Disturbed Will Skip Festivals This Summer So They ‘Don’t Have to Share’ the Production

February 23rd, 2023 at 2:49pm
Hesher Keenan

It may be (sort of) cold during these February days, but now’s the perfect time for bands all over the world to start booking their summer festival dates around the world. And while acts continue to fall over each other to land a spot on Hellfest, Download, and other major bills, Disturbed ain’t having none of it — they’re looking to be the only show in town with their own headlining tour.

While speaking with Beef Vegan (and transcribed by Blabbermouth), Disturbed frontman and former ridiculously large labret piercing wearer David Draiman said the decision to skip the festivals this year came down to putting on the best show possible.

“We love both (headlining tours and festivals), but truth be told is that when you finally decide to headline, you can bring out all your toys, and you don’t have to share it with anybody. [Laughs] When you’re in a festival environment, you have a whole bunch of really high-caliber bands who are performing at the top of their game, and they’re trying to bring as much as they can all collectively fit on that deck. And it gets challenging. So when you’re doing your thing and that’s the primary focus, it really opens up the possibilities.”

As anyone who’s seen a big headlining tour can attest, when a band gets to set the stage up exactly how they want and plans certain visuals to go with the music, it can be an amazing sight to behold. Draiman said the band wants to provide that kind of experience this time around, with planning currently underway.

“We’re putting together the elements of production as we speak. Dan [Donegan, guitar] and Mike [Wengren, drums] were just in L.A. helping assemble some additional musical textures for, like, segues and in-between moments for the set.
“We’re doing currently our cost analysis of what we wanna spend more money on, as far as production, and my votes always go for as much pyro as possible. But we’ll see what ends up happening.
“It’s kind of a fun time when you’re assembling what you’re going to do for the cycle in general. The thing that at least doing a shed run, an amphitheater run, does is you have a predictable environment that you’re dealing with night after night.”

As previously reported, the band’s “Take Back Your Life” tour will span 26 dates throughout North America, with dates kicking off on April 27 in Montreal and coming to an end in Noblesville, Indiana on September 2. At different points in the tour, they will be supported by Theory Of A Deadman, Breaking Benjamin, and/or JINJER.

You can check out the full list of dates below to see when Disturbed will take their show to your local venue.

Disturbed Take Back Your Life Tour

+ Special guest: Theory Of A Deadman
# Special guest: Breaking Benjamin
~ Special guest: JINJER

Tags: david draiman, Disturbed

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