I had kind of my own little birthday treat to myself by seeing Filter in West Virginia the following weekend. It was at Shiley Acres, about a 2-hour drive from where I live in Virginia. And it was only about 30 minutes from a friend. So I got to make a weekend out of it, spend a day and night with my friend and her family, then go see Filter the next day.
This was my first time at Shiley Acres and I had to laugh when I pulled up on a farm and had to park in a cow pasture hahaha. I thought it was kind of funny for Filter to be playing there. But there was a huge crowd and an awesome show!
I didn't hear the first opening band, Silvertung, but I heard some of My Darkest Days. I was surprised when they played a cover of "Come Undone" by Duran Duran. That was an unexpected treat, since I also LOVE Duran Duran and it's one of my favorite songs.
Here's a recorded version of their cover.
The weather was iffy that day, it was cloudy and rainy off and on all day. When Filter took the stage it was raining, and it was for their whole set. It made it more fun to me though. Rocking out in the rain in a field to Filter felt pretty wild and uninhibited. It was perfect for my own personal birthday celebration.
Cameras weren't permitted, so I didn't get any pics or videos. Plus, the rain and the insanely loud sound would have made pics and video bad anyway. Before Filter came on, during sound check, I was standing in front of the speakers/amps to the left of the stage, and I could actually feel the air from the bass and drum hits haha. That was a concert first for me! I was thinking, I might be deaf after this show...but surprisingly I was not! I still believe my theory that I have ears of steel for music, due to lots of ear infections as a kid, and lots of fluid production in my ears.
Filter played "Under" again, which made me happy. They haven't played that one as much lately and I missed it! And it was my second time hearing Jeff Friedl play drums for that song. It's one of my favorite drum and bass parts, and the first time I heard Jeff play it in Syracuse back in May, he blew me away. He got my instant approval as Filter's drummer from that song alone. So it was awesome to hear him play it again.
Also, when I said the show felt wild and uninhibited, it wasn't only me haha. At one point, Phil Buckman had 3 bras hanging on his bass guitar. No, none of them were mine. ;^p But I found out one of the reasons the bass was so powerful that day, was from Phil's new Hartke amps. Be careful with those things man, they might blow us away like Marty McFly in the opening scene of Back to the Future!
I have to give mad props to Jonny Radtke too. He amazes me more each time I see him on guitar. I'm going to let out kind of a little biased secret about myself...guitar is usually the LAST thing I pay attention to in music. I love bass and drums, and then of course the vocals and lyrics, and guitar is the last element I notice. But there are a select few guitarists who have a certain style and talent that grab me, and Jonny sir, you are one of them. I've also become a fan of his solo project, which hasn't officially been released yet. But you can listen to some songs on the Polar Moon page. He also did a remix on the deluxe version of Julien-K's new album.
Richard Patrick gave an intense performance, as usual. The stage had a concrete base and was up pretty high so he couldn't get down to the audience easily. It's funny because I can tell now when he's looking for a way to come down to the crowd haha. In front of me, and those crazy speakers, was some kind of scaffolding, that had been shaking like crazy from the powerful sound. He decided to climb onto that scaffolding to make his way to the audience. I was kind of afraid that thing might collapse after the way it was shaking. But he came down and got to crowd surf to "Best Things."
It really was a wild show all around. I forgot to mention, when I went up front for Filter to come on, some girl was unconscious on the ground and got taken out on a stretcher. I don't know if she had just fainted or what. Hopefully it wasn't too serious, but that kind of displays the intensity of this crazy WV show haha.
Here's a crowd shot that Richard Patrick took. You can't see me, but I was further over to the right side in the front.
I have to be honest, I bailed before Buckcherry finished their set. I'm not really into them, so I left to beat the crowd so I could get home at a decent time on a Sunday night. But Shiley Acres was pretty cool, I'll have to keep an eye on their summer jams for anymore cool bands coming up.
I'm going to see Garbage at The National in a few days too. I've never seen them so I'm excited about that! Their latest album is great too, so check it out. And I'm thinking about catching Cat Power at 9:30 Club and Alanis Morissette at the Fillmore in October...But those depend on money, so they're iffy ones for now.
I also got the latest Silversun Pickups CD for my bday. Check that out too if you haven't heard it! I love them. I saw them once at The Norva and they were awesome.
I haven't officially announced it, but I am now...I'm going on ShipRocked again! I'm excited about that. I've been working a second job since May to help with that, as well as help me financially overall because I need the money! So I'll get to see Filter on the high seas again. :) The second band I'm the most excited about is Dead Sara. I really like them and was thrilled to hear they would be on the cruise too. I'd probably be more excited about Godsmack too, if I hadn't seen them before. But I'm looking forward to them too. And we'll see if I get turned onto any new bands too!
If you haven't heard Dead Sara, here is their most popular song.
OH! I almost forgot...John Taylor's book is out in the UK now, and will be out in the US in October. You can read a teaser: 'I never had a regular girlfriend at school... but in Duran Duran I only had to wink in a girl's direction': John Taylor's shamelessly honest inside story of THE pop phenomenon of the 1980s. Just from that sample, I am SO excited to read this book. If you're a new reader to my blog or don't know me personally, John Taylor is my favorite bass player EVER.
And here are some recent interviews with Rich:
That's all for now. Remember to look, listen and love!
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