Filter‘s road hasn’t exactly been plain sailing, ’90s alt metal success, crossover pop hit, rehab, a long period of quiet…and now here they are again. Back as hungry and as happy to be gracing the stage as ever.
Opening with the monumental riff to ‘Welcome to the Fold’, Richard Patrick lets out ‘that howl’ and they’re off.
Of course they’re not here to tread old glories, there’s a new album ‘The Sun Comes Out Tonight’ to show off. The song ‘We hate it when you get what you want’ is an evolution of Filter’s skill in matching heaviness with a catchy chorus.
Mid set lighter waver ‘Take a Picture’ is a classic, a genuinely moving song that shows there’s always been more to Patrick’s song writing than industrial riffs. He may have got his start in Nine Inch Nails, but there’s strong elements of Jane’s Addiction and U2 in a lot of the material.
At several points Patrick borrows fans’ camera phones from the front row in order to film them from the stage. It’s a nice touch; if you look on Filter’s Facebook page there’s ‘PatrickCam’ footage from most nights of the tour so far. Given the somewhat pointless habit of filming bands with cameraphones (are you really going to upload that clip of blurry footage and awful sound) at least taking the phone onto the stage turns the tables and provides a fresh angle.
For an encore we get ‘So I Quit’ which features a bit of a jam and quick blast of ‘War Pigs’ probably for no other reason other than it’s really fun to play. Followed by the song that started it all ‘Hey Man, Nice Shot’ It’s bass line as insistent and unnerving as ever. Class tune, class band.
Welcome back boys.
More photos here
All photos www.markwilliamsphotography.com
