Two Night Filter with a Chevelle

This particular story isn't just solely about what happened to me. There are a couple moments that were me specific, but it was more the experience itself that I wanted to share this time.

Back in 2000, it was announced that Filter would be coming to town. I was thrilled, I loved Filter, had a HUGE crush on Brian Liesegang, and they had JUST released 'Take a Picture' if memory serves. Not enough time for the song to go crazy mainstream, but enough time to know how much I liked that song. My friend Mary and I were all over this in a heartbeat. We got our tickets and immediately started sharing the news with other friends. We were met with some pretty disappointing reviews.

More than a few of my friends saw Filter when they had come to Portland for the first album's tour. They said that Richard Patrick, the singer, sounded terrible and that the show was ruined for it. So, now Mary and I, while still planning on going without fail, were somewhat apprehensive that we had just bought tickets to a crappy show.

So, the night of the Filter concert came. We were front row for most of the show as usual. I was waving my ollllllllllllllllllllllllllld school Nine Inch Nails shirt around (I has a photo of just Vrenna, Reznor and Patrick on it. OLD school.) Singing along and having a grand ol' time. What were these people talking about??? Richard sounds fantastic! The band is playing great, though severely lacking Brian Liesegang, much to my disappointment. I had to leave the front row when I was kicked HARD in the jaw by a crowd surfer in giant steel toed boots. (I am still missing a small piece of bone in my jaw.) When I was off to the side, they were getting ready to play 'Take a Picture.' I am glad at this point that I was off to the side, primarily because I could actually HEAR what Richard was saying. Richard starts off by saying Thank you to the audience. He continues, "Last time we were here, I was really sick and my voice was shot. But despite that, this show sold out in TEN. MINUTES. We are just so grateful for what great fans we have here that we are going to play ANOTHER show for you guys tomorrow! Just head to the back to grab your ticket!!"
I was elated! I ran to the back to secure my ticket and tried to get one for Mary, but they made it very clear, it was one per person and she would have to come get it herself. So, I waited til the show was over so Mary could get out of the front row and get her ticket. Unfortunately, by the time Mary got out (and the show was over) the tickets were long gone. We were pretty upset and disappointed to say the least. So, we headed out back, like we usually did, to try to meet the guys in Filter (or their opener, this little unknown band called Chevelle)

Chevelle came out first, we got to meet the sweet and funny Loeffler brothers. Years later, they would reach a greater success, but at this time, they were pretty well unknown. We hung out with them for a while before Geno Lenardo and Richard Patrick came out. I got my photo taken with Geno, but sadly not Richard. With Richard, I had him sign my shirt, to which he responded "Ohhh, that was YOU holding that thing up." He gave me a bit of a hard time but signed it without hesitation. I then informed him that Mary didn't get a ticket, but that there were girls in the restroom before we came outside bragging that they had gotten several to sell off.

Richard looks at me and says... "are you serious!?" in a very disappointed tone. Mary confirms indeed, she got the shaft for a ticket. Richard turns around, looks at a woman standing a few feet behind him, doesn't say a word... But she sees his face, throws up her hands and goes "Alright, Alright!" and walks onto the bus. She returns minutes later with a
notepad in her hand and starts asking who didn't get a ticket and taking down their names for the guestlist. She asked my name, but I told her, "No, I have a ticket." She smiled, thanked me, and moved to the next guy.

We spent a little more time afterward hanging out with Chevelle. I don't entirely remember why we decided this, but somehow I had talked the singer of Chevelle into writing my name across his chest for the next night's gig. It was all in fun, but I really don't recall how we came to this idea.

The next night rolls around and Mary and I get in without any problem and head straight for the front row again. This night isn't as crowded as the night before, as Korn was performing at another venue that same night. But this was okay by us, as there wasn't nearly the amount of giant sweaty men getting pushed up on us this time. So Chevelle come out and I notice that the singer has a shirt on. Well, so much for my name scrawled across his chest. I am only a little disappointed, as I was pretty sure he had just forgotten anyway. But then, the girl next to me points out his arm... down his arm written in sharpie, plain as day... "MICHELLE." I throw my head back and crack up laughing, he actually remembered!!! Mary and I laughed together and we continued to rock out to the show.

Then Filter came out! Richard was wearing a hoodie and broke out into the first song like an awesomely crazy frontman. As the show continued, he spotted a small child in the front row. He asked how old the kid was, I wanna say the kid was about 8 years old. Richard took the hoodie off his own back and gave it to the kid, it was a really cool moment. I bet that boy still remembers that moment like it was yesterday. Then, when Filter kicked into their hit, Jurassitol, I was elated. That was and still is my all time favourite Filter song (and video). Richard was looking out at the audience while singing and finally caught my eye as I was singing right along. Much to my surprise and delight, he kept singing with/to me for a good chunk of the song. It was totally awesome and made my night.

After the show, sadly I didn't see anymore Filter guys come out from backstage but Chevelle did. Pete and I had a laugh about the whole my-name-on-his-arm thing. Turns out he HAD forgotten until right before they went onstage. He saw me in the crowd, remembered our deal, asked someone for a sharpie and quickly wrote it down his arm. We had one last hearty laugh over this before Mary and I said our goodbyes and went home happy.

To this day, I still have fond memories over what a great TWO nights I had seeing Filter and Chevelle and how many memories I had from two short nights.