Filter, Helmet, Local H; July 25th, 2014, Omaha, Ne

The Anti-Folk Revival In Drop D Tour
Sokol Auditorium
Omaha, Nebraska
Filter
Helmet
Local H

Doors for tonight’s Low Dough Benefit Show were pushed from 6pm to 7pm, presumably to allow the local show playing in the Underground time to finish. $10 tickets meant there was no excuse to miss tonight’s event. Hard core fans began to line up at noon in the hundred degree heat and high humidity. Being pushed back, the show to start at 730pm. Local H were still setting up at 750pm. By 8 o’clock the nearly sold out crowd was getting restless.
Local H took the stage shortly after 8p. The moshing started during the band’s opening song. “Bound For The Floor” had the crowd bouncing. Fists pumped in unison.
Crowd still seethed as the duo shredded into “Another February” and their cover of Lorde’s “Team.” It did take the crowd a full verse and chorus to figure out Local H were playing a cover though. The band had very little crowd interaction. No breaks between each song gave the fans an uninterrupted set. One last round of moshing and a sing along from the crowd during “High Five MF.” It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen Local H live. The duo still has what it takes to amp a crowd into a frenzy. The addition of their cover of “Team” was perfect.
It took most the crowd a few songs to warm up to Helmet. Half of them seemed confused by the band well into the second song of their set. The other half is old school thrashing and knows how to show founder Paige Hamilton what Nebraska has to offer. Going into his third decade as a musician, Hamilton still knows how to work a crowd into a frenzy. Midway through Helmets set Hamilton took the time to thank Filter for bringing them on tour and thanked the fans for continuing to support the band after so many years of touring. Overall, Helmet’s set can be summed up into one sentence: An hour of intense moshing and bouncing.
As fantastic of a job as Helmet and Local H did getting the crowd pumped for Filter’s set, it was, after all, Filter that so many of us wanted to see. The band hadn’t played the Omaha metro area since 2008, and this would be their first time at Sokol Auditorium.
Opening with “Trip Like I Do”, the crowd began to trash as soon as the lights went out and the industrial opening chords were played. The band fed off of the crowd’s energy as they shredded through brutal renditions of “Captain Bligh” and “American Cliche.” Tonight’s music choices were shaping up to be a Best Of set from Filter.
“We’re gonna play some heavy shit because it looks like that’s what the pit wants,” Filter’s founder Richard Patrick told the crowd. “But we’re gonna play some shit for the girls too but that’ll come later.”
Giving a nod to his new musical partner in crime, Jonny Radtke, the opening note of Jurassitol burst to life. As the crowd trashed, Patrick switched up one of the song’s line. “I’m not your bitch,” screamed Patrick. The near sold out crowd was in constant motion during Filter’s set.

Patrick was a bit peeved though. Our local rock station, KIWR isn’t playing Filter’s current single, “We Hate It When You Get What You Want.”
“Call and request it,” Patrick told the crowd. “Lets make it a hit.” The sound of the crowd singing along was a clue that this single was already a hit with the fans.
After a short break, Patrick kept his word about playing some music for the ladies. The band took it down a notch with “Take A Picture.” Patrick admitted to the crowd that he wrote the song about coming down from a 3 day coke binge. He had gotten on a plane from Chicago to LA to pick up his Gold Record from Warner Brothers for the release of Short Bus. During the trip, he blacked out and woke up in jail. He took his pants off on the plane and partied like a RockStar.
“I didn’t want to be rockstar cliche about it, so I wrote something pretty.” The voices of the auditorium sang in unison, lighters and cell phones burst to life, and continued to shine as the band continued to sooth the crowd with Surprise.
The band wasted no time bringing back intensity with “Self Inflicted”. Patrick did take the time to comment on the heat of the auditorium and passed out water to a few fans up front.
“Sometimes it sucks being a song writer,” He told the crowd. “A real song writer.” He went on to elaborate about the meaning behind the next song the band would play. Soldiers of Misfortune was written about one of his friends who died fighting in Iraq.
Calming slightly, Patrick took up his guitar for the last half of the set’s songs. A rare treat to be heard live, the mosh pits were back in full force when the band played “Dose” and “Under”. Tracks off of the band’s debut, they are rarely played live anymore. With Radtke to his right, Patrick gave an extended bridge for “Dose”. The crowd went berzerk. “Number one,” Patrick told the crowd, “that’s how I play guitar. Number two, I’m not your pig Trent Reznor.” Patrick was referring to Nine Inch Nails’ song “Pig”. Reznor was rumored to have written the song about Patrick’s time with touring with NIN. To push his point, Patrick then he jumped into the pit and crowd surfed as the band finished the song.
Patrick lost his footing while taking off his guitar during “Under” and started to fall off the stage. He used his momentum though and lept back into the pit.
Laughing it off, he thanked the crowd for saving his life.
After amping the crowd back up with “The Best Things,” it was back to business. Filter closed their 15 song set with the two songs that every fan knows by heart; “Welcome to the Fold” and “Hey Man Nice Shot.”
This being my 7th time seeing Filter live, I can say without a doubt that Richard Patrick, no matter who’s playing the music, always brings his A game to every concert. Filter are one of those bands who continues to evolve musically and puts on an amazing show. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to see the band a dozen times before Patrick hangs up his guitar.