Remember, a few days ago, when the video surfaced of David Draiman chastising a woman in the audience of a Disturbed show for texting during their performance and smugly asking "are we that boring?"
He also asked “So what is so important going on in the world that you need to be texting the entire fucking show?” Turns out it was the well-being of this fan's daughter's that was so important. The Dallas Observer got in touch with the fan, Shannon Pardue, who explained her side of the story:
She didn’t even start texting her 14-year-old daughter — who was at home in the middle of a nasty hail storm — until after the show was over, she says, and the band had already left the stage. As the crowd began chanting “one more song,” Pardue began texting with her daughter, who had just returned home from youth night at their church with thunderstorms ravaging the area. [..] “I looked down, and everybody was staring at me,” Pardue says. “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.”
The story points out that she and her husband have been going to rock shows for 15 years, and that's how they met. Her husband was wearing a Disturbed shirt he owned for that same length of time, but after this incident, they vowed never to pay for another Disturbed show again (so a happy ending!)
“Rock stars wouldn’t be where they are without people who come to pay for the show,” Pardue says. “Whether I had my eyes on him or not, I am still there and I can hear them. He’s an amazing singer, and they were good, but it was just his attitude. I’ll never pay to see him again nor will my friends.”
Ultimately, Draiman looks incredibly bad here. I feel an apology is due here to the fan, or perhaps just vow not to tour anymore. Either or. Update: Draiman has since issued a full apology.
