As September closes in on October, the weather was uncommonly sunny as I pulled into Copenhagen’s Royal Arena for the first stop of The Sickness 25th Anniversary tour fromNu Metal legends, Disturbed with heavyweight support from the legendary Megadeth.
What can I say about Megadeth that has not been recounted numerous times before. Dave Mustain is Megadeth. The announcement earlier this year that their next album and tour would be their last was a bit of a shock. Dave’s voice is not as it once was so maybe bowing out in style is a good idea, unlike some other legends that keep flogging a dead vocal cord horse (cough, Axel, cough Rose) It was a pleasure to hear that Dave was on good form.
So, it’s important we get all the Megadeth goodness while we can and Dave and crew hit the stage with a slick, tight, no nonsense one hour set that kicked off with Hanger 18, had some deep cuts and a lot of classic bangers such as Symphony of Destruction, Peace Sells and to wrap it all up the always awesome Holy Wars. Poignant considering the times we live in.
Poignant considering the political undercurrents Disturbed lead man David Draiman has been embroiled in in recent months. The ever-present question of separating the art from the artist something this reviewer most definitely had at the front of mind in attending this concert.
Politics to the side, Disturbed hit the stage to manic rapturous fans with Draiman a commanding stage presence in a show that did not skimp on the theatrics like pyro. Draiman rolled onto stage all wrapped up like some balding Hannibal Lecter and straight away this was a very different performance from the lean Megadeth set. With The Sickness songs playing a large part of the setlist the concert was split into two parts with the first part leaning into The Sickness, and the second part a mix of greatest hits. We had a dip into the new with recent songs I Will Not Break and Indestructible and with classics Ten Thousand Fists. Disturbed are also known for doing some covers and the excellent version of Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence, a highlight of the night. Their version of Genesis’ Land of Confusion less appealing to my ears.
As we wrapped up the night with fan fav and nu metal classic Inside the Fire we exited into a crisp Danish Autumn night with another banger of a gig under our belts.
