Disturbed performed at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Thursday night as part of the continuing Texas heatwave series. Not only has the area been sweltering under 100-degree temps as of late, Disturbed brought with them their pyrotechnic laden show as well as the hot talent of Jinjer and Breaking Benjamin as openers.

    Opening the night was Jinger, A Ukrainian metalcore band from Donetsk fronted by female singer Tetiana Shamailuk. While not having been too familiar with their music I thought Tatiana’s vocals were spot on and made for an entertaining set.

    Next up was a local favorite, Breaking Benjamin. Having first played the H-Town area back in 2003, Breaking Benjamin has been no stranger to playing in the Woodlands and this will mark the 10th time for them to take the Pavilion’s stage. Opening with their 2015 release “Failure” frontman and founding member Benjamin Burnley spent most of his time planted around the center stage podium that had been set up and rigged with air condition ducts to blow cold air his way. Their set was fine music wise, but the stage setup and lack of dedicated lighting was pretty boring. Performance wise I have seen them better.

    Finally, it was Disturbed’s time to take the stage. With this being their 4th time to play the Pavilion the Chicago rockers consisting of guitarist Don Deegan, bassist John Moyer, drummer Mike Wengren and frontman David Draiman brought with them more heat that the Pavilion stage could tolerate. For their 20-song set the hard rockers brought with them an impressive stage set up of suspended and animated pyro that while chained to fast working winches raised and lowered multiple rows of fire and shooting flames.

    Disturbed opened their high energy set with "Hey You," a single from their 2022 album Divisive. The energy of the crowd immediately surged as soon as lead vocalist David Draiman belted out the opening lyrics with his signature intensity. Disturbed also performed several other tracks from their latest LP, including "Bad Man" and “Unstoppable." These newer tracks showed that the band was not afraid to experiment with their sound and incorporate fresh elements into their music. The audience reacted enthusiastically to the new material proving that Disturbed's fan base is as devoted as ever.

    One of the highlights of the evening was Disturbed's cover of the Simon & Garfunkel classic hit "The Sound of Silence." The band's rendition of the song has showcased their ability to transform a well-known song into a powerful rock ballad. Peaking at number 42 on Billboard’s Hot 100, the Disturbed cover is the band's highest charting track.

    Disturbed's energy on stage this night was a big step up from the Breaking Benjamin set and all the Disturbed band members took advantage of the full stage to perform for the sold-out crowd. Draiman, with a spirited stage presence, put on a commanding performance. He has an incredible ability to engage with the audience. On Thursday night he drew the crowd in and made them feel like they were a part of the show. The rest of the band’s performance was equally impressive. Guitarist Dan Donegan was energetic, moving and jumping around the stage with an energy that any guitarists half his age might be expected to have. Drummer Mike Wengren’s kit was positioned somewhat closer to the front of the enormous stage, so the crowd got a great sense of the driving rhythm that both he and bassist John Moyer, who also was all over the stage, laid down as a thunderous foundation for the rest of the band to build on.

    To close the show Disturbed played a 3-song set that featured “Unstoppable,” “Down With The Sickness” and “Inside The Fire” with the latter becoming a little more intense than anyone in the crown or the band members on stage could have ever anticipated. With the pyrotechnics being so intense all night during the show that you could literally feel the heat from each blast of fire coming from the hanging cannons, the Pavilion stage reacted like no one had ever expected. As the band made its way through the finale “Inside the Fire” the stage’s fire suppression system finally had had enough and decided that now was the time to put on a performance of it’s own. As the sprinkler system unexpectedly started raining down on the band, its unprepared crew and all their gear the fans were treated to the most “Metal” show ending ever for a Disturbed concert with the combination of Fire and Rain. With the band and stage now thoroughly drenched, as well as all the fans in the pit directly in front of the stage, David, Dan, Mike and John lined up at the front of the stage and took a bow for all the unsuspecting fans that would soon be leaving thinking that they had just witnessed a phenomenally planned end to an event filled night of great music.


Disturbed Setlist:
Hey You
Stupify
Ten Thousand Fists
Prayer
Are You Ready
Bad Man
A Reason to Fight
Guitar Solo
Land of Confusion (Genesis cover)
Voices
Drum Solo
The Game
The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel cover)
Bass Solo
Indestructible
The Light
Stricken
 
Encore:
Unstoppable
Down With the Sickness
Inside the Fire