Watch George Clanton & Kero Kero Bonito Cover Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open”
George Clanton, the vaporwave don who used to record as Mirror Kisses, has already loudly expressed his love for 311 this year, first by wearing their T-shirt at his 100% ElectroniCON event and then by teaming up with Nick Hexum himself on a pair of new tracks. Last night in Florida, he turned his attention to a different set of critically maligned late-’90s rock radio gods.
Clanton’s partner Negative Gemini is on tour right now with Kero Kero Bonito. That tour rolled through the Wilbury in Tallahassee last night, and locally relevant hijinks ensued. Near the end of KKB’s set, Clanton hopped on stage to sing “With Arms Wide Open,” the #1 hit from Tallahassee sons Creed’s 1999 blockbuster Human Clay. It is hard to know if this was a genuine or ironic gesture, though Clanton’s exaggerated Scott Stapp mannerisms suggest it’s probably a joke. Decide for yourself by watching two clips of the performance below while weighing evidence like this striking resemblance between Clanton’s album art and Limp Bizkit’s Significant Other.
KKB have also been covering U2’s “Vertigo” on this tour, and although we don’t have footage of last night’s performance, there are plentiful recordings from other nights, like this one from Montreal last month:
I am eager to learn what score my colleague Tom Breihan gives “With Arms Wide Open” when he gets that far in The Number Ones.
