Why I Love Disturbed; A Concert Review & Essay for my Songwriting Class
~My Evening W/ Disturbed & The Music As A Weapon Tour~
Crosses, platforms, soaring podiums and talk of brethren; Political innuendo, human empowerment; and pumping fists...alive with the message that we can. This was how I spent my evening on a recent Wednesday night of April 22nd. Where did I enjoy this enthralling list of things you ask? While one might associate these concepts with a religious mass or some other sort of sociopolitical gathering; to many sweaty teens and twenty something’s covered in chains, faded black tee shirts and sweat it’s just another Disturbed show. Disturbed played an adrenaline-depleting set to finish off the IVth annual music as a weapon tour. This annual festival regularly features heavy and inspiring bands of a more compelling message. The festival which was originally created by hard rock head liner, Disturbed, features along with its musicians; an outdoor portion offering extreme sports and tattoo artists who share their art with patrons. The tour’s name was taken from a Disturbed lyric from adrenaline-jerking manifesto "Droppin’ Plates", in which the verse inspires "I’m gonna fight the war, and use my music as a weapon!". Past guests include Chevelle, Taproot, Stone Sour, Non Point and female fronted-band Fly Leaf. This year’s tour featured creators Disturbed, blood-curdling Chimaira, ear crunching Killswitch Engage, and beautiful Italian natives Lacuna Coil with their enigmatic, femme-metal epoch.
In a stroke drama of which could only rival Madonna, David Draiman is lowered to the stage on an elaborate symbol, fashioned in the martyred posturing of a cross. Killswitch’, Chimaira, and Lacuna Coil have finished their sets; and this is the fourth and final time the lights will be going down for the evening. Eyes closed, fists pinned at his sides to the band’s "believe"-era symbol, David and Disturbed open possibly the most thrilling version of "Voices", ever. The only thing separating this Jesus Christ-pose, and that of Madonna is a stark and leveling genuinity.
Histrionic, and at times a little animalistic, David Draiman is a bruting archetype of masculine assertion.
Standing at a surprisingly modest height of 5'6 ½", with his olive skin, stocky muscles, and muscle-rippling prowl, Draiman is a powerful beacon of one message: "don’t fuck with me"....Okay, maybe that message is not "don’t fuck with me", though perhaps to some. Its meaning is more abstract perhaps, but nevertheless clear: David Draiman stands for one thing: empowerment. Draiman stalked the stage in a tan muscle-framing jumpsuit whose vest bore one simple word: "believe". This black insignia embroidered my eye, and chilled my heart through the chorus of octane roars and shadowy stage lights. Believe. It all became clear to me at that moment, over the din of booming bass and tribal pounds. Firing guitars of electric ferocity, and interspecies growls...Believe. The message reverberated through my heart, and out through my nerves and all other attachments to my spine to their final deluge as sweat through my pores while I remembered what I loved most about his music.
The message can be heard and felt by all, whether strapped and muscular like David, or small and feminine like me. Ten thousand fists in the air pump one message, " I am human, hear me "ooo-wah-ah-ah-ah"....?
"Oo-wah-ah-ah-ah" opens perhaps the most famous Disturbed song of all, "Down With The Sickness"which encourages its listeners to embrace their sicknesses and flaws, as an informative part of being human; a philosophical concept which sets a somewhat metaphysical tone for the night. A histrionic pummel of grim interluding notes which rival an opera. These sweet sirens give into their tender labor of bone haunting tribal drums, pounding a steady and provocative cadence. An unsettling and almost painful invitation which can only be made right by one sound.... "oo-wah-ah-ah-ah-ah!". This stirring foreplay, is only extended in the live show as Draiman waits a full extra set of beats to come in with his merciful vocals. With the bravado of a rapper, yet the harsh, gasoline-lit sears of a metal-god, Draiman continues to provoke a handful of commands as to who should get down with the sickness. "You motha get up, you fucka get up..."
Disturbed are an unusual experience, it seems...simple falsetto or showy vibrato just won’t do. When asked of how this perplexing sound came about Draiman replied "When I heard [the drummer’s] beat, it just made me feel like an animal." An animal indeed. This sentiment is the perfect personification to set the tone for this powerfully cathartic song. The sickness, Disturbed’s most famous song of all, preaches the message of embracing all that makes us sick. In fully recognizing that which ails us, that which haunts, and that which even tortures...only then can we become whole. Where others might instead apply a sweaty band-aid, only to inevitably recover the prevailing wound, the sickness encourages its listeners to fully embrace their darker insides by "[getting] down with the sickness". Disturbed provide an open window into the dark corners of the psyche and the soul, out of which, to climb a summit of empowerment.
The singer addresses the crowd with one simple invitation, a simple request of exchange for his divine services. "My brothers and sisters, I want you to use this night to lay your burden down [and release it unto me]," he asks.
