December 3rd at Avalon

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By Debby Rao

The Jagermeister Music Tour featuring Disturbed, Corrosion of Conformity, and special guests Dope rolled into Boston for a two night stop, performing to sold-out capacity crowds both nights at Boston's hottest concert venue Avalon. All of the bands on this tour have been touring non-stop in support of their new albums, and tonight's line-up proved to be exceptional. As the triple bill proved they are indeed the new voices of metal today.

The theme of the evening was political, and centered around the chaos that the world is currently undergoing with the war going on, and all of the bands strongly supported our troops.

Nu-metal rockers Dope opened the show at 6;30 p.m. with an energetic 30 minute set that was raw, and exciting. Frontman Edsel Dope entertained the crowd with his unique stage presence that was upbeat, and spontaneous.

Dope has been on the scene since 1999, and their latest line-up featuring Edsel Dope on vocals, Virus on guitar, Bricks on bass, and Racci Shay on drums is their strongest line-up to date. Dope are survirors, and have a raw cutting edge sound that is reminiscent of early Motley Crue, and Nine Inch Nail techno sound.

Dope has recently released their strongest album yet,"American Apathy" on Artemis Records. With the help of a great new label Artemis Records, the band are well on their way of acheiving their best musical year of their career. The new Dope single is "People are People".

The band opened with "Survive", which has catchy lyrics, and a driving beat. Drummer Racci Shay pounded the drums with his nu-metal drum technique that fueled the backbone of the band.

Highlights of the set included the rap-infused,"Fuck The Police." Edsel yelled to the crowd," I love Boston. Avalon was our first tour stop in 1999 when we toured with Orgy. No one has to work tommorow. Let's forget about our problems, that is what Rock and Roll is all about, escaping from our daily lives. "

Next up Dope entertained the crowd with "Spin Me", the song that appeared on the American Pyscho movie soundtrack. I really live Dope's version better than Dead or Alive. They ended the show with "Die Mother Fucker Die."

Dope are playing a few select cities on the Jagermeister tour, and be appearing at the Jagermeister Tour in New York at Nokia Theatre December 13 and 14.

For more info on tourdates check out www.dopearmy.com.

Next up Corrosion of Conformity hit the stage at 7;30 for a 40 minute set. Now COC have been cancelling shows left and right due to the fact that lead singer Pepper Keenan is from New Orleans, and his family who lost everything in the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. Boston was fortunate for have COC perform on the bill tonight. Our prayers and thoughts go out to his family.

Opening with "Paranoid Opiod," COC set was heavy and reminiscent of early Metallica. Their set reflected on the state of war that we are experiencing as the band performed their new song,"Indefinite War" from their lastest album"In The Arms of God." Highlights of the set included "Clean My Wounds", with Pepper Keenan playing strong, rhythm guitar, and heavy vocals.

COC ended their set with the title track of their new album,"In The Arms of God", in which Pepper dedicated that song to his friend the late Dimebag Darrell Abbott.

For tour date info check out www.coc.com

At 8:30 p.m. Disturbed hit the stage performing to a sold out crowd packed with Disturbed fans.

In the background ,the logo of Ten Thousand Fists adorned the staged as frontman David Draiman stormed the stage, commanding the audience to raise their fists in the air. Disturbed set was hard driving, full metal assault that kept coming at ya like a sledgehammer.

Disturbed who hail from Chicago, took over Boston for two nights delivering a set that was infused with a political theme. Frontman David Draiman strutted around the stage unleashing his powerf ul vocals, along with the hard-driving guitar solos from Dan Donegan.

New bass player John Moyer and drummer Mike Wengren fueled the heavy backbone of Disturbed, as the band performed many of their new songs from "Ten Thousand Fists” including "Just Stop," "Deify,” “Guarded" and "Forgiven."

Highlights of the set included a cool rendition of the Genesis song, "Land of Confusion."

Singer David Draiman stoped the show three times to converse with the audience.

David said, "Boston you have a tall order to fill, can you scream louder that last night's crowd."

The crowd chanted Red Sox Rule.

David goes,"Red Sox rule but the White Sox are the World Champions, as long as we keep it in the Sox we are ok. Next year the Red Sox can be the Champions again."

I thought that was so cool.

Disturbed performed two encores including their hit single,"Stricken", and ended the show with "The Sickness."

As the 85 minute set came to a close with 2200 fists in the air, it was inspiring to see three bands on a bill on the Jagermeister Tour unite and voice thier strong political views. The world may be at war, but tonight's concert helped everyone escape and enjoy the great music that these bands unleashed tonight.

I got to meet Disturbed before the show, and asked David Draiman to describe the latest album and his reaction to Boston.

David said, "The fans in Boston were overwhelming. Our fans have put us here. The album shows some light in this world of darkness."

The Jagermeister Tour will run till December 23, and then take a short break, and will resume for the second leg of the tour starting on January 6 in Spokane Washington.

www.disturbed1.com

Pictures coming soon!