THE FILTER CONCERT EXPERIENCE

I've seen Filter 3 times in Australia, but the most memorable show was in Adelaide in Feb 2000. It was a really warm night and lots of friends were there and they played in this little outdoor show with about 800 people. Intimate and very cool.

My friend was supplying lights for the show and I was introduced to Filter's lighting guy, Lars. He was a doll and invited me and my sister to go for drinks afterward. We ended up back at their hotel and after many many beers, Geno and I headed off to the lobby piano. Geno sat down and started playing and asked me to guess what song it was. Anyway, it was "In the air tonight" by Phil Collins. I used to sing an acoustic version of that song in a band so I started singing it. THEN, my sister came up and started doing harmonies. He kinda smiled and was like "oh wow, cool". We sang a couple more tunes and then I fell into the lobby fountain and kinda ruined the moment. :-)

They are lovely guys and 2 days after they left Adelaide, Lars called us and said "get your asses up to Sydney". They put us up in their hotel, all expenses paid and weren't sleazy assholes at all. We were treated really well and had a blast with everybody there.

I am about to record my first CD and Richie has been a total inspiration to me both vocally and musically since I first heard Filter in 1996. Geno is also great and I'll always treasure that night I got to sing with him (!!!) and shoot the shit about music.

I EAGERLY anticipate their new album.

A KICK-ASS concert.

I got to the Riv @ 5:00pm and stood outside in line until they opened the door a bit early @ 5:45pm. We saw one of FILTER's roadies walking around and missed the opportunity to beg for backstage passes. Sigh. We got in and found the perfect place on the second tier which is about 50 feet in front of the stage, 3 feet higher than the rest of the crowd. It turned out to be a safe place and quite a good spot later in the show.

We stood around listening to other band's cd's (they played Staind first, and we missed half of it because they were playing it before they let people in. Argh!) and talked to everyone until Chevelle came on 20 minutes early (when has that ever happened?) around 7:10pm. They were pretty good, except the lead singer's mike wasn't set up right and we couldn't hear what he was singing over the guitars and drums. Oh, well, they still rocked. The lead singer was a little upset with us at first because nobody was moshing. After that announcement a mosh pit broke out for all of three minutes. Then everyone seemed to be a statue again. Chevelle played for about

After about 20 minutes, you know who came on. FILTER. It started with Geno and Frank walking onto the dark stage and playing "Sand." You could vaguely see them in the red glow. Then Rich snuck on stage, and even though it was really dark, we all knew he was up there. He was decked out in his cowboy hat and sunglasses, but he lost them both a few minutes later. The crowd exploded just as the pyrotechnics went off, and the guys began "Welcome to the Fold." Everyone was moving then, and the mosh pit was recreated. Ok, well not everyone. Let me pause and make a point here.

Why do people go to a concert and just stand around while the band is assaulting them with incredible music? I absolutely hate that. Since we were on the second tier, most of the people behind us were the tame "We-just-came-to-hear-the-band-not-to-feel-them" people, and they just stood there with their beers in their hands bopping their heads. EW. I was in an all-out frenzy!

Anyway, I can't remember the playlist exactly, and I won't even try to write it here because I would forget something.

At one point, Rich jumped off the stage and came to where we were to greet the "back of the room" fans (although we really weren't that far back, it's a small venue). He was 3 inches away from us! Everyone was yelling "RICH!" and quite a few people were successful in grabbing his ass. Oh, the life of a rock star. Then all of a sudden, he disappeared and reappeared on the stage to continue the show. After about five songs, my pager went off, and I had to go pick up my sister in the front of the theater who came late. She paged me too soon and I missed three songs! I was dying out in the lobby! But while I was out there, I noticed so many more people coming in late. COME ON! SHOW UP ON TIME! IT'S FILTER! When we got back we had to fight back through the crowds to get to the front, where I was originally standing.

FILTER rocked on for about another 40 minutes, then left the stage. After introducing some local radio contest winners, FILTER came back and did "Take a Picture" for the encore. This was the point where you figured out who the real fans were and who everyone else was. Everyone else being the people who have only heard "Take a Picture." I guess that's not a bad thing, but since they don't have a true image of FILTER, they don't know what to expect, which results in them just standing around during the rest of the show. Whatever.

