Disturbed wrapped up their Australian and NZ tour over the weekend, playing to a massive crowd at Auckland’s Vector Arena on Friday night.
While frontman David Draiman continues to divide fans — he called one out for texting during a show in Dallas earlier this year — he’s got a softer side too, which he showed off on Friday but inviting a wheelchair-bound fan up on stage.
In footage posted by the band, Draiman gets some roadies to go into the crowd and lift the man and his wheelchair up onto stage. The crowd goes appropriately nuts.
“This guy has not been able to see properly all night,” Draiman declares. “But he’s had the balls to be in the fuckin’ front row like this.”
The man then introduces himself as Pete, and announces that it’s his first ever concert. “Well worth it,” says Pete, in perhaps the understatement of the year, all while sitting next to his hero Draiman.
“We’re happy to pop your cherry for you,” says Draiman, before inviting Pete to remain on stage for the rest of the set.
“This is the difference between other genres and hard rock ladies and gentleman,” Draiman says. “You won’t see this kind of bravery, you won’t see this kind of courage at a pop show.
“Do you think people have the balls to go ahead in a wheelchair to the front of the fuckin’ barricade when they go and see Britney Spears? It doesn’t fuckin happen”
Pete then enjoys the rest of the set from the side of the stage, and the video continues to show him having the best night of his life.
Just a few days prior when Disturbed played in Sydney, Draiman stopped the band’s show to point out a 55-year-old mum of two who’d been “rocking her ass off” during the show.
Check out footage of Disturbed bringing Pete up on stage in Auckland, below.
