Disturbed frontman David Draiman delivered a passionate and lengthy on-stage speech in Amsterdam, directly addressing the controversy surrounding his political activism and declaring: “We in Disturbed are all about unity.”
The powerful moment came during the band’s concert at the Ziggo Dome on Tuesday, October 14. Draiman, joined by his bandmates, used the platform to speak directly to the fans and the world about what he sees as the unifying power of music in a divisive time.
He began by addressing those who have tried to define the band’s message for them. “There have been certain people out there that have been trying to put words in our mouths, trying to make you think that they know what we think about things that are going on in this world,” he said (as transcribed by theprp). “So instead of listening to the people who can’t stop talking about everything that they’re so angry about all of the godd*mn time, we’re going to tell you from our own mouths how we feel, okay?”
He then laid out the band’s core philosophy of inclusion. “We in Disturbed are all about unity,” he declared. “We’re all about no matter who you are, no matter what walk of life you walk, no matter where you come from, no matter how much money is in your pocket, you are welcome at these shows. you understand that? It doesn’t matter if you’re a believer, or a non-believer. It doesn’t matter how you identify it. None of those things matter, okay?”
Draiman continued, directly confronting the geopolitical tensions that led to the cancellation of their next show. “The noise of the world doesn’t define us. The conflicts that are going on in this world don’t define us, because in this building, there is no f**king conflict. And it doesn’t matter if you’re Chinese or Taiwanese. It doesn’t matter whether you’re Indian or Pakistani, it doesn’t matter whether you are Israeli or Palestinian. Everyone is welcome in our house every f**king time we take the stage,” he proclaimed.
He concluded with a call for a symbolic act of unity, asking the entire arena to join hands. “There is no one that gets to define us, except us, my brothers and sisters, my blood. Look around. You see my friends? Sometimes darkness can show you the light,” he said as the crowd raised their linked hands in the air.
The speech was a direct response to the decision by the mayor of Brussels to cancel Disturbed‘s October 15 concert due to security fears. Local authorities cited a police risk analysis that concluded Draiman‘s high-profile support for Israel, particularly a 2024 photo of him signing an IDF artillery shell, posed an unacceptable risk of protests and public safety issues.
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