grandforksherald

Grand Forks gets its metal Monday night at the Alerus
Paulette Tobin Grand Forks Herald
December 07, 2008

Grand Forks gets its metal Monday night at the Alerus

When it comes to concerts, Grand Forks draws a good number of country shows, as well as pop stars such as Neil Diamond, family shows like “Winnie the Pooh” and “Veggie Tales” and the Broadway shows, such as “Hairspray.”

What it doesn’t get nearly as often are rock shows. (The last big one to come to town was Nickelback at the Alerus Center in July 2007.) Concerts by metal bands seem to be the rarest of all.

That’s why metalheads may feel a certain sense of gratification Monday night when Disturbed performs at the Alerus Center with guests Egypt Central and Art of Dying. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. and the show is set to begin at 7:15 p.m. (Note: The start time has been moved up 15 minutes.)

Disturbed arrives in town after being nominated earlier this week for a Grammy in the Best Hard Rock Performance category for its current album, “Indestructible.”

At the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles Feb. 8, its competition will be Judas Priest, for “Visions”; The Mars Volta, “Wax Simulacra”; Motley Crue, “Saints of Los Angeles”; and Rob Zombie, “Lords of Salem.”

Tami Pearson, marketing director at the Alerus, said she wasn’t aware of any particular reason that Grand Forks wasn’t seeing more hard rock and metal acts at its major venues.

“We seem to see a country theme (in local shows),” she said. (The Alerus just announced its next big show, country singer James Otto, on Jan. 28.) “I know (metal and rock) is something our area has been missing, so we’re happy to be able to bring a band like Disturbed to town.”

Seating for the concert Monday night will be general admission. Tickets were still available, Pearson said Friday, but were going fast. Alerus officials expected a “pretty decent” walk-in crowd on Monday, she said. Tickets are $35, $30 with a student ID.

Disturbed’s “Indestructible” was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America just six weeks after its June 3 release, a news release said. It has spawned the hit single “Inside the Fire,” and set a record when it spent 16 weeks atop the Active Rock Radio chart. Its current single/title track, “Indestructible,” currently is No. 2 on the Billboard Active Rock Chart.

“Indestructible” is the band’s third consecutive No. 1 album, following its platinum-sellers “Believe” (2002) and “Ten Thousand Fists” (2005), making Disturbed one of only six rock bands in history to score three consecutive No. 1s with studio albums. Formed in Chicago in 1996, Disturbed has sold 10 million albums worldwide.

Disturbed features David Draiman on vocals, Dan Donegan on guitar and electronics, Mike Wengren on drums and John Moyer on bass.

Egypt Central toured for years with established bands and shared major tours like Ozzfest and Family Values. It released its first self-titled album in January, which spawned the singles “You Make Me Sick” and “Taking You Down,” which reached No. 21 and No. 37.

Art of Dying, a five-piece rock act out of Vancouver, B.C., entered the music scene in 2005. Earlier it toured the United Kingdom with Seether.