At the Marquee

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Ooh-WA-KA-KA-KA!!!

Due to David Draiman's voice problems that have plagued the tour earlier this year, the agony over waiting for Disturbed to play in January was prolonged until March 1st and 3rd when they finally hit Arizona at the Marquee venue in Tempe. Not surprisingly, both nights were played to a packed crowd (tickets for both shows were previously sold out). On both nights, when Drowning Pool's Bodies was blasted through the PA, the crowd sang with such enthusiasm that most of the song itself couldn't be heard.

Ten thousand fists were definitely in the air as the band hit the stage. The crowd had been waiting for these shows and were finally rewarded for their patience, something Draiman said a special thanks to. You would never have known he was having throat problems by listening to him the rest of the night.

One of the high points of a Disturbed set is that there is such a balance of light and heavy, and the entire set flowed smoothly. They selected a great blend of songs from all three of their albums. The intense atmosphere of crowd favorites like Voices and Bound was wild. The set also included Stupify, Prayer, Liberate, Remember, Just Stop, Stricken, Down with the Sickness and even their cover of Genesis' Land of Confusion. Quite frankly, there were perhaps other songs on the set list as well, but I was just too in to the performance to keep track. Guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren and bassist John Moyer provided the solid soundtrack behind Draiman's vocals.

At one point in the set, Draiman took the time to criticize Bush and voiced his opinion that the troops need to be brought home now. The crowd passionately agreed by chanting "USA! USA!" until Draiman raised his hand to signal silence before the next song.

Later he also commented that part of rock's downfall is due to bands that start with "the" - Strokes, Vines, Hives, etc. - as well as "emo screamo" acts that get up on stage and sing about breaking up with their girlfriends and riding off on their skateboards. "They're the ones who killed rock or dealt it a damaging blow. We're here to stop it. Shall we continue with the real rock show?" You can imagine the crowd's reply.

The band proved they were definitely worth the wait. Two more solid performances go down in Disturbed's history.