I really don't know where to begin.
I suppose I could start by describing the crowd that jam-packed the venue.
Imagine the scene as I try my best to spell it out (all this is my detailed and objective description of the sights and sounds of the room as the opening band was setting up to play its set):
All were dressed in black. Lots of skulls and spider web embroidery with mostly red-colored, vampire-themed fonts shouting out feelings of death and violence. The cheap drinks didn't help the vibe of angry anticipation that everyone was loudly demonstrating by trying to be louder than the dude standing beside him/her. The sticky floor with the stench of wet subfloor, as well as the high temperatures and glistening sweaty foreheads, made 9pm (door opening time) a very clear premonition of how the whole show was going to go down.
The second set same on an hour later, around 10:30pm, and the crowd had increased to many more drunken and even more loud souls. Even if stage lighting was nothing short of blah (especially for the photography part of our experience), everyone in the crowd seemed to be in a trance, as if hypnotized by the sounds of the music, knowing full well that the time for Filter was getting closer and closer.
A few pushes and shoves later, the second band ended their set to make way for Filter's crew to set up the stage for the big event. Set up was painstakingly slow. At this point, the crowd was packed in like hot, sweaty, angry sardines. Squished at the stage with absolutely no room to move around to see any other angle of the musicians except the one I had chosen early on; I merely picked it because I wanted to make sure that I could easily retreat in case things got really loud and obnoxious. Seriously, it was that kind of crowd.
We looked past the fact that every step of this concert night was pushed back to a later and later time in the night. We looked past the fact that we felt like oddballs among the people attending. We looked past everything associated with this show, because we knew Filter would rock our socks off with their performance. Their absence was long and when they reunited for their new tour, there was no reason for us old fans not to be excited about the actual main musical part of the night.
Enter Filter.
First sound of our Richard Patrick's mouth? Low grumbling orgasm-induced male sounds. It went on and on and on for what seemed like an eternity. He, of course, was nowhere to be found. He had the mike backstage and kept the sounds up for maybe 4 minutes? The crowd, at this point, was screaming and pushing onto the stage more than they had the entire time before. This was exciting them even more than the meth and pills most of them were snorting and popping a few minutes earlier, right before Filter came on. Again, seriously, it was that kind of a crowd.
Finally, the lights dimmed and the band came to the stage. Right away they set off with one of their new tunes. No one that I saw was lip-synching, but all were bouncing up and down and bobbing their long-haired heads with arms raised. Clearly, everyone was psyched. At this point, I was attentively trying to shield my ears from the excessively loud volume. Filter was tight! They surely represented. Fine musicians, they were. They were entertaining to look at as they were energetically bouncing up and down, left and right. I have no idea how they were able to move around so easily and carelessly on such a small stage. I was entertained.
Again, I could not move from my spot. The photographer could not make his way through the thrashing crowd; unlike other shows we have had the pleasure to cover, we were not welcome anywhere near the stage as the crowd was so intensely immersed in the rock show. Fair enough; everyone was there for Filter and they certainly put on a great show.
Overall opinion of the night was positive. I was, however, disappointed with the energy in the air. It was obvious that the evening was overly chaotic and loud, as if everyone attending was trying their hardest to be noisier and louder than the band itself. The crowd was certainly into the music and happy to be out on the town. Me? I gladly got back in the car after the first 5 songs to try to tend to my aching and tinning ears. It was a great and memorable experience that I am glad to have lived through once. ONCE.
