DISTURBED drummer Mike Wengren has dismissed reports that the band’s pyrotechnics caused damage to the Chicago Bulls’ NBA championship banners during their concert in Chicago, Illinois.
Earlier this month, The Chicago Tribune reported that DISTURBED‘s pyrotechnic display during their concert on March 8 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, caused “minor damage” to the Chicago Bulls‘ championship banners.
As a result, the banners, which celebrate the Bulls‘ six NBA titles, had to be removed for the rest of the season. The damage occurred because the pyrotechnics were positioned directly beneath them.
United Center communications said in a statement: “United Center is currently working with the Bulls to explore options to repair these banners. While the banners will not be in place for the remainder of this season, we do anticipate them being back in place next season.”
However, in a new interview with MetalUniverse.net, Mike Wengren refuted claims that the band was responsible for damaging the Bulls‘ banners, stating: “That’s actually false. So one of the stagehands ran with the story and now it’s turned into something… We didn’t burn anything. If you think about the size of it, even if you watch the show tonight, you’ll see how high it is. We have extensive pyro and the flames are very high, but it gets tested every day. The fire marshals look at it… Everybody looks [at it] before [the concert] during the day. There’s no way we could come even close to the banners. So it’s bulls**t.’
“It’s frustrating for us,” he continued. “Because on one hand, the fan perspective is, ‘Wow, their pyro is that incredible, so I’ve gotta see the show,’ so maybe that’s kind of cool but then the other hand is as we’re continuing on this tour with the same show, every building we go into is now nervous about us causing damage to their building.
“We’re big sports fans, especially myself. We were at the game last night. We would never be disrespectful to anyone’s building. We are hometown Chicago boys. Why would we desecrate our own team? It’s ridiculous. Today, for example, the marshals tested everything. But this building is actually very smart; they have a system where you just have to press a button and the banners roll up. So there’s a safe [way to deal with it], but some of the buildings don’t have that.”
“It’s fake news,” Wengren added.
DISTURBED launched the U.S. leg of “The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour” on February 25 at the Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho. This tour commemorates 25 years of the band’s groundbreaking debut album, which propelled them into the spotlight and remains one of the most significant and influential heavy metal records of all time.
Source: metaladdicts.com
