Electric Touch/Filter, October 30, 2008

Electric Touch and Filter played the Hard Rock Cafe in D.C. on Thursday night (Oct. 30) as a benefit for Operation Troop Aid, an organization that sends care packages to overseas troops. I actually heard about this show through a friend of mine who is a fan of Electric Touch. She got the word from a mutual friend of ours in Austin that Electric Touch would be coming to DC, so I signed on to go. Tickets were $10, it was for a good cause, why not? And Electric Touch came highly recommended by my friends. It wasn't until I saw my friend's ticket that I realized that Filter was also on the bill. I had to research the show before I actually believed that it was the Filter I was thinking of, and not some other band with the same name.

See, Electric Touch plays lighthearted dance pop with an 80s feel. And Filter, well. If you're a fan of Filter, or an obsessive Nine Inch Nails fan like me, you know that Filter's lead singer, Richard Patrick, used to play with Nine Inch Nails. Filter rocks hard and angsty, and has been pretty political of late. Some NIN fans are not so fond of Filter's music, but I have always liked what I heard from them, and I was excited to see them. So I bought the ticket. This was an odd pairing, but it happens at benefit concerts, right? I also thought it was odd that I hadn't heard anything about the show through other channels, but I put this down to extreme busyness on my part (getting ready for a major music trip; more on this in a future post).

It is also a weird occurrence that even though I have been going to music shows for many years in DC, I have never attended a performance at the Hard Rock Cafe. In fact, I didn't think they actually had performances at the Hard Rock in DC. I knew that in other cities, the Hard Rock hosted concerts regularly, but I don't recall ever seeing a show advertised at ours. But I guess I just wasn't paying attention, because they do have shows there - but not very often, judging by the event calendar. Also, it turns out that it is a very small venue. There were maybe three hundred people there. This was great for getting to see the bands, though. We got there early enough to snag a place at the front of the elevated bar area, which meant we had an unobstructed view that was still very close.

The very first musical act was Aaron Tippin, a country musician, who came on and played an acoustic micro-set (about four songs) all by himself. I know this guy has some name recognition, but I have to admit he did not hold my attention. I like country, but I wasn't in the mood. After that another guy came on and played another micro-set on his electric guitar, and I'm sorry but I didn't catch his name. He could play, and he was wearing an astonishing (not in a good way) muscle shirt, but really I just wanted Electric Touch to come on. FINALLY they made it to the stage, and I have to say, they delivered. Electric Touch was extremely energetic and worked the lukewarm crowd well, eventually winning them over. I liked but did not love their album when I heard it, but after seeing them live, I understand why my friends recommended them. Their show was entertaining and engaging, and their pop songs sounded much fresher live. It was great watching them jump around as much as the tiny stage would allow. I wish the crowd could have been more enthusiastic for them overall, although I talked to the band afterward and they didn't seem to think that the crowd was bad. Maybe they just seemed a lot more dead from my vantage point.

Once Electric Touch was done, we had to wait half an hour for Filter to take the stage, for no good reason. From what I could see, the guitar techs were done with their work within 10 minutes, and there was very little equipment switching. I'm thinking it was either Filter or the management wanting the last show to start at 11:00, but that delay was a big mistake, because a lot of people got tired of waiting and left. Remember, this was a benefit for soldiers, with a lot of military types in attendance, who had to be at work the next day before 8:00 in the morning. They weren't going to wait around for a show that wasn't even starting until 11:00.

As a result, Filter came on to a half-empty club, but they still brought the RAWK. To their credit, they brought FULL energy to their performance, and played as if they were playing in an arena. They rocked the rafters of that club with their energy. It was like seeing a top-notch, professional rock show in your living room. For the few people there who were hardcore Filter fans, it was a dream come true. For the rest of us, it was still pretty freaking great. Rich & crew were definitely on, but once again, the crowd wasn't giving them much help. Except for a few people in the audience who were obviously way into the show, everyone was so quiet! Rich had to work the crowd really hard to get their reactions up to proper volume for a rock concert. Even so, the show was great, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to go. Being less than ten feet away from a rock musician screaming his heart out = priceless and thrilling. By the time we got around to the encore at midnight, there were probably less than 100 people left in the club, which made it even more thrilling.

I felt bad for the bands that they didn't have so many hardcore music fans there. Filter, in particular, should have had some hardcore fans there to see them, and yet there were very few. I'd like to ask the promoters what they were thinking? If you're going to hold a benefit, doesn't it help to advertise the show, so people will go? All I know is, I bought my ticket a week before the show with no trouble whatsoever, and I find it hard to believe that there were less than 400 people in the DC area who would have wanted to see Filter for $10 in an intimate setting. Maybe I'm just delusional. The show apparently had some kind of tie-in with DC101, because one of the DJs was there as an emcee, so maybe there are less than 400 people in the DC area who want to see Filter. On the other hand, who listens to radio anymore? If the show was being advertised on DC101, that's hardly enough promo. There should have been a much bigger media push for this if they wanted to sell tickets. Props to the bands for a great show, but boo to the promoters of the show for doing a piss-poor job of getting the word out. And to Filter and Electric Touch, I apologize for the lame DC crowd. DC audiences tend to be like that. Please don't take it personally.

New rec: Innerpartysystem

Ever since I saw them on the Voodoo Fest live feed, I've been checking out Innerpartysystem. (MySpace page, or cut and paste http://www.myspace.com/innerpartysystem) No surprise, I am liking them more and more. They sound like the love children of the Killers and Nine Inch Nails - well, except there was that one time when Trent Reznor was out of town, and Duran Duran and U2 came over to party, but, you know, the Killers just kept that a secret and never told Trent about that.

I am all over this band's sound. They have a brand-new album that came out on September 30th, and they are currently touring. I plan to see them in Baltimore next month. I can tell you from seeing the Voodoo feed, these guys are very good live. Their videos are interesting, but seizure-inducing. I can't embed the official video for the first single, "Don't Stop," but I can provide you a YouTube link to its creepy, flickery weirdness. Address if you prefer to cut and paste into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh2y_BgTn5Q".

I can provide an embedded video for another song by Innerpartysystem called "This Empty Love," which has already gotten over 100,000 hits on YouTube in the last month. This video is tagged as "may not be suitable for minors," and it's kind of NSFW due to see-through clothing/drug use/extreme expression of enjoyment by the girl in it. It's unclear whether she is enjoying the effects of whatever she just smoked, or whether there is someone out of frame who is causing her enjoyment in a more direct way. I could definitely see this video going viral. Hell, I posted it, didn't I?

Remember, I warned you. Not really safe for work. Probably not good for your kids to see. But compelling viewing.

Magnetic Fields = no go

I didn't make it to the Magnetic Fields concert tonight. I know that my cool factor has taken a hit as a result, but I have to be out of the office tomorrow and I really needed to get some work done this afternoon/evening. What can you do?

I came home late and watched three episodes of Mad Men on DVD instead. We are just starting on Season One because our cable company decided that AMC should be on the premium lineup, so we stopped getting it shortly before Mad Men premiered. I may not be able to keep watching the series, just because every time the guys at the ad agency belittle/sexually harass the women YET AGAIN, it makes me want to punch the television set. The series is well-written, well-acted and beautifully filmed, but it is getting to me. On the other hand, Betty Draper and Ken Cosgrove are now following me on Twitter and vice versa, so that's pretty cool.

The art director of Nine Inch Nails needs to stop Twittering pictures of New Orleans. It's really starting to piss me off. Yeah, Rob, you're there, I'm not. I GET IT. Quit rubbing it in.

Inaugural entry

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.