Disturbed headlined a show at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Tx on April 25th, 2025 with support from Daughtry & Nothing More on The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour!
Disturbed is an American heavy metal band originating from Chicago, Illinois and was formed in 1994. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist David Draiman, guitarist Dan Donegan, bassist John Moyer, and drummer Mike Wengren.
Disturbed originally released their critically acclaimed studio album on March 7th, 2000, and were met with an outpouring of love and acclaim from fans and industry alike. The album has been RIAA certified five times Platinum and spent time on the Billboard 200 peaking at number 29, selling over five million copes making it the band’s most successful album.
Donegan speaking about “The Sickness” and the anniversary tour:
“We’ve never done anything like this. I think it’s going to be really cool. It’s our biggest album and our big debut, so we want to honor it from start to finish, playing some of these songs we haven’t played in a long time, and then have a second set of things we did after that.”
“(Disturbed) weren’t reinventing the wheel, but we weren’t trying to emulate a certain band, either. We just took all our influences and improvised and wrote the songs, and it started becoming something. But we weren’t chasing anything else; we were just writing the music that we wanted to write.”
Donegan adds about “Down With the Sickness”:
“We were just going into the rehearsal room in the late ‘90s, jumping on our instruments and warming up. Mikey did this tribal beat…it was never intended for anything, just warming up, and I said, ‘Keep doing that for a minute’ and just started improvising the riff and developing it. Davids listening to what we’re doing and we put that little pause in it, before it kicks in heavier, and out of nowhere in the break he does the signature ‘ooh wah-ah ah ah!’ thing and we’re looking at him going, ‘What the hell…?!’ It was just an instinct, just a reaction to this tribal beat and the riff. We were taken back by it; we didn’t know if he was gonna turn it into words or what, but it just kinda stuck. We were trying to find our own identity…and that definitely helped.”
Draiman channeled his inner Hannibal Lecter, as he was wheeled out onto the stage strapped to a stretcher in a straight jacket. This was possibly the most iconic entrance I’ve ever witnessed. Disturbed began their set by performing “The Sickness” front to back in sequence, starting with their leadoff hit “Voices” (featured in the trailer for classic horror film ‘Jeepers Creepers‘), then “The Game”, and massive hit “Stupify”. “Stupify” is the second most played track off the album with over 74 million streams on Spotify! During this song the true stars were Donegan and Moyer, as they commanded the stage with synchronized jumps. Donegan had also assisted Moyer by pinching his fretboard as he played. These two displayed some of the best band chemistry you could catch live!
Now time for the moment everyone had been waiting for and only four songs in. Let that sink in for a moment. Wengren kicks off one of the most recognizable song intros in metal with his tribal drum beat, before Draiman let out his signature outcry “OOH WAH-AH AH AH“! The crowd were truly down with the sickness at this point (pun intended). Again, I want y’all to recognize that the show has only just begun and we’ve already had four hits played that are typically performed later on in the set. For any band, playing arguably your biggest hit fourth is risky as you have to continue that pace throughout your set to keep your fans engaged. Disturbed had no issue with that as they powered through their two hour long set! Honorable mention to “Violence Fetish“, as it had big shoes to fill directly following that.
Towards the end of the album there’s a Tears For Fears cover “Shout 2000“. This inspired the audience to sing along to every word as if they were at their weekly karaoke. Following, Disturbed played one of their deepest cuts and one of the most anticipated songs (for me at least). This was one of the songs I was looking forward to the most. The crowd seemed to agree with me as it got one of the biggest crowd pops of the night. “Droppin’ Plates“, is not only ‘a little something for your ear hole’, it’s a testament to how their music is the best around. The term referring to the vinyl record as the plate, basically meaning that Disturbed is crushing songs and albums. You can’t argue with that statement as it’s rang true for twenty five years now. Draiman truly using his music as a weapon as he warns “here I come, I’m droppin’ plates on your ass”.
Disturbed began their live display of “The Sickness” with theatrics, why not end it that way as well. They certainly did not disappoint! Draiman found himself strapped down again, only this time it was to an electric chair. He was then “electrocuted” in front of the stage for everyone to witness. Talk about a grand finale. Disturbed wasn’t holding back one bit! At this point you can end the show and everyone could honestly say they were satisfied. I don’t see anyone arguing that they didn’t get their money’s worth. Fortunately, to everyone’s delight that wasn’t the case and there was still quite a few songs left to be performed.
