During a recent show in Dallas, Disturbed frontman David Draiman called out a fan for texting during the show. The incident, which was captured on video, occurred when the band returned to the stage for their encore.
Draiman said he noticed the woman sitting in the front row of the balcony, and took offence to her being on her phone throughout the whole show. In the video he can be heard addressing her; “Hi, how are you?”, he says, “So what is so important going on in the world that you need to be texting the entire fucking show. The whole show! You’re right up front: I can see you as clear as day… Are we that boring?”.
He continues after pausing to hear her response, “Don’t tell me to go fuck myself: you already did that by looking at your phone instead of paying attention… Seriously, it’s fucking rude”.
He then addressed the entire audience, “Welcome to the age of the internet, ladies and fucking gentlemen”.
Now, in an interview with the Dallas Observer, the woman in question has had her say on the incident. Shannon Pardue claims that she wasn’t texting the entire show, but that she had only taken pictures and posted a status update much like the rest of the audience. She only began texting her 14 year-old daughter when she thought the show was finished, only for the band to come back for an encore. That was when she caught Draiman’s attention.
“I looked down, and everybody was staring at me,” Pardue said. “Have you ever seen a movie where a dorky kid is standing there and 20 bullies are making fun of him, making him feel alienated? That’s what happened to me.”
“Rock stars wouldn’t be where they are without people who come to pay for the show,” she said. “Whether I had my eyes on him or not, I am still there and I can hear them.”
Draiman has since addressed the incident on Facebook, clarifying exactly what he saw and why he felt it necessary to say what he said, citing the fact that there were many “TRUE” fans who would’ve been happy to be in Pardue’s place in the audience.
“1. That woman was not a fan. She was the date of a real fan who was standing next to her. She was face in phone from the moment the show started till the very end. 2. I didn’t “stop the show”. This was when we came back out for an encore, and I started out by saying how amazing the crowd was (the part not on the recording)…this woman, who didn’t want to be there in the first place was the exception, so I chose to make an example of her. 3. These shows went on sale in August and the whole run sold out in 48 hours. There were many TRUE fans who simply didn’t have the opportunity to buy tickets and would GLADLY have switched places with this woman,” his comment reads.
Disturbed will play a string of five tour dates across Australia and New Zealand in November, having been originally scheduled to play the cancelled Soundwave tour earlier this year.
Maybe put your phones away for this one.
Watch: David Draiman Calls Out Woman For Texting
https://youtu.be/7sM73kwAHsg
Disturbed 2016 Australian Tour
Tickets on sale for Frontier members here from Wednesday, 6th April at 12 noon AEST to Thursday, 7th April at 12 noon AEST.
Tickets on sale to the general public from 12pm local time, Friday, 8th April.
Wednesday, 9th November
HBF Stadium, Perth
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Saturday, 12th November
Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne
Tickets: Ticketek
Sunday, 13th November
Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Tickets: Ticketek
Tuesday, 15th November
Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
Tickets: Ticketek
Friday, 18th November
Vector Arena, Aukland
Tickets: Ticketmaster
