Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Jinjer
Dos Equis Pavilion
Dallas, Texas
Photos and article by Artur Brakhman
I arrived at the venue on this hot Tuesday evening just in time to get to the pit before the opening act hit the stage. This band was Jinjer, a metalcore band from my home country – Ukraine. The backdrop was the band’s name and huge peace sign under it, both in Ukrainian flag colors.
The band hit the stage with “Perennial”, a song from their EP “MICRO” and the lead singer (Tatiana Shmayluk) was all over the stage, getting the people pumped. It was awesome to see her voice change from clear vocals to deep, almost manly growling. Although the band’s set was short, they definitely got the crowd headbanging and ready to rock the rest of the night.
Next on stage were Breaking Benjamin. The cloth cover that was covering the whole stage came down a few minutes after the band hit the stage. The first song of the set was “Failure”, a song from the band’s DARK BEFORE DAWN album. The band’s lead singer (Benjamin Burnley) was standing right at the center of the stage with A/C ducts on both sides of him during the whole set, pretty much diminishing any opportunity to take any decent photos of him. The huge A/C unit itself was on the left side of the stage. There were people with signs right next to the stage, most addressed to the lead singer. One girl held up a sign that caught my eye, it read “Ben sign my tattoo!”. The band played all their hits that spanned their extensive career. The hard-core fans were singing every single song, headbanging and enjoying every moment. At one point, the lead singer addressed the audience, saying that it was very hot but he loved the energy from the crowd, and that it will get even hotter once Disturbed will hit the stage.
This was my first time ever seeing Breaking Benjamin live, I enjoyed the set and seeing the people around me having fun.
Setlist:
Failure
Breath
Until the End
Red Cold River
Polyamorous
Blow Me Away
Simple Design
Follow
Sooner or Later
So Cold
I Will Not Bow
The Diary of Jane
The headliners of the evening were Disturbed with their Take Back Your Life tour, a band that I’ve enjoyed listening to for over two decades. Once again, the stage was covered with a huge cloth, but was taken down as soon as the band hit the stage. The band kicked off their 17 song set with “Hey You” from their latest album “Divisive”. The stage had multiple levels of huge metal structures with pyro, LEDs and lasers that spanned the whole stage. The crowd was headbanging from the very first notes. David Draiman was all over the stage, as were Dan Donegan (guitar) and John Moyer (bass). At times it was hard to keep up with them, but once the adrenaline hit, it was time to capture some awesome moments. Next song was “Stupify” followed by “Ten Thousand Fists”. Dan Donegan and John Moyer were interacting with the crowd from different sections of the stage. At one point Dan Donegan was kneeling right at the edge of the stage and John Moyer was making all sorts of moves, including holding his bass vertically. The first couple of rows of people that I could see were going crazy, they loved every single moment! A few songs in, and Dan Donegan did a very cool guitar solo, after which David Draiman made a speech. The speech was about depression and suicide. He mentioned that he was tired of losing his friends, which included Chester Bennington. He also mentioned that in February of this year, he was close to committing suicide himself. His son helped him get out of this depression. Then he asked people in the crowd to raise their hands if they, or their loved ones experienced depression. At this moment I got chills. A lot of people around me had their fists up in the air. He then said “look around you, you are not alone”. Some people were crying, others were hugging each other, even strangers. It was a surreal moment. After that, the band kicked off “Land of Confusion” followed by “The Night”. The drum riser was moved to center stage, closer to the edge and a cool drum solo was played by Mike Wengren. During “The Game” the whole crowd was throwing fists up in the air and headbanging. At the same time there was a huge mosh pit going on the lawn. Then the band played “The Sound of Silence”. Every single cell phone flashlight was turned on in the crowd. It was an incredible sight. I personally love the band’s version of this song. It gets deep into my soul. Next came a very cool and crunchy bass solo from John Moyer. After playing “Indestructible”, David Draiman noticed a kid in the front row and asked the security guards to help him up to the stage. He said that It’s awesome to see different generations of fans at the show rocking out to the band’s music. The kid’s dad joined soon after. The kid and his dad sat down on the drum riser and the band kicked off “The Light” to which the crowd had their cell phones in the air during the chorus. The band finished off the night with an awesome three song encore “Unstoppable”, “Down With the Sickness” and “Inside the Fire”.
At one point, in between the songs, David Draiman asked everyone in the crowd to raise their fists in the air for a group photo. Everyone happily obliged accompanied by screams and whistles.
This was my first time seeing the band live, although I’ve listened to their music for over two decades. I’ve enjoyed this amazing show very much! The pyro was incredible throughout the whole set, the LEDs and lasers were awesome as well.
Overall, this was a fun, at times emotional experience. Every band had their own flavor of metal to offer to the crowd and gave their best throughout the night. It would be awesome to see any of these bands live again, especially Disturbed!
Setlist:
Hey You
Stupify
Ten Thousand Fists
Prayer
Are You Ready
Bad Man
A Reason to Fight
Land of Confusion (Genesis cover)
The Night
The Game
The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel cover)
Indestructible
The Light
Stricken
Encore:
Unstoppable
Down With the Sickness
Inside the Fire
