the way.

The guys were now in their 30s, and their teen fans of the 1990s were now well into adulthood. Had the fans moved on? Would the songs New Kids On The Block sang in their teens still resonate when performed by a group whose members were starting to approach middle age?

As it turned out, the reunited group’s first tour in fall 2008 was an all-out success, and since then the New Kids’ popularity has endured. This summer sees the group once again headlining outdoor amphitheaters that hold upwards of 20,000 people as they tour behind their third post-reunion album, “Still Kids.”

So back in 2007 did McIntyre envision a scenario where in 2024 New Kids On The Block would still be major stars and looking at what should be continued success for years to come?

“Uh, no,” McIntyre said in a late-June phone interview. “I think If you asked any of us that 15 years later since we got back together, 16 years later, it's (pause), it's breathtaking. It definitely gives you pause. You're obviously very grateful. At the sametime, on the day-to-day, I know how much we believe, you know what I mean, and we have this concoction of personalities and desires and drive.

“The five of us all show up. So it's not a mystery as far as the day-to-day and the passion that's involved,” he said. “And you know, when something is this big for this long, for me, I get to a point where I can't keep trying to figure it out and just count my blessings and be of service…I think slowly but surely I'm at a point where I'm like hey man, I’ve just got a job to do and I'm lucky enough to have that job and I'm here to entertain the people and have a good time.”

The New Kids have certainly had quite the career. Liftoff came in 1988, when the teenage Tiffany, then at the peak of her “I Think We’re Alone Now” popularity, brought New Kids on the Block out on her Nation Area tour, putting the boys on stage in front of tens of thousands -- just when they’d released their second album “Hangin’ Tough.”  

By the end of 1989, the singles “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” and the song “Hangin’ Tough” had all topped the charts, and the New Kids were the biggest boy band going.

Another blockbuster album, “Step By Step,” followed, before the New Kids saw their fortunes wane with the 1994 album “Face The Music.” It failed to generate any hits and the group was now playing smaller venues. Following the tour, the group decided to call it a day.

Since reuniting, it’s become clear that the New Kids weren’t simply interested in taking a victory lap. They’ve toured consistently and have now released three studio albums -- “The Block” in 2008, “10” in 2013 and “Still Kids” earlier this year.

The latest album retains many of the musical trademarks of the early New Kids albums, with buoyant, danceable uptempo tracks like “Magic,” “Dance With You” and “Kids” having the familiar synthy gloss and strong pop melodies. The album also has its share of grooving ballads, including “Come Back,” “A Love Like This” and “Better Days.” 

At the same time, McIntyre said some songs -- most notably “Stay,” a lush multi-faceted tune about staying -- or leaving -- long-time relationships -- pushed the group into new musical places with its instrumental breakdown.

The concerts New Kids on the Block are doing this summer will include upwards of five songs from “Still Kids,” as well as the expected hit songs from the group’s catalog.

“We you want to give the people what they want and then also mix it up for us to keep it fresh. So we’ve managed to do that,” McIntyre said. And yes, there will be dancing, although McIntyre noted the group has had to
make some adjustments now that they’re in their 50s.

“I think it's a balance,” he said. “We want to keep challenging ourselves, but we want to be appropriate for our age and not run around like chickens with their heads cut off like we used to. But let me tell you, it's a workout. It’s a workout every night, especially outside in summer. But it makes it kind of cathartic. It adds to the experience, but you know, we have our signature moves and we try to build a show that is about ovement and dance and connection. I think we do a decent job balancing that out.” 

New Kids On The Block performs at Darien Lake Amphitheater on Thursday, August 22.

This summer, Jason Aldean is doing what he’s done nearly every year around this time since he arrived on the country music scene in 2005. He’s going on tour, headlining amphitheater shows across the country.

To hear him tell it, getting out on the road and onto concert stages never gets old.

“That’s always kind of been my favorite part, the live touring and being on the road and playing music,” Aldean said in a phone interview. “I’m not really a studio rat guy. I’m not a guy that just loves going in the studio and stays in there all the time. When we go cut an album, I want to get in there, get it done, knock it out and then I want to go tour.”

That’s not to say Aldean has been neglecting the music-making side of his career. In fact, he’s been particularly prolific over the past five-plus years, releasing more than 70 songs over the course of five albums – the most recent of which was last year’s “Highway Desperado.”

Beyond being efficient with his time in the studio, one thing that probably has helped enable Aldean to release so much music lately is he’s relied on outside songwriters for nearly all of his most recent material – which means Aldean hasn’t had to set aside time for songwriting. 

That, however, changed somewhat with “Highway Desperado,” as Aldean co-wrote three of the album’s songs.

“I got back in the writer’s chair for this album,” Aldean said. “It still is a part of what I do. I can do it. I don’t love it, and I don’t know how to say it. Sitting in a room for me for hours at a time trying to come up with something is torture. I’m just not good at that. I don’t like to feel like I’m closed in in an office. I have to kind of approach it in a different way. So for this album, I kind of wanted to get back into that a little bit and I found a way that kind of works for me a little bit.”

Aldean credited two of his band members, Kurt Allison (guitar) and Tully Kennedy (bass), with spurring him to write with them for “Highway Desperado,” and the two band members have credits on the majority of the songs on the album, including its controversial lead single, “Try That in a Small Town.”

The song decries senseless big-city crime, but was widely criticized as an anti-Black Lives Matter song that celebrates a brand of vigilante justice where townspeople take care of their own.

Aldean has defended “Try That in a Small Town,” saying in a statement the song wasn’t meant to deal with race and was a tribute to communities that come together to support each other in times of trouble. Aldean also commented on the song in this interview.

“‘Try That in a Small Town,” it’s just one of those things that I felt like was something I wanted to say. Like most everybody, I watch the news every night and see what’s going on in our world, and it’s crazy and insane, and it’s just not something I can still wrap my head around,” Aldean said. “You get a song like this that comes along and it says everything you want to say, and it’s like man, I want to cut that and I want to get it out as soon as possible.”

The fuss over “Try That in a Small Town” has eased now, but despite that, it became Aldean’s first song to top “Billboard” magazine’s all-genre Hot 100 singles chart. It also topped the country singles chart.

Having a song top the country charts has become a regular occurrence for Aldean, who splashed onto the scene with a 2005 self-titled debut album that turned out a No. 1 single, “Why,” and two top 10 songs, “Hicktown” and “Amarillo Sky.” He’s gone on to pile up nearly 30 No. 1 songs over his career.

Aldean views “Highway Desperado” as traveling down a similar musical path as his other albums, with several musical genres working their way into a mix of hefty rock-tinged songs and sturdy, melodic ballads.

“I think at this point, when you listen to any of the albums I’ve done, my sound and what I do is just what I do,” he said. “There’s going to be some rock and roll influence in there, obviously a lot of country music influence, some pop and hip-hop-type stuff. It’s what I’ve done kind of my whole career.”

Aldean can’t fit all of his hits into his shows anymore, but he puts a good deal of effort into crafting a crowd-pleasing selection of songs.

“Every year, I really sit down and try to come up with a set list that I feel like is cool, that people are going to get their money’s worth when they come to a show and try to figure out a way to play some of the things that everybody knows from year’s past, and also some songs that we’ve done recently,” he said. “It’s a little tricky sometimes.”

Jason Aldean performs at Darien Lake Amphitheater on Thursday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m.