Disturbed in Boston – March 14, 2025
Nu-metal Titans Disturbed are celebrating a landmark anniversary of their monumental debut album, The Sickness. Somehow it has been 25 years since they hit the scene! As they tour the country performing the album in its entirety, they stopped in Boston, with a sold out show at the TD Garden. Kicking off the night were Sevendust and Three Days Grace.
Sevendust
While Sevendust never had quite the same commercial success as Disturbed, the band were certainly significant in the nu-metal era. Frontman Lajon Witherspoon led the band through a short but powerful set, featuring six songs to get the crowd fired up. The bands’ energy was undeniable, and the perfect way to start off the show.
Three Days Grace
In 2013, frontman Adam Gontier walked away from Three Days Grace. Bass player Brad Walst‘s brother Matt Walst replaced him, and the band has continued to have success over the years. Despite the continued hits, there have always been people calling for Adam‘s return. This winter, the band surprised everyone by announcing Adam‘s return – however Matt would not be leaving. The band became what they called Three Days Grace 2X, featuring both Adam and Matt as co-lead vocalists.
As a longtime fan of Three Days Grace and Adam’s follow up band, Saint Asonia, I was interested to see how this would work out. Throughout their 12 song set, both singers were on stage the entire time. For the most part, they would only sing leads on the songs that they originally sang, while the other would add backup vocals. Previously, there would be a handful of songs that they would also play guitar while singing. Now neither singer played guitar while singing leads. Their counterpart would instead be in the background playing guitar.
They kicked off with “Animal I Have Become,” featuring Adam singing leads, before going into “So Called Life,” with Matt singing leads. There was a lot of trading back and forth like this, and both singers would take time to talk to the crowd. The set featured their new song, “Mayday,” which features both of them on lead vocals. The final song of the night, “Riot,” did see the two of them trading off lead vocals as well.
The band has so many hits that were featured, like “The Good Life,” “I Hate Everything About You,” and “Not Too Late.” As an extra treat for the longtime fans, the band also played “Chalk Outline,” which hasn’t been in their sets for the better part of a decade. The only downside to their band being a supporting performance was that they only played for an hour. Songs like “Pain” and “Just Like You” were noticeably absent from the night.
The band’s performance was fantastic, and it was great to see Adam singing these songs with Barry, Neil, and Brad backing him up again. Having both singers certainly brings the best of both worlds to the fans. Honestly, if Adam had just come back replaced Matt as lead singer, I don’t know that many fans would be clamoring to hear Adam sing any of the songs from the past decade, they would want to hear the old stuff. Having both singers allows both eras of the band to be represented and respected.
While it was a great show, the concept of the two singers certainly feels a little gimmicky. I’m excited to hear what their upcoming album will sound like, but I question if this is something the band can maintain for the long-term, or will they part ways with one of the singers after the upcoming album cycle?
Disturbed
Celebrating 25 years of The Sickness, Disturbed’s show began with the stage draped by a white curtain, while home videos of them over the years played. The videos ended, and the curtain rose to reveal the band standing on stage. Frontman David Draiman was then wheeled out, strapped to a hand truck, wearing a straitjacket and a muzzle, channeling Hannibal Lecter. The warden freed him from the restraints, and the band started their first track, “Voices.” Very quickly you realize just how strong of an album The Sickness is, following “Voices” with the continued 2-3-4 punch of “The Game,” “Stupify,” and “Down with the Sickness.”
Though the album may be loaded with the hits upfront, the rest of the album is no slouch, either. Most of the remaining songs have been barely performed over the past 20 years, giving fans who may not have seen them on their first album cycle a chance to hear these live. It was certainly fun to hear the band play their cover of “Shout,” by Tears for Fears.
As they approached the end of the album, the band exited stage as the lights went dark. An electric chair emerged at the end of the catwalk, and Draiman, now in an orange jumpsuit, was walked in chains down the ramp, and strapped to the chair. Fireworks exploded as his execution was simulated, and blood began pouring down his face. Draiman broke free of the restraints, before performing the final song of The Sickness, “Meaning of Life.”
The curtain lowered back around the stage, with a message saying the band will return in 20 minutes. During the intermission, more videos of the band in the studio over the years were played. The stage again goes dark, and the curtain was quickly pulled back as the band kicked into “Ten Thousand Fists.” The eight songs of the second set were made up of their greatest hits from the rest of their career. Songs like “Indestructible,” “Bad Man,” as well as their new single, “I Will not Break.” Their hit covers of Genesis’s “Land of Confusion,” as well as Simon & Garfunkel‘s “The Sound of Silence” both elicited huge reactions from the crowd. The latter of those two songs featured guitarist Dan Donegan at the end of the catwalk, playing a grand piano with flames rising out of it. The band was also accompanied by a cellist and a violinist, adding to the epicness of the performance.
The band finish the night with “Inside the Fire,” a song which fittingly featured more pyro than any other song of the night. Disturbed delivered two amazing sets of music, leaving every fan in the sold out arena satisfied. I’m not sure how we are all old enough for this album to be 25 years old now, but the band did a great job paying respect to the anniversary.
