Last week, Halloween night, I went to a rock show. I got free tickets to see Filter. They were there with Fight or Flight, We as Human, and Emperors & Elephants. When the show was announced, I was undecided on whether to go or not. But when presented with free tickets, the decision was easy...absolutely! I really wanted to see Fight or Flight and Filter usually puts on a good show.
There was only about 150 people there. I suppose with it being Halloween and all, most are at parties or trick or treating with their kids. Fine with me as I was able to saddle right up to the stage. The first band was Emperors & Elephants. They weren't bad at all. An interesting collections of musicians. Not sure if you do, but sometimes I look at a band and wonder how they met or how they got together. Some bands look like people from separate, distinct lifestyles, yet are drawn together in a band. It's an interesting phenomenon. The drummer was a big guy, almost too big for the drumset. One of the guitarist was probably his brother. The bass player looked like a cast off from a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band. The singer seemed several years younger than everyone else. Most notable though, was the lead guitarist, who looked like he was straight out of the 80's with the cliche long, crimped hair blowing from the fan that he was playing in front of. I can't believe I wrote this much about the first band of the night. They were good though. I've certainly seen worse opening acts.
Next up was We As Human. Not a whole lot to say about these guys. Solid band. I liked them better than Emperors & Elephants. The lead singer appeared to be the happiest guy in the club, smiling and laughing. Normally rockers tend to be more serious...tougher. During the set, I noticed Dan Chandler standing in the back of the room. Of course, I had to meet him again. He seemed a little surprised that I recognized him, but was very cool.
Third band up is the band that I most wanted to see, Fight or Flight. The band is a side project of Disturbed guitarist, Dan Donegan, and includes fellow Disturbed bandmate, drummer Mike Wengren, Ra bass player, Sean Corcoran, Bellevue Suite guitarist, Jeremy Jayson, and Evans Blue frontman, Dan Chandler. I'm a big fan of Disturbed and Evans Blue, so I was looking forward to this night. Their debut album, A Life by Design?, is really good. I recommend you check it. Take a listen here.
While waiting for Filter to take the stage, Richard Patrick happened to walk right past. So we shook his hand. I've seen Filter several times over the years and this night's show just might be my favorite of them all. One thing you can count on is Richard giving 100% every time. No disappointment here. Right after the third song or so, the bass player's bass broke. So while he and the tech were working diligently to fix it, Richard proceeded to fill the gap in music with stories and talking to the crowd. He was quite funny and entertaining. Apparently one guy from the tour put cheese or something on his microphone. It was a great show. I like the new album. Here's a song from it.
Did I mention it was Halloween? There were a few costumes in the crowd. I thought one guy was dressed as Ace Frehley, until I got closer and realized he was a green Power Ranger. There were a few other costumes, but the winner was the "person" dressed in a full leather, dominatrix outfit. Wasn't really sure the gender, but think we did see an Adam's apple. Even Richard enjoyed the costumer and asked the person to get closer to the stage. All in all, it was a fun evening with great music. I look forward to the next show.
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