So I am a little late on this post…  I have been so busy with work and just life in general and have not had a moment to sit down until this now.

A couple Saturday’s back I was invited to check out Filter at Cleveland’s Hard Rock Café thanks to Big Machine Media.  Little did I know, I was invited to a more intimate setting with proceeds being donated to the Cleveland Food Bank.  It was also the world famous rock n’ roll restaurant’s ten year anniversary since it first opened it’s doors in Cleveland.

Just a quick note and tip for that matter…  If you want a free Rolex, all you need to do is work at the Hard Rock Café for ten years.  It’s no joke; a bunch of hard working employees were recognized for their decade of service before the show with an expensive timepiece.  Just before the show started, a handful of dedicated workers at the Hard Rock Café were all presented with a fancy Rolex.  It was nice to see such an award/thank you handed out, but who am I kidding…on with the show!!!

With the venue usually operating as a restaurant, it was no surprise that there was not much room for people to gather around the stage.  Meeting up with Matt from AddictedToVinyl.com, we chose to stand our ground by the stage with our backs to the security gate that protected the large soundboard.  Not the best place to be standing for picture taking, but I did my best to capture the evening.

Opening act Electric Touch from Austin, TX hit the stage for a set that I really was wishing could have been sped up.  The rock act, reminding me of all sorts of acts from the Strokes to the Rolling Stones (the lead singer looked like Elijah Wood with Mick Jagger like moves), blew through their songs with high energy but really did not do much for myself or the rest of the crowd for that matter.  Even if the lead signer had an English accent and two of the musicians were twins, their pop rock sound did not sit well with many who anticipated Filter.  I am sure this will not the the last time I hear about Electric Touch though, with their self titled Electric Touch hitting shelves over the summer the poppy rock act should be gaining some attention…just not mine.

Cleveland’s Filter took to the stage that very well may have been the smallest stage they have ever performed on.  That was the least of the industrial/hard rock’s worries though as they delivered an amazing performance to the very lucky crowd opening with “Welcome To The Fold” off of the band’s second release Title of Record.  The current line-up all looked great and appeared to be having a great time.  Lead signer Richard Patrick was full of smiles and energy that really lead the band through the eleven song set.

My highlight of the evening was when the band broke into “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do”, a song that was actually created by Filter and electronic music duo The Crystal Method found on Spawn: The Album (1997 Film).  I immediately sang along from start to finish is it is one of my favorite tracks by Filter.  It sounded amazing live.

It was fun to people watch while the band continued to play.  There were lots of fans there who clearly have been fans of Filter during their 13 year career.  Having grown up, well most of them, some even brought their kids to the show.  At one time Richard Patrick stopped in between songs to ask how old a certain young fan was.  She let everyone know via microphone she was only nine years old.

The band continued through their set and performed “Hey Man, Nice Shot” the bands first commercial hit.  Everyone sang along to the track pumping their fists in the air.  It was indeed a very interactive evening.  After the song ended the band left the stage with all, if not every, fan begging for more.

With a brief pause the band returned to the stage for their adoring fans and broke into “The Take” off the band’s 2008 release Anthems for the Damned. From there the band played “Take A Picture”, one of their other mainstream hits.  After the last note was struck and the mic was put down, the band gave out sincere thank yous to everyone in the house.  With a quick bow and many handshakes and hi-fives the band exited and called it a night.

I admit this was the first time seeing the band live.  For some reason I thought I saw Filter live back in the day at a festival in the 90’s but apparently I was wrong (sorry Matt, I have no idea who I was thinking of)  I found out after the show by rifling through my huge stack of ticket stubs and then went so far as to research the number of times Filter played Cleveland.

It was a great experience.  Minus a couple of folk who clearly had too many pre-game drinks, most of the fans were really excited to be there and, like myself, really enjoyed their Saturday evening.  After the show staff from FYE were selling the band’s latest release Anthems for the Damned for twelve bucks.

What I didn’t know was that if you bought a CD, the band would sign it for you.  I picked up copy as I had not heard the politically charged album yet and needed something to listen to on the drive home.  After making my purchase I was handed the CD and given a wristband and pointed where to stand in line if I wanted my CD signed.  Since I was the only person standing there I decided to start the line and get the CD signed.  After I chatted with the band briefly I turned around to make way to the parking deck and discovered that the line had grown quite large.  Good timing on my part.

Thanks to my music loving guru Matt, who spoke about the show as well on his site AddictedToVinyl.com, I was able to score the entire set list:

Welcome To The Fold
American Cliche
Dose
(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do
It’s Gonna Kill Me
So I Quit
Jurassitol
Cancer
Hey Man Nice Shot

Encore:

The Take
Take A Picture

More pictures from the evening: