Wasn’t planning on going to this tour by any means but when you can nab a ticket for half price you have to give it a go don’t you and the thing is I’ve wanted to see Disturbed for a good while now having become a fan from the Believe album onwards. Of course 3 other bands were on this bill as well, namely female fronted rockers Halestorm, glamsters Buckcherry and melodic nu-metallers Papa Roach.
Luckily the guy I got the ticket off had bought a seat that was perfectly situated to the right of the stage and close enough to see the stage clearly but without being able to see the whites of their eyes but with a great view. The venue is not really set out to be a music venue as the seats face the main floor and the stage is at one end so you end up swivelling in your seat a little towards the stage.
Anyway as I sat down Halestorm were just starting their second or third song. They sounded quite good and they have quite a feisty lady fronting them whose hair used to be blonde as I recall but it was dyed brunette this time. The band sounded fine and so did she. It wasn’t that exciting but it was a good enough warm up. The last song Get Off is their most famous and best tune and got the biggest response from the crowd.
A little word about the crowd actually. This audience was not one which I usually recognise as my fellow gig goers. I’d say the majority of the crowd would be classed as casual metal fans. In the sense that these were normal people who happened to like or heard some Disturbed or Papa roach and though it was cool. Of course there were a lot of youngsters at the show who obviously are only into nu-school or jump da fuck up metal and also a lot of what we call “Chavs” or what you Yanks would call “white trash” at the show. These bands just seem to attract this type of fan for some reason though of course Disturbed seem to attract all types of people who are transfixed by their unity under metal mantra.
Anyway it was time for Buckcherry. I know zilch about them aprt from seeing a few pics and interviews in rock mags and knowing that they are glammy. And glammy they were in spades! They sounded like AC/DC gone glam or sleazy. That All Night Long song got the crowd going which was filling up nicely by now. I’d guess the final attendance to be around 6-7000 or so. The seats weren’t full by any means but the floor was heavily packed. Back to Buckcherry and soon the very energetic frontman took his top off to reveal a lean multicoloured torso full of tatts and started doing his dancing madcap whirling dervish routine. Can’t say I will ever be a Buckcherry fan but they entertain no doubt.
Next up were Paparoach whose only song I know is of course Last Resort with the Maiden riff steal in it. It seems a lot of their songs have melodic metal motifs in them one other example being The Enemy and plenty of others too. Paparoach is one of those bands that the kids go apeshit for and I mean really fucking apeshit. There were huge pits breaking out all over the place and it was quite a sight watching a sea of kids being swept around the floor like a rowdy human sea or something. The front man for Paparoach whose name escapes me was very good at inciting a near enough riot during the the final song which was of course their number one anthem, Last Resort. Look I’m not rushing out to get Paparoach cds after this but you can’t deny they put on a spectacle of melodic nu-metal posturing and slam dancing which was a real sight to be hold from my vantage point. I’ll pass on the music though!
And finally at 9.45pm we arrived at Disturbed and my only real reason for being there. The stage set was much more interesting to look at with large video screens behind the band which sometimes show the band and other times videos of the song the band happen to be playing. The sound was very crisp although I noticed that the guitar was a bit low in the mix and didn’t sound as good as Paparoach’s did by far. However David Draiman’s voice was mixed stupendously loud compared with the other instruments and I think I know why. He has a lot of problems with his voice and I think he is mixed super loud so he doesn’t have to sing himself hoarse in order to be heard above the rest of the music.
The band is very tight once they hit their stride with their booming brand of powerful metal, which sounds very empowering so to speak. My fave songs were Prayer and Inside the Fire but the whole set was played tight and very well. The only this I would say is that Draiman sometimes changes vocal melodies very slightly when compared to the albums, which could be another problem that has arisen from his vocal problems. Not that it makes that much difference and it’s even quite cool to hear it in a different way sometimes. The vocal acrobatics that he does were done flawlessly and he seemed to be singing within himself and not busting his balls with emotion or anything, yet another sign of the vocal situation that he has.
The crowd response for them was not as huge and immense as it was for Paparoach but it was close. Multiple crazy pits were breaking out and of course the “unity in metal” that Draiman never ceases to go an about is quite cool to witness though possibly a little bit cheesy. They are a very powerful band and with the songs to back it up although I must admit I think I prefer them on record than live personally speaking.
The final song of the night is their anthem Down With The Sickness and finally saw the Wembley Arena floor going literally bananas with mega amounts of pits breaking out and a fitting end to the night it was.
Remnants
Asylum
The Game
Prayer
Liberate
Land of Confusion
The Animal
Inside the Fire
Stricken
Another Way to Die
Stupify
Ten Thousand Fists
Indestructible
Encore
Down with the Sickness
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