So that was about it. I didn't have the opportunity to wait after the show and talk to anyone b/c of some crazy reasons. I missed out on that. That's the only thing that I was disappointed about.

Before I let you off the hook, here, let me say I wish FILTER would play more shows here in Chicago. I mean, it's their hometown! Why are they spending all their time on the East Coast (especially Pennsylvania)? Sigh.

my concert experience was just as good! i have never been to a concert and had such a good time as i did at the FILTER show!! i could just feel this rush going through me as soon as they came on stage! i'm sure that anyone who has been to a FILTER show knows what i'm talking about!! oh...and i live in pittsburgh so i'm loving the fact that they are in pennsylvania so much!! :)

i could never really say what my fav. song was that night..they were all great! i love the fact that the band talks to the audience and gets involved with them! this is a show i definitely recommend!!

The last time I saw Filter was on November 27th, 1999(I also saw them on Family Values Tour this year). It was at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. The venue is pretty small, and it didn't sell out, which made it more intimate in a way. We got there a little late and got inside just as the first opening band started(Simon Says) I really like them and bought their CD after Filter. They played for about a half an hour, I don't really remember, but after them, Drain STH came on. I wasn't as impressed by their live performances as I was with Simon Says, but they weren't bad. After DrainSTH, Zac from simon Says came out and signing ticket stubs, so he signed mine and my shirt, then he went back and got Simon Says picks and gave them to us, I got three of them.

While they set up for Filter I know they played a couple of CDs, but I just remember Staind. They had some trouble setting up, with the guitars or something, but when Filter finally came on with 'Welcome To The Fold' Everyone went crazy, but I held onto the bar at the front as hard as I could and didn't budge. I have a really bad memory, so I don't know the set list, but I know they played Dose, Hey Man Nice Shot, Trip Like I Do, Jurrasitol, Cancer, It's Gonna Kill Me, Welcome to the Fold, and they closed with Take a Picture.

I was kind of surprised that they didn't play much from TOR, but it was a great show, Rich's voice sounded incredible, plus I got his beer. About half way through the set, Rich said my friends and I looked like we were thirsty, so he tossed his beer from the stage, so that not a lot of it would spill, and I caught it(I'm a dork, I still have the cup:)

When they closed, Zac from Simon Says came out and played guitar on Take A Picture, the drummer, Mike(I think that's his name) played bongos. When Filter left the stage, after a couple of minutes, Zac came back out and signed all three of my picks, then, the security guards kicked us out. I bought the Simon Says CD, a bunch of stickers, a Filter sweatshirt and t-shirt, and a Simon Says sweatshirt (I saved for this concert!). When I opened the CD I bought, it was signed by all the members of the band. I'm very sure it's real because you can see the different colors a permanent marker leaves on black, it's kinda hard to explain.

Anyway, that's my latest Filter experience, hope you enjoyed it!

This will forever be the second greatest concert of my life (only second to Filter experience #2). I had been listening to TITLE OF RECORD since it had come out and I found out they were coming to this theater about 500 yards from my dorm, so I had to get a ticket and go. I got there early and ended up being really close to the stage (I was probably the 30th person in the door.) But I made a mistake by standing in the middle of the place (I'm a thin guy and the mosh pit got a little rough when the 200 pounders came running.)

So anyway, Simon Says was the first band to play, and I wasn't too impressed. Then Drain STH made their debut, I had heard of them before and I like them, so I really enjoyed their set.

Then it was Filter's turn. They completely blew me away. They opened with Welcome to the Fold (Sand technically) and blew out everyone's ear drums with that first song. I knew I was in for a treat. They played most the stuff off of TITLE OF RECORD and the singles from SHORT BUS, along with Trip like I do, Jurassitol, and One thrown in there, too. I was definitely not expecting what type of energy they put out. By the time the concert was over, I was thoroughly exhausted and about to drop dead. Afterwards, I couldn't walk for a week because I was so sore.

