Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin and Jinjer @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre: Concert/Photo review

Titled the “Take Back Your Life” tour, a triple-bill metal lineup arrived in Alpharetta to stir the summer heat, with headliner Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin and Jinjer.

Jinjer opened to an arriving crowd. The Ukrainian metalcore band never spoke of the devastation being inflicted upon their country, but they certainly have a heart for metal and perhaps find a catharsis from expressing it. Checking with a few early arrivals, the band is already pretty well established in the U.S. due to previous tours. Singer Tatiana Shmayluk has a strong female rock voice, but when she switches to a growling scream, it’s shocking how masculine it becomes. This video clip demonstrates her voice at the 1:15 mark. Checking in with a metal enthusiast, she’s far from alone in female led metalcore bands. The band put on an enjoyable, expressive show. (Additional photos follow the band reviews).

Breaking Benjamin returned less than a year after their previous stop, and as leader Benjamin Burnley points out, they’ve been here the last 20 years and really appreciate the tremendous support from Atlanta fans. Based on T-shirts, as many fans attended for this band as they did Disturbed. The band covered most of the fan favorites, and though the songs may be familiar, the band is a well-oiled machine when it comes to performing, with individual members interacting with the audience regularly. And, speakers/earbuds not withstanding, hard rock is meant to be heard live and loud. The band finished with a combo of their most popular songs, “I Will Not Bow” and “The Diary of Jane,” which prompted the crowd to sing-a-long, record it with their phones, or both.

A teen girl likely at her first rock show turned her mom after Breaking Benjamin, pointed to her ears, and asked, “Is this normal?” Ear plugs. Bring them (or ask customer service). Her mom treated the moment more as a rite of passage than an educational opportunity.

After a stage changeover, Disturbed took over. Whereas Breaking Benjamin members generally tend to stay near their pedals, singer David Draiman, guitarist Dan Donegan, and bassist John Moyer present themselves as a band in motion rotating between left, center and right stage. That said, Draiman remains the calm in the center of the storm compared to the others’ animated performances. No disrespect to Breaking Benjamin, who the previous year upstaged Alice in Chains, but Disturbed just rocked harder, helped, no doubt, by the main staging gear which was as awesome for its articulating lights as it was concerning for the fires erupting (intentionally) from the rigging.

Similar to Breaking Benjamin, there shouldn’t be many complaints about their choices of songs. Both bands keep their songs less than five minutes, so there’s a regular change in riffs and ample time to cover a large number of songs in the set. So it’s interesting that instead of reaching into the deep cuts from their albums they included standalone “songs” for drums, bass, and guitar. These were fine to showcase the band members’ talents, but musically the band would have been better served by refraining from the indulgence or including the solos within their songs. Their talents were on full display regardless, particularly the thrumming bass drums of Mike Wengren powering through the amphitheater.

The tour (Take Back Your Life) found its context in the Disturbed set. An opening video concluded with a suicide prevention hotline, and as a prelude to “A Reason to Fight,” Draiman would admit that he almost gave in to suicide earlier this year. It was obviously a practiced moment at this point in the tour, but Draiman drove the point home well by asking the crowd to raise their hands if they or others they knew suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts. More hands were raised than not. Later still, he invited Gerald, a veteran and VIP audience member who shared his story with Draiman backstage prior to the show, to repeat experience. His story of finding hope and assistance, which included the timely hearing of two of the band’s songs, was as moving as you’ll find.

The highlight for many was their cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence.” Inviting a violinist, cellist, and pianist to the stage, the acoustic presentation did nothing to diminish the band’s skill – and Draiman’s singing, of this song.

At the end of the set, Draiman did a pretty solid job of selling the audience that concert was done, thanking them and leaving the stage. It left people wondering, but, of course, the house lights remained off and the crowd chanted for more. The band came back for a three song encore including “Down with the Sickness,” and that pretty well wrapped a very satisfying evening of metal music. If one was to argue about ticket prices, this is one tour that is packed with entertainment for the price.

Setlists are included at the end of each band’s photos.