After celebrating twenty five years of “The Sickness“, they moved onto their second set. Yes, you read correctly. The “Greatest Hits” portion of the show. We truly aren’t worthy of their graciousness. Two sets for the price of one. This set was began with their latest single “I Will Not Break“.
Draiman speaking about the latest single:
“It’s definitely a song I think is very needed right now — definitely I needed it. It’s an empowerment tune. It’s about overcoming adversity. It’s about coming out the other side of the darkness, about not letting the pressures that mount in your life break you.”
The second song of this whopping eight song encore was “Ten Thousand Fists“. Draiman commanded “let me see those fists,” and the crowd happily obliged. There was well over ten thousand fists in the air, maybe fifteen thousand if I were to guess. The crowd was more engaged than ever.
This is where things got truly interesting. A massive blow up of their mascot appeared on stage for “Bad Man“. Disurbed’s mascot, “The Guy“, was originally drawn on the back of “The Sickness” as a menacing face with a large sinister grin. The ambiguous name stemmed from Wengren’s nephew’s scared reaction and him referring to it as “the guy”. This proceeded to be the band’s visual representation of their forthcoming albums’ artwork.
Following was a few more covers, “Land of Confusion” by Genesis & “Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel. These songs were also met with outpouring love from the crowd. The latter, was certainly the most intimate song of the evening as the arena was illuminated by a flaming piano manned by Donegan and candle light. Between said covers, Disturbed brought the house down with “Indestructible“.
The band concluded the night with a staggering one-two combo. First of which, Draiman requested ‘just a moment of audience participation’. When the chorus hit and he sang the following two words “The Light“, the crowd must hold up their cell phones and lighters. This seemingly went without fail as the packed out arena was fully illuminated by the fans in attendance. I would like to add how much of an inspiration this band has been to me both professionally and personally. They’re huge advocates for mental health and always shine a light on it.
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Last but certainly not least, their go to closer “Inside the Fire“. They truly burn it all down as they take their pyro technics up a notch. Their pyro has been very notorious and quite controversial as of late. One particular event in recent years, they had cranked up their pyro so much at an outdoors show in Houston, Tx that it set off the sprinkler system. This was quite impressive to do at an amphitheater and it was their first and only time doing so.
An absolutely memorable evening to say the least. This was the best performance I had ever witnessed from them and I’m really looking forward to their upcoming album.
Liberate your mind.
Setlist:
The Sickness
- Voices (David is wheeled out like Hannibal Lecter)
- The Game
- Stupify
- Down With the Sickness
- Violence Fetish
- Fear
- Numb
- Want
- Conflict
- Shout (Tears for Fears cover)
- Droppin’ Plates
- Meaning of Life
Greatest Hits
- I Will Not Break
- Ten Thousand Fists
- Bad Man
- Land of Confusion (Genesis cover)
- Indestructible
- The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel cover)
- The Light
- Inside the Fire
Daughtry is an American rock band originating from McLeansville, North Carolina and was formed in 2006. It’s fronted by namesake Chris Daughtry, who was a finalist on the fifth season of American Idol. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Chris Daughtry, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Josh Steely, rhythm guitarist and lead guitarist/backing vocalist Brian Craddock, bassist Marty O’Brien, keyboardist Elvio Fernandes, and drummer/percussionist Jeremy Schaffer.
Setlist:
- The Reckoning
- Changes Are Coming
- World on Fire
- Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (Journey cover)
- The Day I Die
- It’s Not Over
- Home (Acoustic, Solo only Chris)
- The Dam
- Pieces
- Heavy Is the Crown (Band introductions)
- Artificial
Nothing More is an American rock band originating from San Antonio, Texas and was formed in 2003. Their current lineup consists of vocalist Jonny Hawkins, guitarist/backing vocalist Mark Vollelunga, bassist/backing vocalist Daniel Oliver, and drummer Ben Anderson.
Setlist:
- House on Sand
- If It Doesn’t Hurt
- FREEFALL
- Jenny
- Angel Song
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