But this is where it gets interesting. I asked one of the security guards after the concert if he could get me backstage to meet them. He said no, but if I went behind the building where the tour buses were, they may come out and sign stuff. So of course I went back there. It was a pretty cold night in Cincinnati, so there were only about 20 people who were crazy enough to deal with the cold. After about 30 minutes, Geno Leonardo came out and started signing autographs. I got my ticket stub and my Filter shirt (which I had just bought) signed. Everyone kept asking when Richard was coming out though (It seemed rude, so I wasn't one of the people asking. I mean, the guy came out in the cold to sign autographs, I couldn't believe people would ask him to go get Rich.) So after he signed stuff and took pictures and talked with us all for alot longer than anyone thought he would, he went inside. So I went over to the Drain STH bus to see if there was anyone signing stuff there. The drummer just happened to have come out and started to sign stuff. So I got my Drain CD (Which I had also just bought) signed by her. That was really cool. Then I proceeded back to where Geno had been.

After about 15 minutes, Richard came out of the building, looked at us, waved and said "Thanks for coming out." as he walked towards the bus. Everyone thought he was going to just leave us high and dry. All of a sudden, Richard stops, turns around and says "What the Fuck are you guys doing? Get over here and gather around so I can sign your stuff." Everyone (which had become 15 people by now) started laughing like crazy, because Richard had just played a really cruel joke on all of us. So we all gathered around him while he signed an amazing amount of Filter stuff. I ended up getting my ticket stub and my t-shirt signed by him too. Then I asked him about what he thought of being back in Cleveland for a show the night before (I live near Cleveland, and I know he was from the area too, so it seemed like a smart question to ask.) He replied with "Man, Cleveland fucking sucked. You guys are so much cooler than they are. We played our asses off and they acted like they didn't even care. I guess they think I'm a sellout now because I bought a house and have a hit record." I will always remember that, because it was an answer from Richard straight to me. He stayed out there for a long time, even after all the autographs were done. He just stayed out and talked to us. He was joking around with people and just being a normal guy. I ended up getting to shake his hand before he left and I went home after having the greatest night of my life.

Well, My birthday was April 5th, so I figured I need to do something to celebrate. So I took a week off from college and went home (200 miles North of Cincinnati) to see NIN with A Perfect Circle on April 12th, and Filter on April 15th. I won't give my NIN review, because this is all about Filter. But I will say that they put on an amazing show, and A Perfect Circle is a band worth seeing if you ever get the privilege. APC is Maynard James Keenan's (the lead singer of TOOL) side band. If you like Tool, go get APC's album and definitely go see them live.

Anyway, On to the Filter review. I had no idea how to get tickets for this concert. I was checking for months on Ticketmaster.com and SFX.com and there was absolutely no info that the concert even existed. I only knew about it because it was on the Official Filter website. So I came home on April 7th, and on April 10th I drove up to the college to see if there was any ticket info. They told me that tickets had just gone on sale to the public the day before, so I was lucky I got there that day. So I got my Filter tickets (which were printed up by the college, that is why I couldn't find tickets through ticketmaster of SFX) and I was ready to rock.

I got there early on Saturday to assure that I would be close again. And this time, I was right up against the gate keep the fans off the stage. So I was as close as you could possibly be. The opening band was SRC (Snake River Conspiracy), once again...I wasn't too impressed. There were like 2 songs that I really liked, but not an overly amazing band. I think Richard invited them along because the lead singer was female. (Has anyone else noticed that all the opening bands have female members? SRC, Drain STH, Veruca Salt. What's with Rich and all the female groups?) So anyway, Filter was up next. They opened with Welcome to the Fold (Sand if you want to be technical about it) which as always, gets the crowd pumped from the first second. They didn't play as many songs as the first time I saw them, but they did do an 18 minute version of Under. I know it was that long because my sister clocked it. She commented on how amazing the drummer was, because he was "Wailing on those things for 18 straight minutes."

