On a late Sunday July 13th night, House of Blues in Disneyland truly became the happiest place on earth as it went down memory lane to the 1990’s hard rock bands Filter, Helmet, and Local H. Each band on “The Anti-Folk Revival Tour in Drop-D” is fully capable of selling out crowds and headlining their own tour, but they have joined forces for what promised to be a great show and a fun night.
The show started promptly at 8 pm, and as the crowd filled the venue, Southern California natives Red 9 hit the stage with a short set of alternative hard rock to energize the audience a bit. Together since 2007, the band clearly had some fans in the audience as they sung along with the songs. Their third studio album Under Dark Skies is out now.
Now that House of Blues was all warmed up, Chicago’s duo alternative rock band Local H hit the stage. Being together since 1987, the band has built a huge fan base. It was very surprising to see how many people from Chicago were actually in the audience enjoying their favorite native band on foreign grounds. Local H played a very energizing set, mostly consisting of older material and a few new songs. Provoking the most excitement was long-time favorites “California Song” and “Bound for the Floor”. Scott Lucas was perfection on guitar and vocals, and the new drummer Ryan Harding was full of energy. Local H put on a great performance and is a great band to catch whenever they come through town.
After a short intermission, New York’s Helmet took the stage. The band first formed in 1989 and the current quartet consists of singer and guitarist Page Hamilton, guitarist Dan Beeman, bassist Dave Case, and drummer Kyle Stevenson. Over the course of seven studio albums Helmet has become one of the strong names in alternative metal.
For most of Helmet’s performance, the stage was low lit which helped set the vibe for their brand of rock. Playing quite a few songs from their Betty (1994) album, they surprisingly did not perform their most popular songs such as “Unsung” or “Throwing Punches”. This was a good judgment call by the band as the less familiar audience members got to experience their other great material that does not get as much air play. Playing through passionately, the set had the floor packed front to back with headbangers having a great time. Helmet has been road veterans for a long time, making their live presence immense, and always a great experience for concert goers.
It was finally time for Filter as the packed House of Blues chanted their name loudly. The industrial alternative rock band hit it big in 1994 with their album Short Bus. Since that time the band has produced six solid studio albums including their massive The Sun Comes Out Tonight last year.
Known to put on a bright and adrenalized performance that leaves spectators breathless, this show definitely did not disappoint. Band leader Richard Patrick commanded the huge stage as he utilized all the space perfectly, singing and interacting with the audience and even jumping into the sea of people at one point and body surfing through the crowd.
Guitarist Jonathan Radtke and bassist Tim Kelleher also did a great job hyping up the crowd and interacting with their new drummer Greg Garman as he pounded away on his kit. The band played a ninety minute set which included a list of new tracks along with all of their greatest hits such as “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do”, “Take a Picture”, “Captain Bligh”, “The Best Things”, and “Hey Man Nice Shot”, closing out the night with “Welcome to the Fold”. Filter mixed up fast tempo songs with some mellower tunes that had everyone cheering and singing along all night.
Just like that the guitar humming dissipated, but the audience walked out of the venue still singing some of their favorite songs from the show and reliving the moment. Filter, Helmet, and Local H’s “The Anti-Folk Revival Tour in Drop-D” is an amazing combination of bands and music that will keep rock lovers engaged from start to finish, leaving them asking for more.
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