While Disturbed was definitely the headliner here, this night felt like a mini-festival lineup. Three veteran bands who have been consistently delivering quality live shows for decades. In Disturbed’s case, two and a half decades, as this is the 25th anniversary tour for their monumental debut The Sickness.
Sevendust were first up. If you’re a hard rock fan who’s been going to shows for a while, odds are you’ve seen them open for one of your favourite bands. There’s a reason so many bands love bringing them on the road, they are a fantastic live act and the fact that the Bell Centre was already pretty full at 6:30 tells you the crowd agrees.
They gave us a 6-song set filled with classics like “Black,” “Denial,” “Enemy,” and “Praise.” Their performance was ageless. Same intensity as they had 25 years ago, with the addition of veteran poise. They age like a fine wine.
Next was the Canadian content for the night, veterans Three Days Grace. This was a version of the band that had never been seen before and offered hope for peace in the world. If you followed the arc of original vocalist Adam Gontier’s bitter departure and feud with the band and new vocalist Matt Walst, seeing them reunite with both vocalists is proof all wounds can heal.
The question of how will this work live was answered pretty quickly. The band walked out with their song “It’s All Over,” perhaps indicating the feud is over, and Matt Walst picked up a guitar to open up “Animal I Have Become.” In fact, both vocalists are also guitarists so just kept swapping roles and providing backing vocals for the other, depending on whose era of the band the song was from. Gontier was the busier vocalist as the lion’s share of their commercial success was under his stewardship.
Both took front and centre for big choruses like “Chalk Outline” and “Riot,” harmonizing together like old friends. To see how cohesive the band is after all of this was incredible and the fans appreciated. You could barely hear the band over the crowd for the choruses of “I Hate Everything About You” and “The Good Life.”
The big finale came with “Riot” and split vocal duties, the only time Walst took lead on Gontier vocals, but the two embraced after, big smiles to the crowd which was returning the joy 12,000 times.
Next up, it was time to give The Sickness its flowers. We got a video montage of some early Disturbed, including a very disturbing photo of vocalist David Draiman with hair, apparently that was once a thing. The man himself was then wheeled onto the stage in Hannibal Lecter restraints as the band kicked into “Voices.” The entire first set was the celebrated album from front to back, which included the hits “Stupify,” “Down With the Sickness,” and “Shout 2000.” If you’re too young to remember the turn of the millennium, people used to like throwing 2000 at the end of everything, but I think Disturbed was the only band to change the name of a cover.
The production was next level here. A giant steel structure that shot flames out of its bars. It looked like the skeleton of a building that was burned down. It stretched all the way to the rafters. It was very old school but effective. The Bell Centre rolled up the Habs banners up there to avoid burning them like happened in Chicago earlier this week.
The crowd sang along to even the deeper cuts on the album, showing a huge fandom. The album has aged very well, even younger fans who may not have been alive at its release appeared to know them. To close out the celebration, an electric chair was wheeled out and Draiman was zapped. Refusing to give in, Draiman used the 10,000 volts to kick out of the restraints to finish the first set with “Meaning of Life.”
After a 20-minute intermission and some more nostalgic footage, it was time for the greatest hits portion of the evening. The set started with “Ten Thousand Fists” and new single “I Will Not Break” which kicked proceedings into high gear.
A highlight of the evening came with their cover of the Genesis classic “Land of Confusion.” A giant inflatable version of their mascot took shape behind the drums, and I cannot overstate the word giant here, it reached for the rafters. The giant hooded demon looked menacingly out to the crowd, but seriously, this guy needs a better name. For such an imposing figure, his name is just The Guy. I mean put a little more thought into that?
We then got a piano wheeled out for their cover of “Sound of Silence.” The cell phone lights came out and the piano top caught fire to quite dramatic effect. I’ve always found this cover too heavily autotuned but the crowd didn’t seem to mind as they all sang along.
While in the tender mood, he brought up a young fan and her mother who was attending her first concert and got them chairs to watch from the stage. Draiman then gave a speech about acceptance and how everyone is welcome at a Disturbed show and that we are all one. This got a few heckles from the crowd relating to some Instagram and X controversies that plagued Draiman over the last year.
The night ended with the absolute banger “Inside The Fire,” which might alone have doubled the pyro budget for the show. It was the high octane blow out to take every bit of dancing, headbanging, singing and screaming energy out of the Bell Centre.
On this night, the rock gods were pleased. There was a bit of something for everyone, and the crowd was absolutely electric, mirroring the energy back at the performers for 4½ hours.
Montreal, you truly rocked!
Review – Richard Brunette
Photos – Eric Brisson