But this is the cool part. During the 3rd song, Geno grabs one of his beer cups, take a drink, and throws it into the crowd. Who ended up with it?...I DID!! I decided to finish off what was left, just so I could say I drank Geno's beer. So I got his beer cup, that was cool. Then after a while, Geno lost his guitar pick, he grabbed for another one on his mic stand and accidentally got 2. So he threw the extra into the crowd. Who got it?...I DID!!! Then, during a break, Richard lit up a cigarette. He smoked about half of it, and flicked it to the side of the stage. One of the security guards saw it still burning and put it in a bottle of water to put it out. So what was running through my mind? "That was just in Richard's mouth. You have to get it." I begged the security guard for the bottle, and without asking why, she just gave it to me. But that wasn't all. At the end of the concert, Richard threw his remaining guitar picks into the crowd and I ended up with one of those too. So my total for this concert : Geno's beer cup, Richard's half-smoked cigarette, Geno's guitar pick, and Richard's guitar pick. Plus, I bought the shirt that says "Welcome to the Fold Motherfucker" on the back and it has Geno's beer all over it. Now, considering I went to this concert to celebrate my birthday, I think I got alot of nice birthday presents from the members of Filter. This was the greatest Birthday of my life and I only have Filter to thank for it. The concert was the best one I have ever been to, and I got all sorts of great Filter memorabilia. I love this band. They give and give and never expect anything in return.

My friends and I were really excited to see Filter for the 3rd time. We had seen them back in October for Family Values and in November at the Hammerstein Ballroom as well. We actually were going to pass this concert up but as the day got closer we said, we have to see Filter again!!!!

We got stuck in major traffic on the way and ended up getting there only 15 minutes before the concert started. We thought we were going to end up in the back because we were late, we had 1st mezzanine but it's General Admission. Suprisingly enough we ended up with second row, awesome seats, not far from the stage at all. We were happy!

We weren't impressed by SRC or Veruca Salt. I'm not big fans of either. We were so ready for Filter by the time Veruca Salt was finished. Filter was incredible as usual! This was probably the best show out of all the times I've seen them. They had a longer set and everything. My friends and I screamed at the top of our lungs for the whole show. The people in front of us were getting really mad at us but we really didn't care, it's Filter after all! They sat there the whole time and didn't move or sing a word. How could you not move or sing, it's a Filter show! Anyway, the highlights of the evening were when Richard let us sing the part in Hey Man Nice Shot that goes- "That's why I say hey man nice shot." By that time my voice was gone and it actually hurt to say it but it didn't stop me! Also when they sang The Best Things (we never heard it live before), Richard wanted everyone to jump during it but we couldn't move in our seats, it was cramped there. Actually all the songs sounded great.

It was a great concert, we're so happy we didn't pass it up. Can't wait to see them again at the Rolling Rock festival- August 5, 2000!

The first time I saw Filter was in December at an AIDS benefit concert here in San Francisco (Blink 182, Foo Fighters, 311 and Bush also played). I was on the floor directly in front of the stage but, if it weren't for a certain very cute pro-surfer, I would have gotten squashed to death by the prepubescent crowd (aka Blink fans). Filter was awesome despite a few technical difficulties but they only did a 1 hour set (because so many other bands were playing and they were the first band on) and that was a bit disappointing. I left right after their set and do you want to know what happened? About an hour after I left they came out near the lobby of the venue to greet fans, sign autographs and hand out memorabilia! Yes, I missed that boat! Feeling slightly cheated, I HAD to see them again when they came back to San Fran in March...

This time they headlined at a small venue called The Warfield Theater and, with full charged childish desperation, I went to the venue about 8 hours early to see if I could find one of the guys or someone who would hook me up with backstage passes. There was nobody outside except for an employee of the theater, but she told me that Rich was already inside and that if I wrote him a note she'd make sure he got it. Well, I reluctantly wrote this silly little note that DID make it into the hands of Rich's girlfriend. Needless to say, the show was incredible (MUCH better than the first; they were flawless) and although I didn't get passes I DID meet the band out by their tour bus and managed to get their autographs (no pics since security confiscated my film inside!). I was disappointed about the passes but that silly little note that I was talked into writing landed me all the way in Denver the following week and partying all night on their tour bus! Listen...

