Disturbed and Megadeth roll into Birmingham as veteran bands ready to rock. Disturbed are celebrating 25 years of The Sickness.

FADING GRUNGE

Back in the late nineties, grunge metal was fading rapidly, with so called nu-metal becoming the soundtrack of the day for angry adolescents and the dis-affectioned youth. Amongst the flurry of releases, there was a debut album by a band called Disturbed from Chicago, which came off the back of several years of hard work and was widely received to critical acclaim and high praise. Of course, subsequently the band evolved from their nu-metal roots into an alt-metal/hard rock outfit but the debut stood the test of time such that twenty five years on, the anniversary is being marked with a tour seeing the album played in full. 

MEGADETH

However, before we got to the headliner act, there was the small matter of a support act, US thrash legends, Megadeth, who surely need no introduction. During the summer, the band announced that their forthcoming album would be their last and would be accompanied by a farewell tour, and although we are not there yet, there was a degree of sentiment for me at this show knowing that there won’t be too many chances left to catch the band play live. 

Determined to make the most of their time and eschewing gimmicks, the band took to a stripped back stage in front of a backdrop simply showing their distinctive logo, and proceeded to deliver a run through of their their greatest hits including Skin o’ My Teeth, Wake Up Dead and Hangar 18 which all came early on.

Mid set, there is a rendition of the recently released single Tipping Point from the forthcoming eponymous album which went down well with the crowd as the arena filled up nicely.

THE RINGLEADER

Dave Mustaine was the ringleader, orchestrating proceedings with his trademark snarling vocals but the whole band were tight and on form, especially Dirk Verbeuren who was a machine on the drums! One thrash gem led into another culminating in the stunning trio of Peace Sells (complete with an appearance from Vic Rattlehead), Symphony of Destruction and Holy Wars… The Punishment Due (which carries more relevance and poignancy now than ever).

There was minimal interaction with the crowd, with Dave Mustaine letting the music speak for itself, looking humble, almost shy, as the crowd loudly sang every word back at him, and this could easily have been a headliner set with Megadeth looking as tight as they have done for many years!

DISTURBED

After a short turnaround, the lights dim and a video played on a big screen depicting Disturbed across the years, culminating in a shot of the cover of the album being celebrated tonight, the seminal ‘The Sickness’.

The image disappears leaving the silhouetted figures of the band members behind a white curtain, before the curtain was slowly raised to a chorus of sirens as David Draiman was wheeled onto the stage in a straight jacket, tied to a backboard and wearing a Hannibal Lecter style face mask. He was released from this, made his way to the microphone and we were off!

Disturbed quickly make use of the runway, pulling every possible “rockstar” pose as Voices led into The Game with chunky riffs and staccato rhythms being the order of the day. Stupify has pyros erupting before the anthem Down with the Sickness saw the crowd really find their voice. Their cover of Tears for Fears’ classic Shout 2000 is introduced with an invitation to join the band in “primal scream therapy” before that portion of the show ends with Meaning of Life.

The latter seeing David Draiman brought out in shackles and an orange ‘death row’ jumpsuit before being strapped to an electric chair and electrocuted with blood running down his head and face in front of a never ending sea of mobile phones with the crowd intent on recording every second. The track ended with David sat in the electric chair at the end of the runway laughing maniacally. The curtain then came down again stating that the band would return in 20 minutes. 

GREATEST HITS

As promised, the band soon return for the ‘Greatest Hits’, opening with their 2025 single, I Will Not Break. It takes us from one end of the band’s career to the other.

Ten Thousand Fists and Bad Man follow complete with inflatable version of the Divisive album cover figure appearing behind the drum kit. Genesis cover Land of Confusion leads into Indestructible which inexplicably seemed a little lacklustre for what should have been one of the highlights of the set.

There was then an emotive acoustic rendition of The Sound of Silence. Although this is a Simon and Garfunkel cover, Disturbed have really made this their own, lending emotion and power not present in the original version. The track started with David accompanied only by a piano (complete with flames on top) on the end of the runway. As the song built, tub drums, strings and acoustic guitars joined, adding layer upon layer, with David’s vocals sounding powerful and vulnerable at the same time. This was simply stunning (despite the guy behind constantly shouting “it’s not metal”).

SHARING THE LOVE

David then took a moment to address the crowd, reflecting that Birmingham’s media reports must have been exaggerated as a rammed arena must mean that there is still love for Disturbed in Birmingham, and he then took a moment to thank the crowd for its support. There was then a request for audience participation on the following track The Light including asking that the crowd be loud enough for Ozzy to hear them. The crowd duly obliged before the set was then brought to a close with Inside The Fire, leaving the satisfied crowd to head out in the wintry Birmingham night. 

Disturbed online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / X / Youtube

Megadeth online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / X / Youtube

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