When a band that had some catchy songs plays in your town, see them, if the band happens to be Filter. Look, I have a good idea of what Filter’s crowd is and it isn’t as big as Stone Temple Pilots or some of the Industrial rock that was out back in the 1990’s. Really, the biggest problem I know for Filter is that their category is “hybrid”: rock, industrial, pop and metal. For a lot of people, this might not work, but if you happened to be like me and see Filter and 10 Years at Piere’s on June 12, you can see that a band like Filter, especially live, really, really works.
When the show started out with a shortened version of “Welcome to the Fold”, I had my reservations. The reasons for the reservations were this, Richard Patrick’s voice sounded as if he was warming it up, the song was shortened by about two minutes and the energy wasn’t there. That was the last song of the night that would appear uninspired.
Following “Welcome” was a killer version of “American Cliche”. The reason for the “killer” reference is that the riff was so heavy and clean that it just made you feel like rocking out. Also, it became obvious that the opening song was a warm-up for the rest of the night, because RP’s voice was on and it sounded great. “Soldiers of Misfortune” was a song that I wanted to see live, to see what kind of breath could be blown into that song, due to the fact that the studio version feels way too tame. “Soldiers of Misfortune” translates well live; in fact, I will continue to skip the track on the ipod until I can find a live version, because the song feels right in that arena.
“The Wake” off of the newest Filter CD, Anthems for the Damned, is a track that builds its sound, completely blowing you away at the chorus, which is exactly how I noted it. “The Wake” is a very strong chorus song and when it gets there, you just have to get into it; the crowd seemed to really get this song. “Where Do We Go From Here?” followed and that song sounded about as good a live version can sound, which means it might have been better than the recorded version. Richard Patrick is a good showman, but as a singer on a vocally challenging song like “Where Do We Go From Here” he shows that he is probably a better singer than a showman, which is very much a compliment to his singing abilities.
“Trip Like I Do” had some amazing guitar work and vocal work, again. “Its Gonna Kill Me” was a song where Richard Patrick encouraged the mosh pit to get going, after sort of beating them down earlier in the show. “Cancer” showed off some of the “classic industrial” music that Richard Patrick knows that he and the band can do. “Give Me One Reason” showed off some amazing energy by the complete band and “Skinny” was just plain amazing and kept jamming for around 10 minutes and not a minute too long.
The last three songs of the night, “Hey Man Nice Shot”, “I’m Not the Only One” and “Take a Picture” showed off the abilities of the band to keep the crowd ebbing and flowing from mellow to rocking to mid tempo to...you get the point. Filter was amazing from second song to finish; it was a great night to be in Ft. Wayne at Piere’s. By the way, it is becoming apparent that Piere’s good reputation is growing. Richard Patrick mentioned how the guys from Disturbed were saying what kind of good things were going on at Piere’s in Ft. Wayne, and if Richard Patrick wasn’t a fan of Ft. Wayne when the show began, by the end of the show he was. The crowd got into Filter and better yet, the band got into the crowd.
10 Years and Opiate for the Masses opened up for Filter and one really positive thing that can be said about 10 Years’ set is this: they got to play for around one hour, which for the second band of the night, feels like it is longer than usual. The good thing about getting a full hour? You get to know a band like you get to know the closer of the night, which made me really into 10 Years. The vocal work was great, the guitar work and the songs in general were very, very solid all night with 10 Years. Opiate for the Masses biggest thing for the crowd was the drummer, my god; it has been a while since I have seen a drummer that had that much energy and ability. Most of the time you get one or the other, but this guy is/was amazing.
If you go to a show to be in the mosh pit, I can see why you would have skipped this show, but if you get into live music, next time, see either Opiate for the Masses, 10 Years or Filter, none of these guys were a let down.
Rob