On May 2, I had the rare opportunity to spend the day with some of the members of one of my favorite rock bands: Creed.

I was driving one day and heard a commercial on Pandora that Creed was performing in Grand Prairie on May 2. I later told Kelan Luker, a former Tarleton quarterback and former bass player for the band Submersed (a band that toured with Creed), that I was thinking of buying a ticket.

He said, “Don’t worry about that dude. Me and some guys are going up there to hang out with the band before the show. Do you wanna come?” It was a no brainer: yes.

When all seven of us arrived at the venue, we were greeted by guitarist Mark Tremonti who seemed genuinely happy to see everyone.

I stepped onto the stage of the Verizon Theater and saw the view that every rock star sees when they performed. The sound and the way it feels standing in front of the speakers while Tremonti played was incredible.

We were then met by Eric Friedman, a former guitarist for Submersed and current guitarist of Creed, who proceeded to show us his extensive guitar collection. Since the only decent guitar I have is my Fender acoustic, I felt extremely inferior looking at the seven guitars and the mandolin that Friedman uses in one concert.

After hanging out in the tour bus listening to up and coming bands for about an hour, we met the rest of the band, minus Scott Stapp, and went to In-n-Out Burger with them.

By the time we all got back to the Venue it was time for the band to get ready to go on stage. Stapp seemed to make himself scarce the entire day. I only saw him twice: when he was going into sound check and then when he was about to take the stage.

I’ve always been that person at rock concerts that gets way too into the music. That was made clear to me by Friedman laughing every time he looked in my direction.

The concert was incredible and the music was tight. It was easily one of the best concerts I have ever been to. Looking back, I’m extremely impressed at how down to earth most of the band members were. They didn’t act better than me and didn’t act as though my presence was inconveniencing them in any way. That’s something I doubt I’ll forget.