NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
It’s hard to believe it’s already been twenty five years since nu-metal band Disturbed released their debut classic album “The Sickness”, propelling themselves into immediate stardom! Their hit single from the album “Down With the Sickness” with its inimitable “ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah” from lead vocalist David Draiman seems to still be everywhere from movies to television to video games! It’s hard to believe that the first single off the record “Stupify” was a hard sell with radio stations, given that it’s become one of their most popular songs and a staple on their tour setlists. To celebrate the anniversary of this seminal album, Disturbed has released a 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition with many bonus tracks including demos and rarities. We were there to celebrate the occasion when the band hit the KeyBank Center in Buffalo on April 4th to play “The Sickness” from start to finish.
The first opener was Texas-based rock band Nothing More, who I honestly had never heard of until this show. It seems my passing on the Grammy Awards for years due to their ignoring rock music was a bad idea, given Nothing More earned three nominations in the 2018 Grammy’s. Lead vocalist Jonny Hawkins dominates the stage, running around barefoot and shirtless with his long flowing hair. The energy flowing around the stage was exceptional with guitarist Mark Vollelunga, bassist Daniel Oliver, and drummer Ben Anderson backing Hawkins. Their setlist comprised of mostly songs from their seventh studio album “Carnal”, released in June 2024. These guys were a great surprise for a guy who had never heard of them before because they rocked the house!
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After a very brief intermission, Daughtry hit the stage. Formed after Chris Daughtry who had finished in fourth place on American Idol in 2006, he found immediate success with both his debut and sophomore albums hitting number one and winning multiple awards and accolades. In fact, each of his first five studio albums placed in the top ten on Billboard’s Hot 200 albums! However, the 2020s have been less successful and, while a few singles like 2024’s “Pieces” and “The Dam” have done relatively well, his EP “Shock to the System (Part 1) failed to chart. That doesn’t diminish his on-stage presence though as evidenced by his set at KeyBank Center. While he didn’t necessarily work the crowd all that much, he and his band still played a solid eleven song set, including four songs off last year’s EP.
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As the lights came down and a video with photos of highlights from early in the band’s career, fans eagerly awaited the appearance of Disturbed! The curtain was raised and the band members with the exception of Draiman stood at attention with or in front of their respective instruments. I don’t think you could get more serious than drummer Mike Wengren but you could see guitarist Dan Donegan’s lips curl, trying to avoid a grin! A crew member rolled out Draiman all trussed up, complete with facemask, on a hand truck a la Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. As he removes the mask, he screams his signature “saaaaaww” to start “The Voice”. What a way to start the show!
After twenty five years, David Draiman still sounds great and his pacing back and forth along the stage and up and down the runway definitely had me thinking ADHD but it’s this band’s pent up energy dying to be let out. Donegan and bassist John Moyer also worked the stage like the professionals they are so if you were anywhere near the barricades and didn’t get any love from one of these two, you weren’t paying attention! These guys know how to pose for their audience, whether it’s a finger point, tongue stuck out, or a guitar pose, they were going to give their fans the anniversary show that they deserved. Fortunately for the crowd (and unfortunately for the photographers who had to run to store their bags after three songs), “Down with the Sickness” was the fourth track on the album and thus the fourth song of the set. Usually, that’s the final song of the encore but the fans were able to hear it early on, bringing the screams and energy in the venue up to 110% right away! With giant flames, steam cannons, and sparklers, the show’s production had just about everything, even a giant balloon prop of the demon from the “Indestructible” album cover!
As we approached the end of the first set, Draiman was led down to the front of the runway where an electric chair waited. After his charges and sentence were announced, sparks flew as they “rolled on one” and “rolled on two”, with fake blood dripping down his face after the second. After you hear the flatline tone, Draiman “comes back to life”, breaks his bonds, and starts to sing “Meaning of Life”. They’ve been doing this bit for a long time but the setup was more elaborate with the sparks and blood. Good times!
After the “The Sickness” set, there was a brief intermission after which the band came back with “I Will Not Break”, their latest single release in February, followed by “Ten Thousand Fists” with the whole crowd pumping their fists up and down. It was quite the sight! This set was chock full of some fan favorites. One interesting thing I noticed was that, besides “Down with the Sickness”, the songs that generated the biggest sing-a-longs were the covers: “Shout”, “Land of Confusion”, and “Sound of Silence”. This in no way detracts from their own music but just shows how well Disturbed can amplify other artists’ music as well. Did I miss a few of my favorite tracks from other albums? Of course, since the focus of this tour was “The Sickness”. Nevertheless, Disturbed showed that, after twenty five years, they can still bring it like few other bands can. You still have the opportunity to catch them in North America as they will be touring here through mid-May. Then after a nice summer break, they will head overseas for an EU/UK tour from September 28th through October.
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