The Music as a Weapon Tour has long been known as one of the hardest tours this decade. With headliner and host Disturbed, it's no doubt that tour after tour, they are going to bring new rising-star bands in the world of hard rock and heavy metal to the table, along with an overall good show of some of the biggest names in those genres. Music as a Weapon IV definitely demonstrates the awesome pull Disturbed has.

This year, the tour features a main stage with the healiners Disturbed, Killswitch Engage, Lacuna Coil, and Chimaira. All of these bands put on one hell of a show, but what I loved the most wasn't the main stage, but the second stage featuring After the Burial, Born of Osiris, Crooked X, and Spineshank.

This portion of the show was essentially free, all you had to do was walk up past the swag booths and you were in the pits, right next to the parking lot outside. I will admit I've never really heard of most of the second stagers, but I really loved the show they put on. They were out there rocking for their fans. There was nothing fancy about their fold-out inflatable stage. It felt like the real deal, and they drew an intense crowd and Born of Osiris and Spineshank had amazing energy that really got the crowd moshing. Crooked X was just something else, though. This was the band that really impressed me. Crooked X is a band of 16-year-olds from Oklahoma, and they were not the openers. They all had great talent and energy.

Overall, the entire experience was great. The main stage had incredible energy, that was expected of 35 dollar show. Unfortunately I was only able to catch the tail end of Chimaira due to the long lines to get in after the second stage ended, but what I did catch was great. Next Lacuna Coil hit the stage, playing most of their hits, but in my opinion they weren't exactly all that special. Killswitch was up next. They got on stage and the crowd was chaos until their last song. Insanely intense energy, with a near-perfect setlist.

Next was, of course, Disturbed. I've seen Disturbed twice before, and I'm still unsure of which show I liked more, Music as a Weapon 3, or 4. Overall, I definitely enjoyed Music as a Weapon 4 more, mostly because of the outdoor second stage, but as far as Disturbed's performance, it was kind of weak compared to the incredible setlist and pyrotechnics from Music as a Weapon 3. The lack of fire aside, it still was an excellent show. One thing I must note, however, was that during Disturbed's show, David Draimen got out on stage and kind of explained what the tour was all about, about how we must all stick together in these times and keep ourselves away from other, less... well... ok let's just say it. To not listen to pop music.

Also, I'd like to note that I saw this show in Waterloo, IA. Second stage did not include Suicide Silence or Bury Your Dead. These two bands will be taking the place of Born of Osiris and After the Burial half way through the tour. I would definitely recommend going to this show if you are a fan of heavy metal and hard rock. I didn't know who any of the second stage bands were, but that ended up definitely being the part I enjoyed most.