Gig review: Disturbed, POD in Auckland
Stuff.co.nz
Wednesday, 10 September 2008




Can metal fans rock out on a school night?
Reviewer Chris Schulz finds out as four bands grace Vector Arena's stage for a rowdy mid-week show in Auckland.

Disturbed, POD, Alter Bridge, Redline
Where: Vector Arena, Auckland
When: Tuesday, September 9

If anyone was wondering just how crazy Auckland can get on a Tuesday night, the answer lay inside Vector Arena and a sweaty, seething moshpit near the front of the stage.

After early opening sets from Kiwi metallers Redline and American band Alter Bridge, that heaving pit quickly formed for Christian rap-metal act POD.

No one seemed to care it was a school night as fans bounced, sweat dripped and fists flew in several violent slam-dancing circles for the Californian band and their canon of rap-rock hits.

There are going to be some badly bruised bodies being nursed today.

POD was plagued by sound problems, but the blunt riffs and rousing choruses of Set It Off and Boom! provided a rowdy blast of Limp Bizkit-style metal from a bygone era, and warmed the crowd up perfectly for the headlining act.

Disturbed are huge in New Zealand. The American metallers have topped the charts here with their last three albums - a fact that singer David Draiman was quick to thank the crowd for.

They've achieved that success by keeping things simple. There's no flashy light show, no pyrotechnics and no video screens - just good, honest - and bloody loud - rock.

Draiman emerged on stage wearing a Hannibal-style straight jacket and face mask, but that was the sum total of the four-piece's basic stage show - aside from a backdrop sign that failed to unfurl properly.

The drums pound, the riffs grind and there's no denying the power of Draiman's soaring vocals - especially when he unleashes that powerful howl on anthems Liberate and Down with the Sickness.

But the band's not-so-secret weapon is guitarist Dan Donegan and his ridiculously fast shredding - especially evident on pounding recent singles Indestructible and Inside the Fire.

If you weren't careful you could slip over in the puddles of drool coming from all the Guitar Hero wannabes.

Fans would have to agree that Disturbed - a band that lies somewhere between Tool's progressive antics, and Creed's cheesy, radio-friendly filler - are the meat-and-potatoes of rock.

But on a drizzly Tuesday night in Auckland, it was almost enough to start a riot.