I’m not sure how this is going to go. I’ve not listened to Filter since they released Short Bus in the 90s. They’ll barely play any of that tonight and why would they, it turns out there’s another 8 albums to pull from! It feels a bit odd right from the get go, they’re on very early due to an early curfew at Gorilla or maybe they just want time to leg it round the corner after to watch The Pixies. There’s a decent crowd though, but again, it’s early and there’s not much movement for opening song ‘You Walk Away’. It packs a punch though and even if I don’t know it, it still gets my foot tapping. There’s a formula. Thick bass, that 90s hardcore aggression and some industrial backbone. Singer Richard Patrick is the only remaining founder member, an early stint with NIN clearly still marks his musical DNA. He even grips the mic like Reznor. There some corkers in this set. ‘For The Beaten’ sounds massive, with a great hook, crunching riffs and a bloody catchy vocal with its “worlds on fire” lyrics feeling apt in the current climate. In fact catchy is what they do well, “hey hey what do you say” bouncing round the round the room as they unleash the mischievous ‘We Hate It When You Get What You Want’. A lot is built on some truly brutal drumming from Tosh Peterson. His pounding unpins ‘Face Down’. It’s controlled with an almost glam stomp, but fear not, he’s more than capable of unleashing merry hell too. Patrick grabs someone’s phone for ‘Trip Like I Do’ filming from the stage, it’ll be the only footage filmed tonight worth watching. Seriously people put your phones away. Every time. He’s doing a deal, I’ll film. You jump. It’s a good deal, this track is full of squiggly industrial glitches, melted with a psychedelic tinge that takes in a bit of Jane’s Addiction. In fact he sounds a bit like Farrell, although with a bit more guttural power in his voice. ‘Jurassitol’ is an interesting one. There’s a ton more space in it leaving it feeling quite stripped back and primal compared to everything else so far. It builds to a monstrous finale which perhaps isn’t surprising, but it catches me off guard in the best way possible. ‘Take A Picture’ though strays oddly into U2 territory and things don’t change much with ‘Surprise’. They do go back up through the gears though and hit top speed with the punk ferocity of ‘So I Quit’. It’s like Motorhead meets GNR and it’s as batshit as that sounds. Now back on solid ground, they tear toward the end of the set, with Patrick picking up another guitar to add more riffage to ‘Dose’. “I wanna see people swinging from the ceiling at some point” Patrick says as he introduces ‘Its Gonna Kill Me’. It might be asking a bit much, but the crowd are certainly more animated than at the start. It’s the older patrons that are giving it full beans, teaching the fresher faces how it’s done. I can’t decide if I like ‘American Cliche’ or not, but like many of the songs tonight, it makes me want to dig deeper. “Who’s on drugs?” comes the call for ‘Drug Boy’, the response is comically quiet, but then it’s only just gone 21:00 on a Tuesday. Arms are up and the room in full voice for ‘Welcome to the Fold’ though. It chugs along brilliantly and is the perfect set up for what’s probably brought many here tonight. ‘Hey Man Nice Shot’ is a genuine classic. That bassline alone is fucking killer, but wow that chorus is something else. He screams, we scream. They seen genuinely happy to play the hit, which isn’t always the case. It’s a varied set, most of which I loved and I’m left thinking I need to give Filter more of my time. “We’re coming back… bring your friends”, that sounds like a bloody great idea.
