Disturbed pauses show to honor fan who lost his life to addiction
February 11, 2024 • author: Katarina Croft • categories: Articles, Concerts/Performances, David Draiman • Comments Off on Disturbed pauses show to honor fan who lost his life to addiction

Original Article: msn.com

During their Take Back Your Life 2024 tour stop at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT on Saturday, February 12, rockers Disturbed stopped their performance to address a fan in the crowd who had been holding up a photo for them to see throughout the night.

“What is your story,” Disturbed frontman David Draiman asked as he approached the fan at the stage barrier. “You’ve been holding this picture up to me the entire show. What’s going on?” Fighting back tears, the fan explains: “This is my best friend Mark. I’ve known him since I was 11… He unfortunately lost his life to addiction on January 17th this year. It’ll be a month on Wednesday.”
“It’s definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through,” the fan continues as her emotions get the best of her. Still standing on the barrier, Draiman leans in to comfort her with a hug, and then gets down to floor level to look her in the eye when he says, “Come with me.”

The video then cuts to David and Kaylee on stage, where Draiman introduces her to the arena while giving her a chance to share the name of her late friend, Mark Rivers, with everyone in attendance. After another hug, Kaylee is welcomed to stay on stage as the band performs their single, “The Light,” in honor of Mark. “Breaks my heart,” Draiman says addressing the crowd. “Unfortunately, not everyone gets saved. Not everyone survives the darkness.”

“The key is to let the memories of the people we love live long beyond us,” David continues. “To keep them in our hearts, and to keep their souls radiant wherever they are. All you have to do is just think about them. Keep them in your mind, keep them in your soul, and the people you love are never ever truly gone.”

Finally, Draiman explains, “Sometimes it takes the right song to bring us back to the memory that we so deeply miss. I know I still miss so many of my dearly departed friends, we lost so many of them: Chester [Bennington], Scott [Weiland], Chris [Cornell]. That’s part of the reason why we write the songs that we do. Because life, no matter what the storybooks tell may you, is not f***ing easy. Not everything is sweet. Sometimes we have to look into the darkness in order to dispel the darkness.”

“I have a secret you may not realize,” Draiman says as he walks back to address Kaylee again personally: “Sometimes darkness can show you the light.” Watch the touching clip above.