Wristbands:

Blue: If you pre-ordered your tix, you should have received a blue wristband, that reads Line Jumpers. People with these were the first allowed in, at 2pm, along with….

Yellow: The coveted “all access” pass. (que the choir of angels!! LOL!)

Red: Pit passes. Those, and our Sparkly-Fusia VIP Lounge wristbands were allowed in at 2:30pm.

If you don’t have any wristband, you will not be herded in until 5pm. Which doesn’t seem fair to me: you will only get to see the last 4 of the 10 side-stage bands. Which means you won’t get to see Five Finger Death Punch, and THAT sux!

DISTURBED:

Ahhhh! Just like the good ‘ole days: David in a straightjacket! (sans the hair, of course!) An orderly wheeled him out strapped to a board, a la Hannibal Lector, and proceeded to release him- which made Perfect Insanity the perfect opening song!

The stage setup was rather sparse (see set list for backdrop rotation). Mike was centrally located, gazing down on the minions from a flat topped, pyramid-shaped drum riser. The design was “ramped”, which made for easy scaling by Dan’s long-legged stride.

I have to go back to Mike’s drums. What a beautiful sight to behold! (yeah, I’m partial!) Flames on the drum heads blend into the sides, giving the illusion of him playing from the vortex of a raging inferno! (We always knew he was a little demon! LOL!)

John and Dan prowled the stage, laying down the heavy-rockin’ vibe surrounds the listener within an embryo of throbbing, living sound. I can honestly say that it was mesmerizing. It was hard not to be hypnotized!

And, David… well, what could I possibly say to express the exquisite perfection that is his voice? I can tell you that it’s evident that he’s been “behaving”, and taking care of his songbird pipes: nary a pitchy moment! Eccellente!!

The unbearably short set (one frickin’ hour?!?) ends on a familiar note, with David’s call-to-arms to the faithful…
We All Are Disturbed!!!

VIP Lounge / Meeting the Band:

Unfortunately, I can’t bring your hopes up on this subject. Basically, because there are so many bands on this tour, it’s going to be “hit-or-miss”, depending on your venue. At mine, all of the buses are corralled in a gated area, and you’re not getting in there without the ever-coveted “all access” yellow wristband. It was only my good karma (or, dumb luck!) that allowed me to catch David just as he was taking Lisa for her “after-gig” pottie break! (Not to gloat, but there was only a woman & her son waiting, also, so I was able to chat him up for a couple minutes, uninterrupted- I can die happy, now!)

As far as the VIP Lounge goes, they fed us and the bathrooms were air conditioned- that alone made it worth getting on the list!) And, while a few of the side-stage bands did come in (I nabbed Matt’s autograph- bassist for 5FDP), there was no sign of any Disturbed or Slipknot members. It will just be your “luck of the draw”, whether or not it happens.

But- don’t despair! David says they’ll be back touring the states by March! Yaayyyyyy!!!!

TAMPA SET LIST

(stage: original DISTURBED backdrop)

Perfect Insanity
Liberate
Just Stop
Voices
Indestructible
Prayer
Stupify
Divide

(stage: drops 10,000 Fists backdrop)

Land of Confusion
The Game

(stage: drops Indestructible backdrop)

Inside the Fire
Stricken
The Sickness