Disturbed
March 17, 2016
The Observatory- Santa Ana, CA
After being on hiatus since 2011, Disturbed has come back stronger than ever, releasing their sixth studio album, Immortalized in the summer of June 2015 and announcing a short U.S. tour. Several days into the tour, Disturbed made their way to Santa Ana to perform in front of a Sold Out crowd who had high expectations.
Opening the show was the heavy/alt metal band Nonpoint. They brought the energy and intensity, warming up the crowd by encouraging them to jump up and down. They performed fan favorites including Breaking Skin, In The Air Tonight, a cover of Phil Collins’ and the set closer, Bullet with a Name.
Not too long after, it was time for the heavy metal/ Nu metal giants known as Disturbed. Their 17 song set began with Ten Thousand Fists, each member walking on stage, one by one. Lead singer David Draiman was the last to come out on stage, dressed in his conventional all black outfit with a long, robe like, no sleeve jacket on top. Gusts of smoke shot into the air as the song hit and fists appropriately went up in the air. The Game and The Vengeful One continued the set, not giving fans much time to catch their breath in between the moshing.
The night continued and the band played their hit Stupify which had the entire venue jumping up and down in sync. After, the band slowed things down with two acoustic songs, the first being Darkness and the other being The Sound of Silence, a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s. Draiman set the mood by having the audience hold up lighters and cell phone lights to light the venue, and arms swayed as the songs played.
Things quickly picked back up with Inside The Fire and Stricken. While Draiman didn’t do too much aside from commanding the crowd to put their fists or devil horns in the air, John Moyer on bass and Dan Donegan on guitar both entertained the crowd with their stage presence throughout the night. They were constantly jumping up and down, off their risers, fist bumping the fans and just giving fans a cardio filled show to watch.
As the set was nearing an end, the band did a medley, covering Closer by Nine Inch Nails, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2, Baba O’Riley by The Who and finished it off with Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine. They finally ended their set with Indestructible and came out for a much anticipated encore, playing Voices and Down With the Sickness.
After a hiatus, a band always has a lot of added pressure to make a good new album and put on a great show, and in this case, Disturbed really delivered. They not only gave fans the metal album that they love, (which was evident by the show being sold out so quickly) but also by giving fans a really amazing set, filled with jumping, crowd interaction, hit songs and a pretty decent production, with smog shooting up and a light show to accompany it all. When Disturbed is in your town, be sure to buy your tickets, as they will sell out quickly.
Review by: Nicole Lemberg
Disturbed
Nonpoint
