Sep 2, 2023

A Parent's Perspective "DISTURBED, BREAKING BENJAMIN, JINJER" (SHOW REVIEW)

Disturbed announced this past summer that they would disembark on their 2023 headline Take Back Your Life Tour, with special guests Breaking Benjamin, Theory of a Deadman & Jinjer. This potent line-up blended heavy sounds from all corners of metal and alternative rock, making for a rock show this summer that was just too good to miss out on!

The tour kicked off this past April in Canada and hit major cities including Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg before coming to the states and hitting major US cities including Denver CO, Irvine CA, Dallas TX, Tampa FL, before wrapping up in Noblesville IN on September 2nd.

This brings us to this August in Burgettstown PA at the Pavilion at Starlake near Pittsburgh PA...

AUGUST 26TH, 2023 PITTSBURGH, PA: Disturbed along with Breaking Benjamin and Jinjer rolled into The Pavilion at Starlake in Burgettstown, PA just outside of Pittsburgh PA. Starlake is an amazing venue that I cherish and hold a lot of nostalgic moments frequenting to throughout my adolescence with every Vans Warped Tour from 2005 on as well as shows like blink-182, Mayhem Fest, and Ozzfest.

The outdoor amphitheater was brimmed with patrons long before Jinjer took the stage. Concertgoers packed the pavilion seating areas as well as the gigantic lawn area that wraps the entire width of the venue for general admission.

Jinjer took the stage first blasting through half a dozen progressive metal songs, opening with the track Perennial from their 2019 EP Micro followed by Call Me a Symbol from their latest 2021 record Wallflowers. Vortex was next from the same album which is by far one of my favorite tracks by the band. Their melodic progressive almost math-metal aura coupled with their straight-on metal attitude with brutal screaming vocals from lead singer Tatiana Shmayluk with their djent style "chugging" makes Jinjer a "can't miss" band live. The four-piece metal band finished with As I Boil Ice from their latest album before exiting the stage. Fans, as well as myself, were left to wonder why they didn't play Pisces which is the track that made them extremely viral this year, but seeing them live for the first time was way more worth it.

After a brief intermission of alternative rock songs blasting through the PA system, Pennsylvania's own Breaking Benjamin was up next. Breaking Benjamin hit the ground running opening up with Failure from the band's 2015 album Dark Before Dawn before blasting into Breath, an oldie but goodie from their 2006 record Phobia where they then played Until the End from the same record, giving hardcore fans a taste of some deep cut tracks.

They blasted into Red Cold River from 2018's Ember before playing my favorite track of the night Polyamorous from their 2002 record Saturate. Blow Me Away simply blew me away followed by Simple Design which was followed by Follow. The band broke into some fan favorites including Sooner or Later and So Cold before finishing their set with Diary of Jane taking it back once again to 2006's Phobia record. Noticeably during the set there were giant box air conditioner-like apparatuses that blew cold air on lead singer Benjamin Burnley which could be attributed to his open Wernicke- Kornsakoff syndrome. Among all of that, nobody in the band missed a beat and they were one of the best live acts I've seen.

After another brief intermission headliner Disturbed was up. The band set the place on fire, almost literally with their amazing theatrical live setup of moving fire ballasts that shot fire into the air, being that up-close was extremely hot, and props to the band for dealing with that kind of heat every night.

The band opened up like bats out of hell with one of their latest singles Hey You followed by the classic Disturbed track Stupify which is where a lot of Disturbed fans first discovered the band. Ten Thousand Fists from 2005's album of the same name was next followed by Prayer, taking it back even further to 2002's record Believe. After their track Are You Ready the band took time to have a PSA about mental health awareness where lead singer/frontman David Draiman took the time to open up with fans about his own personal demons and how he almost took his life this past year, praising fans and his family for giving him the strength to stay alive while also taking a moment of silence to those that were lost including fellow musicians Chester Bennington of Linkin Park as well as Chris Cornell of Soundgarden among others.

After Bad Man and the appropriately timed A Reason to Fight, lead guitarist Dan Donegan had an amazing guitar solo which led to a cover of Genesis' Land of Confusion, which was then followed by Droppin' Plates from 2010's The Sickness record followed by a drum solo by Mike Wengren.

One of my favorite parts of the evening was Disturbed's cover of Simon and Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence which was a stripped acoustic track that featured violinists and a piano wheeled on-stage. The band's solo performances wouldn't be complete without a bass solo from bassist John Moyer followed by Indestructible, the title track from their 2008 record, then following some more amazing praise of mental health Disturbed brought fans on stage to tell their stories of love, loss and tribulations and how the band helped keep them going through dark times. It was truly an amazing and moving moment that I think more bands out there should take note of which was then appropriately followed by the track The Light with the band closing with Stricken.

For an encore, the band reemerged from backstage with 2022's Unstoppable followed by fan favorite Down with the Sickness before closing out the night with the track Inside the Fire from their 2008 record Indestructible. Disturbed left the stage and let fans leave the show to Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire. This show was by far one of the most impressive live performances I've ever seen from a band.

The band hasn't missed a beat since last seeing Disturbed live since 2006's Ozzfest. They've aged like a fine wine and have gotten more brutal and aggressive live since seeing them first nearly 20 years ago. Even if you're not a fan of Disturbed or any of the other bands that played, I highly recommend seeing them live, all of their live performances are amazing and they're worth catching if you're even the most casual alternative rock or metal music fan.

You can check out a full gallery of photos from the show plus links to the band's pages and more below!