The day after the Warfield show I post a little blurb on the board about meeting them and not getting any pics and who should I get an email from? Rich's girlfriend. This way cool chic offered to hook me up with backstage passes so I told her I'd fly to the Denver show that following week (where I'd hook up with Twisted) just to see the show and meet them. She DID put both of us on the guest list w/ 2 after show passes, but being that we hooked up with Frank at about 4pm in his hotel room and then went straight to the bus to drink a few beers we really didn't need the passes because he hooked us up with VIP passes! Don't worry, the other tickets and passes didn't go to waste. We gave them away to people waiting in line before the show. Well, what did we do? We drank (and then some), went in to watch the soundcheck, went back to the bus and drank some more, went back in and watched the show from the soundboard, hung out backstage a bit and then, the next thing I know I'm in a car with Rich and some guy (driving) and on our way to a strip club. Twisted drove Frank, Steve and Geno and they caught up with us at the club shortly thereafter. Yes, we got to see Rich get a lapdance to Take a Picture which seemed a bit surreal to me, but I think everything that night did! We made our way back to the bus after that and then made it home by about 2:30am. Can you believe I missed my 7:45am flight home that morning?? Anyway, it was all worth it, even the $120 taxicab drive to the airport and the hassle of being on standby for flights back to California! These guys are VERY cool and down to earth and a hell of alot of fun to party with! They don't sound bad either..... :o)

I actually flew up to Toronto to go to Edgefest and see Filter on Canada Day. It was great except for the fact that I think the band's set got cut a little short...the whole show was running behind schedule a bit.

The other thing was that the band seemed to experience some technical difficulties that didn't make the sound too good. Most of the other bands' sound was fine, but when it came to Filter, I noticed a difference..."blame Canada!" (Just kidding! Canada kicks ass!) But, the band still managed to put on a great show.

Some highlights:

Rich and Geno sing "happy birthday" to Canada, since it was Canada Day.

Rich's intro to "dose:" (loosely quoted) "this song's anti organized religion...fuck the pope! but hey, if you believe in that stuff, that's cool, too."

Rich got pelted above his left eye with a water bottle while he was playing. After the song was over, he politely requested, "stop throwing shit at me...I can't concentrate." They stopped. I think after that they played "hey man, nice shot..." which he introduced "hey man, nice shot...no, really, hey man, nice shot."

His intro to "it's gonna kill me": he started off with the usual background information to this song, but aptly ended it with "that's the power of pussy."

The day after the show the much music channel had coverage on edgefest and showed the short interview they did with Rich. When asked about the water bottle incident, Rich was very gracious about the whole thing. He just said that's the way it is and that's the kind of stuff to be expected at these shows. That happened to be the weekend of the pearl jam concert in denmark, so they asked him what he thought about that incident. He said it was terrible and that we in the states and in canada should be grateful that concert security does its job or that we even have it; according to Rich, in Europe, they don't have the kind of security at concerts that we have here. He says he saw some people being crushed (I think) at some show in Ireland.

So, it wasn't a bad performance by the band, by any means. They played well and Rich was very entertaining as usual. The crowd was pretty into them as well. It was just too short, but that's b/c there were other bands playing too. But, I still think, filter was cut short. If anyone out there attended edgefest, let me know what you thought. I had seen them at the hammerstein in nyc in april and that was a kick ass show! I wish I could go see them at rolling rock, but some other time...

This was my 4th time seeing Filter. We drove to RR all the way from Northwestern NJ, it took about 6 hours or so. We were a little late because the shuttle buses took forever, it started at 11am but we got inside at around 12:30. We missed most of Marcy Playground which was the first band. Then OLP came on, they were good. Next was Fuel, also very good, that was my first time seeing them live. Moby was next, we missed most of his set because of long drink lines. Filter was next, my friend and I managed to push ourselves to the front of the stage for them. I loved it because I had never seen them up close at their other concerts. They were kick ass just like I expected! The only thing that bugged me was their set wasn't as long as it usually is but it was ok. Geno ran in front of me at one point! From what I can remember they sang WTTF, Trip Like I Do, The Best Things, It's Gonna Kill Me, Jurassitol, Take a Picture, Dose, Hey Man Nice Shot. I had the same problem I did at the last Filter show I went to NYC, the people around me got pissed off cause I was screaming so much. Too bad!!! LOL. I was waving to the band through most of the show trying to get there attention since I was up front. They were throwing their usual water bottles and Richie saw me waving and said "Geno your missing that whole other side! Throw them some water!" I didn't catch one though. Maybe next time. RHCP were after Filter but we left cause we were so tired and it was really hot out that day. I got so sunburned, I had sun poisoning on my forehead and everything. I did it for Filter!!! I'm glad I got to see them one last time before the new album comes out. I'm looking forward to their next tour.