Anarchy Music checks out the Taste Of Chaos tour
By The Anarchist, Simay and Katie Romance. Photos by Courtney Sultan
Dr. Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars prescribes a healthy dose of rock to his patients
Ah, the refreshing flavor of Taste Of Chaos! It's the yearly showcase of the top Warped Tour style bands and once again the line-up was a dreamteam for scene kids nationwide: The Used, 30 Seconds To Mars, Senses Fail, Saosin, Aiden, Chiodos and Evaline...can't beat that! I went to the Atlanta, GA show with our awesome photographer Courtney Sultan, who took all of the pics for this article, while Simay saw the show in Philadelphia, PA and Katie Romance went to the Dayton, OH event.
When it comes to telling people what I think of a band live, I’m pretty rough about it. It takes a lot to get me to like a band live -- especially if I don’t know any of their songs. It’s a cold, hard fact: if the crowd is into it (and a lot of the time, it shows if they are singing along to the songs with all their heart), it makes the show 100 times better. I went into seeing Evaline not really expecting much because they were the little band (and I, honestly, was there to see two other bands that I am a hardcore fan of). But it took me two seconds to be hooked on their performance and not pay attention to anything else. The greatest selling point of this band’s live show is their VERY energetic lead singer. He’s all over the stage and is more than just a lead singer (he plays a couple different instruments, too). The highlight of the show was when he fell OFF the stage, cracking his face off of not only the stage but also the floor and then he got up and continued without missing a beat (I about died and was so scared for him). The fact that he could continue to sing without missing anything really impressed me.
Chiodos just about stole the whole damn show. The fact of the matter is that they are the most eclectic and talented of all the "scene" bands. Introduced by a guy in a pink bunny suit, they launched into a brand new, as yet untitled track that shows that the flashes of brilliance on their debut All's Well That Ends Well was just a teaser for what the band has in store for their fans. The bands manic energy combined with a fine display of musicianship is such a welcome addition to the stale music landscape that I always welcome any opportunity to pimp them out on this site. The cord definitely recognized and went crazy for songs like "We;re Gonna Have Us A Champagne Jam" and "The Words 'Best Friends' Become Redifined". With each time I see them the crowds are more and more familiar with this band, and you can tell that they are right on the verge of a major breakthrough. perhaps then they can stop being the opening act that steals the show and become the headliner that everyone knows will absolutely kill.
Aiden’s Wil first asked the crowd, “Can’t you guys all come closer?” When he realized most of the crowd couldn’t get into the pit area, “[You can’t] ‘cos you got sea tickets, BOO,” he said. In an attempt to really get the crowd moving, “Wake up,” he yelled, “push these fucking people back. I want to see some broken bones!” Of course, there were no broken bones even though I did see a bunch of kids start a moshpit in the pit area. Aiden was much better than the last time I’ve seen them live, but the crowd was just very weird in general: not many people showed up until 6:30-7:00, I got weird looks when I stood up on my seat to scream my guts out, and most people around me didn’t even bother to sing along. There was one crazy fan girl in the crowd though, who apparently wanted Wil’s babies, to which he replied, “I don’t have any babies, and I don’t know if I could give them to you if I had any.” Aiden’s setlist was as follows: Last Sunrise, Die Romantic, We Sleep Forever, I Set My Friends on Fire, The Suffering, World By Storm.
I'll add here that not only did Aiden hang out for their alotted time for the meet and greet, but they stuck around for the rest of the night signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. I can't wait for this band to get absolutely huge, since they are one of the hardest working and most appreciative bands on the planet. They also put on the best performance of the night (and just about any other night on any other tour they are ever on).
I'm not exactly sure why Saosin was on after Aiden. The band wasn't billed higher than them in any of the promo materials I had seen, and with all due respect, they shouldn't have followed an act like that. Aidens psychotic, stagediving, dynamic set made the softer, more subtle performance look kind of boring. Saosin following Chiodos would have been a much better fit, as certainly the styles mesh a lot better. Apparently the bands change up as far as who plays when so that could be to blame for what ended up being a bit of a crowd killer. The truth is that the band is actually pretty good. I am not the world's biggest Emo fan, but I much prefer their more melodic approach to a lot of the whiny screaming that permeates the current music landscape. The band just has no business following a band that outperforms them and overpowers them as much as Aiden does (and Saosin will soon be headliningg over Poison The Well...so I don't see my opinion changing much anytime soon).
