Live Review: Disturbed, Twelve Foot Ninja

Forget fusion metal, Twelve Foot Ninja are a mongrel bitsa mix of reggae, Latino, metal and a thousand other unexpected elements - schizophrenic sounds. And they actually wear ninja pants. There are moments when singer Nik "Kin" Etik sounds like he wishes he were Trent Reznor. Etik informs us drummer Shane "Russ" Russell became a dad this morning and Russell looks chuffed. The band give 100%, getting better and better as the set progresses, and the crowd is super-receptive. Etik plugs the band's epic latest Sick clip that's up on YouTube and their closing track perfectly demonstrates Twelve Foot Ninja's impressive musicianship.

Opening with The Eye Of The Storm, Disturbed clearly mean business. Shoulder-padded, black-coat wearing bald vocalist David Draiman's impressively polished pipes could still be heard unplugged. He has a stalking, imposing presence on stage. "We've waited a long fucking time for this, are you ready?" is how Draiman gees us up. Lush green and purple lighting design is punctuated by fireballs that are as powerful as those seagull-killing Gas Brigades at Crown Casino. Draiman conjures an impressive sea of air-punching fists. Open Your Eyes and Stupify prove a winning back-to-back combo; guitarist Dan Donegan's playing makes collective heads shake in disbelief while pondering his riff majesty. And how about drummer Mike Wengren's endless cymbal rack!?

There's an older gentleman dancing as unpredictably as a jackhammer in the front row of the stadium seats and we wonder whether he may spontaneously human combust from the excitement of it all. Disturbed bring on stools for the emo section. Phones are immediately raised to illuminate Darkness. "Keep the lighters lit and the cell phones up; we're not done yet. I think you know what's up next," Draiman teases. As anticipated, we're treated to Disturbed's surprise hit (and Simon & Garfunkel cover), The Sound Of Silence. Draiman's voice is extra impressive during this one, Donegan tenderly tickles the ivories and dynamic percussion elevates the song's conclusion.

Pure brutality follows. Inside The Fire finishes with fireballs accompanied by Draiman's ultra-evil laugh. Draiman instructs us to only raise our phones when we hear "the light" lyrics (during their song of the same name), but not many obey since they're too busy taking selfies or photos of the onstage action. Donegan constantly pulls focus - he's just too bloody good! Draiman, Donegan and bassist John Moyer are all masters at conjuring crowd interaction; pointing approvingly at rabid fans that catch their eye and therefore inspiring others to go harder. Draiman acknowledges that Soundwave's cancellation fucked them up and kept them from us for longer than necessary since they were due to tour here early this year as part of the ill-fated festival.

"Everyone is welcome at this party... if it makes you forget about all the shit that's going on around us for just a little bit," Draiman shares, before enthusing Australia is the band's "second home on this motherfucking planet". The lyrics during Disturbed's Genesis cover, Land Of Confusion, speak to our global fears.

The encore kicks off with Voices ("Are you breathing?") and the mosh goes off; there will be bruises of many Disturbed shades in the morning. Ten Thousand Fists sees 7,500 (this arena's capacity) "fists in the air" and Wengren gets his moment to shine during the complex Down With The Sickness intro before Draiman freaks us out with demonic "Oh-wah-ah-ah-AH!"s. And then after a "We are?"/"Disturbed!" call and response it's all over. Disturbed are near-perfect live.