Last night was one packed with action, bad weather and amazing music. I attended my first metal concert with my boyfriend, Adam. We saw Disturbed with Breaking Benjamin, Alterbridge and Saint Asonia. I remember hearing my first Disturbed song when I was 12, titled "Down with the Sickness." I've been hooked, or dare I say, "Down with the Sickness," ever since. When I saw the link on Facebook that they were touring, I was dying to go. The stop closest to me was in The Woodlands (Houston area), about three hours away.
Adam bought us general admission, or "lawn tickets." It was an outdoor venue called the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. It seats about 10 to 20 thousand people. It was a sold out show. This small town girl always gets her mind blown when going to a large venue and seeing this many people jam packed into it. At the same time, it makes it more fun. I wasn't expecting it to be such a nice venue since it was outdoors. Although heat is brutal, I don't mind an outdoor venue. There was only one problem during the concert: inclement weather.
We had to do a shelter in place twice, one that delayed the start by an hour and the other that was halfway through the show. It was due to lightning in the area. It even made the news in Houston about us seeking shelter. The first time, we had to sit in the seats under the covered area. Water came rushing down into the covered area, flooding the front area of the seats we were in. There was a huge leak in part of the covering, which really sucked for those people sitting by it because they got soaking wet. I'm glad that we had rain ponchos and that I was wearing my black rain boots. The second shelter in place took place in the middle of the show, after Alterbridge finished up their performance and before Breaking Benjamin took the stage. Workers used this time to set up the stage for the next act. It was a cool sight to see.
I knew that when they pulled out the smoke machines and began testing them, it was about to get real, and it did.
Saint Asonia was the opener for the show. The band is a Canadian American group with former members of Three Days Grace, Finger Eleven and Staind. Adam Gontier is the lead singer / rhythm guitarist, Mike Mukshok is lead guitarist, Corey Lowery is the backup vocalist / bass player and Rich Beddoe is the drummer. I wasn't too familiar with the band, but when I heard a few songs, they sounded familiar to me. It was a moment of, "Oh, that's who sings that song!" This feeling would make sense since I've listened to the bands that these musicians hail from. The group put on a really fun act, and it felt kind of like a throwback. I enjoyed their performance.
Alterbridge was the next act. The group is from the early 2000's. Myles Kennedy is the lead vocalist/guitarist, Mark Tremont is backing vocalist / lead guitarist, Bryan Marshall is the bassist, and Scott Phillips is the drummer. I also wasn't too familiar with this band, but after hearing them, I began to like them. I found their style rather interesting, and I don't know why.
Breaking Benjamin was the third act, and they performed for quite a while. I was somewhat familiar with them before the concert, but now I must say that I was hooked on their performance. Adam is a huge fan of the group, so he was very excited to see them in concert. Benjamin Burnley is the lead vocalist, Aaron Bruch is the bassist, Shaun Foist is the drummer and Keith Wallen is the guitarist. They put on an awesome show, and had me jamming quite a bit, while Adam sang along. They covered Walk, a song by Pantera, and I was having a fangirl moment. After they performed several songs, Ben was making some jokes on stage and chatting with the audience. A fan in the pit area in front of the stage handed him a hand drawn picture of him that she made. It was really cool to witness a moment like this, a fan's night (or week) was made and an artist was happy to receive a handmade gift from a fan.
Disturbed took the stage last..and the crowd was going insane. The pavilion went dark, and videos started to play on the big screens by the stage. The lights slowly came on, followed by lead singer David Draiman saying, "Houston....let me see those fists!" They opened with "Ten Thousand Fists" and the machines on stage were shooting fire. David, in conjunction with bassist John Moyer, guitarist Dan Donegan and drummer Mike Wengren, had us going crazy. I was a bit surprised that they didn't open with Down With the Sickness, but surprises make an experience interesting. Fist pumping and head banging with fellow concert goers made this experience a blast.
Despite the weather conditions, the poncho sticking to my skin, and being drenched in sweat, I'd do it all over again. It was such a blast, and so worth it. I even made sure to stop by the merchandise table to buy a shirt, so that I can have a shirt from the official tour. What a way to end summer before classes start. Rock on.