Senses Fail...where do I begin? First of all, I simply don't understand why they are so popular. They sound exactly like a million other bands, with no amazing hooks or melodies to seperate them from the pack. So, why are they so much more successful than most others in their genre? I tend to chalk it up to a better marketing strategy. Our cd reviewer Al The Killer would want me to point out that he thinks that Senses Fail is the very best screamo band around, but even he agrees that the band is terrible in concert. The sound is muddy and lifeless. I'm bored.
30 Seconds To Mars' stage decorations made me feel like I was walking through China Town. When I remembered their latest video, “From Yesterday,” it all made sense, until their opening song: Carmino Borana (O’fortuna). Powerful choice, I must admit, yet it felt strange hearing this tune as I stared at the Chinese decorations, waiting for the band to come on. As soon as they broke into their first song, A Beautiful Lie, I could tell why the crowd was sleeping earlier: they were there for 30 Seconds to Mars, and there was no stopping them once they heard Jared Leto yell, “You’re all nuts; make this the best night of your entire life.” He jumped into the crowd, still singing and taking his time, even though he had once broken his nose at a show doing the exact same thing. 30 Seconds to Mars’s setlist was as follows: A Beautiful Lie, From Yesterday, Savior, The Kill, The Fantasy, Attack.
Remember what I said about Aiden? 30STM is pretty much the opposite. Not only are they all hype, with very little beyond the stageshow to back up all of the praise that they get, but they treated their fans with what I can only describe as "disgust". Yeah, they did the autograph signing that they were scheduled to do, but they acted as if their fans were a complete nuissance to them and were far ruder than the long line would dictate them being. Oddly, frontman (and only legitimate star in the band) Jared Leto was the only member who actually treated the fans with respect and kindness. This has nothing to do with the concert, mind you, but since most of the crowd missed The Used so they could meet 30STM I figured it was worthwhile to let people know that they should spend that time checking out the headliner instead.
As I waited for The Used to take the stage, I was getting more and more excited. They haven’t been touring for more than a year now, and I didn’t know what to expect. They opened up with “Take It Away,” and I realized they were The Used I knew and loved, sounding much better than they did a year ago. Quinn still throws his head back and forth as he plays the guitar, Jepha has the weird stage moves, and Bert is still funny and energetic, breaking into silly tunes like, “This sock doesn’t match the other sock,” and “Fuck me and fuck you too; it’s just a fucking joke.” It was obvious that they were excited to be playing live again, and they did want to taste the chaos, and hoping everyone would “remember the night forever.” Bert actually threw his credit card at the crowd as a give-back, and told them to go shopping – for the ones who’re wondering, the pin code is 8525. The Used had the longest set, of course. They played “Box Full of Sharp Objects,” with Aiden’s Wil joining in on the vocals and smooching Bert afterwards, which got the loudest cheer and applause of the entire night. The Used’s setlist is as follows: Take It Away, I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes), Liar Liar, Taste of Ink, All That I’ve Got, Buried Myself Alive, On My Own, Handsome Awkward, Box Full of Sharp Objects, Hospital – the ones you don’t recognize from before will be on their new album, Lies for the Liars, which comes out on May 22nd.
Overall, I must say that this was just about the perfect line-up for this type of show. Each band got a good length to play, as opposed to other tours where a million bands play for fifteen minutes and they all bleed into each other. Also, I can't say enough good things about the set design. The intermission between most bands was only about 4 minutes, as the stage turned to reveal the next bands set up. This was awesome and helped to keep the vibe flowing. My biggest complaint is something that occurs at so many shows that I'm shocked that it keeps getting repeated. A concert needs to build and build so that by the time the headliner takes the stage the crowd is a frenzied mess. Here, the tempo and performance levels of the bands went from soft to hard and back down again, and those trips back down tend to kill the building energy. Also, as much as I hate to say it, 30 Seconds To Mars was the true headliner as so many fans missed The Used that they may have had a smaller crowd than the first few bands played to. I understand the concept of hitting the crowd with a million different styles and mixing up who goes where, but it doesn't make any sense when it interupts the natural flow of a concert. A line-up such as Evaline, Saosin, Chiodos, Senses Fail, Aiden, The Used and 30 Seconds To Mars would have given the crowd a better experience, even though the bands would have been the same. Needless to say though, few left unhappy with what they recieved. Most seemed to be going for one particular band, so they got what they came for and hopefully heard some music from the other bands that they will want to check out further.
I want to thank our friends Chiodos and Aiden for their help, and Earshot Media for the hook up. You guys rule! Also, a big thank you to Courtney for taking these pics for us. If you're in the Atlanta area and need some pics done, let me know and I'll get you in touch with Courtney.