Disturbed: Take Back Your Life Tour Review

Disturbed performed their “Take Back Your Life” tour at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Thursday, July 27th. The crowd was full of excitement and anticipation for the performances to come.

First to start off the night was the performance of Jinjer. Jinjer is a Ukrainian metal band known for their progressive and technical style, combining elements of metalcore, djent, and death metal. Fronted by powerful vocalist Tatiana Shmailyuk, the band has gained international recognition for their dynamic performances, intense growls, and melodic vocals, attracting a diverse and dedicated fan following.

They began their performance by welcoming the crowd to the tour and introducing themselves, then they performed their first song of the night “Perennial.” They continued with a performance of songs from their albums Wallflowers, King of Everything and their EP, Micro. Shmailyuk showed tremendous vocal prowess with her ability to maneuver her vocal range, growls, and yells smoothly.

Standout songs from Jinjer’s performance are “I Speak Astronomy” and “Copycat” which showcased their impeccable ability to deliver an array of emotions with their vocals and instrumentals. They ended their performance getting the crowd hyped out for the next performers and thanking the crowd as they left the stage. 

Thank you so much you all are fantastic! Thank you so much and enjoy the rest of the night!

Tatiana Shmailyuk of Jinjer

The next performance of the night was Breaking Benjamin who started with an impressive introduction with the performance of “Failure.” Breaking Benjamin is an alternative American rock band, led by singer-songwriter Benjamin Burnley. Known for their emotive lyrics and a mix of hard rock and post-grunge elements, the band has produced chart-topping hits and has gained a devoted fanbase and commercial success. After finishing their introduction Burnley welcomed the crowd with enthusiasm.

Houston, how you guys feeling today? It’s so f*cking awesome to be back here, thank you guys for being so f*cking awesome everytime we come here. We love you! Some of you may have seen us before and you know that we love to hear and see you singing along every single word.

Benjamin Burnley of Breaking Benjamin

During their performance Burnley was continuously interacting with the crowd and getting everyone to sing along. The band showed impressive synergy with there being a visible connection with each other. In the middle of their segment, they opened up about how long their musical career has been.

We absolutely LOVE music! We’ve been a band, Houston, for 21 years now. So now we are gonna go back 20 f*cking years all the way. This is the best f*cking song EVER it’s called “Polyamorous!”

Benjamin Burnley of Breaking Benjamin

They performed songs from their large discography including their albums Saturate, We Are Not Alone, Phobia, Dear Agony, Dark Before Dawn, and Ember as well as the single “Blow Me Away.” Standout songs from Breaking Benjamin are “I Will Not Bow,” “Dance With The Devil” and “The Diary of Jane.” Before they ended their performance with the song “The Diary of Jane,” they pointed out the amazing performance of Jinjer and thanked the crowd for being amazing and expressing their love for Houston. The crowd now waited in great anticipation for Disturbed to come on stage.

Disturbed came out with a fantastical and intense opening performance of “Hey You” with the stage being lit up with an impressive set of flames which left the crowd singing along with their hands in the air. Disturbed is an American rock band known for their heavy and aggressive sound, blending elements of metal and hard rock. With powerful vocals by lead singer David Draiman, they gained popularity for hits like “Down with the Sickness” and “The Sound of Silence,” showcasing their versatility and distinct style.

Draiman has an incredible voice that just demands attention it has such a strong vocal quality that is hard to describe. Whenever he had moments that isolated his voice the crowd cheered and it just grabbed your attention easily. Before the song “A Reason To Fight,” a PSA was shown for suicide prevention afterward the band gave us a beautiful acoustic performance of the song. Draiman fell to his knees at the end clearly emotional from singing the song, after a while he got up and addressed the crowd.

A reason to fight. You are my reason to fight. The demons that are addiction and depression are unfortunately very, very real. They are a disease, they are not different from cancer or any other disease, it doesn’t matter how strong you may seem on the outside, it doesn’t matter how blessed your life is, its like cancer grows within your body. Out of the such so do depression and addiction. No one chooses to be depressed or addicted.

Every single member of the band on this stage has felt those demons. And I, I am sick and f*cking tired of watching my friends die. I miss them all so very much. [He mentions the friends he has lost] And if I could be really honest with you, this past February I almost joined them.

You want to know what kept me here? My son, and each and every one of you. Whether you realize it or not ladies and gentlemen you are attending the largest group therapy session you will attend in your lives. By a show of hands, how many of you have struggled with the demons known as addiction and depression yourself or know someone that has? [A great majority of the audience raises their hand] As you can see my friends, you are not alone.

David Draiman of Disturbed

After that incredibly emotional moment, the band continued with their incredible performances of their vast discography including their albums The Sickness, Believe, Ten Thousand Fists, Indestructible, Immortalized, Evolution, and Divisive. This does not even include the guitar and drum solo throughout showcasing the band’s tremendous musical ability. During the song “The Sound of Silence,” the whole crowd sang along with this emotional and powerful rendition by the band.

Standout songs from Disturbed are “A Reason To Fight,” “The Sound of Silence,” “The Light,” and “Down with the Sickness.” They ended the night with a three-song encore segment with their last song being “Inside the Fire,” which left the crowd cheering and enthused from a marvelous night of amazing performances. Draiman thanked the crowd profusely and soon the band left the stage.  

Honestly, it was a phenomenal night I was blown away by these amazing performers especially Disturbed with Draiman’s incredible vocal ability and stage presence. It was very emotional at some moments of the night, but this crowd was one of the most engaged crowds I have seen in a while. I highly suggest checking these bands out!