Disturbed•Breaking Benjamin•Jinjer•July 13, 2023• USANA Amphitheatre
Reviewed and Photographed by Maralee Neilson
Above 90 degrees out in the sunshine can sure feel like over 100 degrees when it’s hitting you directly. But that didn’t stop thousands of people from coming out to USANA Amphitheatre to see Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, and Jinjer on a Thursday, the 13th of July. Fans from all over Utah spent the evening in the heat to see this incredible lineup of artists. Some lined up outside the venue from 12pm and some from 10 am even when doors were not till 5 pm. As soon as doors opened right around 5, people rushed into the venue. Going down to get in the pit area and those with lawn seat tickets getting in line to enter the lawn. Disturbed shirts being worn, merch line being long already. The night was just starting.
Jinjer
Jinjer took the stage at 6:30 and absolutely destroyed their set. I have heard of this band but have not listened to them and did not realize it was a female-fronted band. Lead vocalist Tetiana came out with her hair in long braids and during their first song started swinging her hair around as she sang. Jinjer is a metalcore band based out of Ukraine, which tells me they get down hard. It started off softer and more atmospheric but then turns into yelling in your face, metalcore with times of melodic singing.
Tetiana would growl and yell and had the crowd supporting them in every way. Fists in the air. Heads nodding up and down. Overall I became a fan of Jinjer and was very impressed with the vocals of this band. Love me a good female vocalist. There was a break in between sets and fans geared up to see Breaking Benjamin. A large white curtain was put up for more of a dramatic effect when Breaking Benjamin takes the stage.
Breaking Benjamin
Breaking Benjamin has been a band for years, so there were many “OG” fans at this show to see them. They took the stage, the curtain dropped. USANA Amphitheatre was full at this point. They yelled and screamed for Breaking Benjamin. They opened with ‘Failure’ followed by some hits like ‘Polyamorous’. During their set, there was a little boy right at the front barricade with a sign saying it was his first concert and his birthday. They had the parents raise the boy up and had the whole crowd sing Happy Birthday to the little man.
Later they played one of my favorites from their hit 2006 album, ‘Dance With the Devil’, and energy was high their whole set. Fans standing from their seats, singing along to their friends next to them. The crowd was very pleased. The set was incredible. The band showed their passion for their music and the vocals were very clean and powerful. The band interacted with the crowd the whole time and really showed the energy the crowd needed to amp up for Disturbed that was following their set. One of my favorite moments was the crowd singing every word to their songs, especially ‘The Diary of Jane’.
Disturbed
The sun started to set and the time came for Disturbed to come on. They also had a large white curtain covering the stage while they set up. I have heard that they had some really crazy pyro things included in their stage set up so I was looking forward to seeing what they came up with for this tour. They started playing ‘Hey You’ behind the curtain and then it dropped and the crowd screamed. Energy was beyond high at this point. It was electrifying, to say the least.
They had fire shooting up synchronized with their beats. You could feel the heat from the fire in the photo pit. I could only imagine how warm it is on stage performing with the fire behind you. The artists were focused on their music and provided all the energy the crowd needed. Some of their hits were played such as ‘Ten Thousand Fists’ and a newer song “Bad Man’ definitely kept the crowd on their toes. The song everyone was waiting for came as part of their encore set, ‘Down With The Sickness’. The crowd was wild during this song. Singing along, to the iconic song. Overall Disturbed, disturbed the quietness of the area surrounding the venue with their phenomenal set, from classic songs to the pyromantics. It was a night that filled the dreams of many individuals.