A disturbed show is a fully encompassing experience. Guests can expect a tangible, audible, and visceral assault on the senses; on the psyche, on the soul. Draiman openly adds his two cents addressing such issues as politics, religion, and personal empowerment. Further, throughout the show front man Draiman addresses his crowd as his brothers and sisters. Draiman is a compelling showman while he addresses his "tribes", or separate sections of the crowd encouraging them to compete for a loftier display of crowd affection with cheers. Disturbed rally the crowd with such anthems as "10,000 fists", "Indestructible", "Prayer", "Liberate", "Believe", Genesis cover "Land of Confusion", and a somewhat more sinister "Meaning of Life" wherein the lyricist expresses gratification in human aggression (within the healthy vignette of music and moshing of course)..The hook "Get psycho," repeats in an intoxicating gravalatto, and encourages the crowd to do exactly that. The gambit of sweaty teens, men, and women rival the epic of the stage lights with their diffusing energy and excitement. "Ten thousand fists in the air", and "believe " are just common catch phrases of this music which courses an epic impetus through the listener’s veins.
Through the media, David has long been open about his formerly repressing religious background. David who is of Israeli descent, was raised as a strict jew. At one point in the show, David playfully jokes that he is going to hell when he spots an entire row of Hasidic Jews at the front of the crowd. In another playful jest, David suggests that Hell would be a more entertaining place...given the sounds of the alternative. Disturbed’s most compelling commentary on the subject, perhaps, exists in the song "Inside the Fire", wherein David addresses the surviving guilt of an ex girlfriend’s suicide. David implies an indirect feeling of responsibility and says he is still haunted by the tragedy which occurred very many years ago. The song touches upon the uncertainty of the eternity of young girl’s soul... "Devon, won’t go to Heaven, she’s just another lost soul about to be mine again. Leave her, we will receive her; It is beyond your control will you ever meet again?"
One looks over their shoulder and sees a gambit of people. A spectating eye might catch a number of faded black tee shirts. Another glance, might catch a group of college students. It is a fairly diverse crowd, except for an overwhelming demographic. There is a legion of metal heads; The boy in front of me sports a sweatshirt with the unabashed salute "fucking metal." Disturbed, at times it may seem, is something of a beacon of hope. A pied piper if you will for the discouraged and the down trodden; for the angry, for the outcast, and for those who are a bit...different. The message of the band is one which encourages listeners to implore these differences as well as challenges for their own personal growth. This overall spirit rallies a group of people who prevail, alive with the intent to believe...in all and any facets of their life; wherever need be. Outstanding this message, however, is the more broad and neutral vessel of empowerment.
Tangible evidence of this motivation, can found in one of the band’s proudest accomplishments. Disturbed are proudly noted for support within the troops, or the other way around. The members of Disturbed are long noted supporters and fans of the troops, as they have expressed through many interviews. In a 2008 interview for C4tv, the band was asked how they felt about this relationship, and their frequent mention in a documentary on music that people listen to, when at war.
"We’re very very proud of that actually...not that we would ever hope that anyone specifically utilizes our music, to take lives...but more so, that they utilize their music to save their own...there’s nothing that we could be more proud of; that is exactly what it was written for."
In the spring of 2008, Disturbed took a trip to Kuwait in which they not only played for the troops, but got to experience a day by day run through of the soldier’s life style and surroundings.
"I remember going into one of the barracks and not even being announced, just happened to walk into some barracks; They had no idea we were coming in and they were playing our music..."I heard story of them mounting loud speakers on helicopter gun ships and playing our music "apocalypse now-style", you know while they're going into battle, or before they would go through an incursion, or before they went enemy territory, or before they went on any mission."-David Draiman
It his not, however, fair to say that Disturbed are for war specifically,
"A lot of people always ask us, how can you be for the troops but against the war...and that can be very easily answered by the following situation..." David goes on to describe a moment the band had witnessed on their trip to Kuwait. The members of Disturbed dined with the soldiers in the soldier’s chowhall, when they learned of an IED explosion which hit a humvee. The vibe of the entire room shifted, as the faces of the soldiers dropped and they learned that five lives had been taken from this incident. From this incident, David goes on to described one of his most valuable lessons learned from the trip,
"It really kind of crystalized to me that even the most gung-ho soldier is inherently against war."
While this meandering subject fascinates, there is more mystique to be found in the show still.
Guests of the evening also enjoyed the darker side of Disturbed with such macabre symphonies as " The Game", "Voices", "Stupify", and "Conflict" .
"Are you ready to feel in-de-structabllleee," Draiman roars in a famous growl which introduces deliberate Credo "Indestructible", a direct tribute to our troops. The band slips into another seamless intercourse between drum and bass, beneath ripping guitars; while David tenderly lends his growls of fortitude, behind veils of Judaic-inspired Melismatic singing. Another cathartic release is felt in the band’s incendiary cover of Tears For Fears’ "Shout" wherein the song encourages listeners to shout, and release all that is troubling them. This is the perfect song for Disturbed to cover, it seems, and the rendition takes the tune to new, and brooding heights. Continuing a suggestively metaphysical vein, Disturbed perform "The Night", which inspires one to give in and face that from which they run; in the arcane resplendence of nocturnal anonymity.
The band disappears for a menacing reprieve in which we all know what is coming. It is a loving tradition, a giving gesture of tough love if you will, as the band feign completion; departing the stage in demand of their most anticipated number; ("Down with the sickness"); A staged encore lending to adoring pleads and brutish howls. And all is made right again with that tell tale sound. A few unexpected beats later,
"oo-wah-ah-ah-ah".
The band finishes the show with their famous Simon-says as the crowd repeatedly answers with their name,
"We are? We are? We are? We all are-"
...Disturbed.
~Article By Shiver Rose
