Taste Of Chaos Tour – Live (April 5th, 2006)

First off all, let me start this little review with one big, giant fuck you to Rexall Place as this was easily one of the most aggravating concerts I’d ever been to thanks to the horrible planning. They made all the music fans, who paid fifty bucks for a ticket, jump through hoops to be able to see the bands they paid their hard earned cash to see. Made them wait in an unorganized line for hours to get a wristband, then wait in another line to get in, and then had to magically find the one elusive entrance to the floor in the entire arena. On top of that, they still made you carry your ticket around for the entire night, constantly asking to see it and forcing everyone to jam out of one door when there were 2 other perfectly fine, open doors right next to them. Then, to top it all off, they even started the show well before anyone was in the building – and well before the advertised time. It was just done horribly, and pissed me off right from the start. Add that to the fact that I wasn’t really excited for the evening’s show, it made me look at the show in a very pessimistic fashion which lingered for a few band’s sets.

But I guess, its time to talk about the concert itself. As I said, it started early, and I was doing an interview, which means by the time we got in we had missed local openers Ten Second Epic along withSilverstein and were only able to catch two songs of The Smashup (thanks mainly to the ass-holes in security). So anyway, the first band that I saw in the entirety was As I Lay Dying, and while I rally dislike their music, I will admit they put on a really great performance. The lighting effects were amazing, the band put a ton of energy into it, and the crowd just ate it up (I had never seen so many ninjas before). The sound quality was great and they sounded solid, with great solos, and in-tuned head banging anthems. And while I left the pit after their set with a pretty nonchalant attitude, my friend who loves the band came out saying “my god, that was epic.” So I guess, if you liked the band, they were amazing.

Next up was Greeley Estates, but since we hadn’t eaten since eleven that morning, we took the opportunity to grab some pizza and ended up missing their set, and we came back just as Atreyu was taking the stage – and they were quite good. Since they are another band that’s not high on my list of favorites, they weren’t anything special for me; but they were still good as they ripped through songs like Exs and Ohs, The Crimson and Lip Gloss In Black.

Warcon‘s Adair came up next on the small little Myspace stage, and it was around this time that my apathy at the horrible planning and my distaste in the bands started evaporating and I started to enjoy the concert a bit more. The band played a fair few tracks from “The Destruction of Everything is the Beginning of Something New“, and while there wasn’t anything incredibly special about the band, they did entertain very well and reminded me of Underoath‘s stage presence somehow with the guitar swings and the singer’s uncanny resemblance to Spencer Chamberlain.

Thursday stepped up next on the main stage, and even though I’m not a huge fan of them (I’ve spoken my words of hate about them many times in the past), they were the first band of the night to finally get me in the middle of the pit and moshing. Geoff Rickly knows how to be a front man, and was by far the most entertaining singer of the night as he swung the mic around, jumped into the crowd, and climbed on the speakers. The crowd didn’t miss his enthusiasm and happily sang every word back at him. They were, in my mind, the second best band of the night – and it seemed appropriate that they led up to my favorite band of the night: Dredg.

These were the guys I had came to see, I really didn’t like many of the other 11 bands on the list, but I love Dredg and knew I had to see them – and really, they didn’t disappoint. They kicked off the show with Bug Eyes and instantly had the crowd attention even though practically no one knew who they were. They successfully pulled off their atmospheric prog-rock sound – and stood out from the onslaught of bands just from their unique stage presence. As their set came to an end, they slowly started removing the drummer’s drum set, piece by piece, until all he had was one symbol left. He threw that to the ground and started wailing on the keyboard, and it was a fantastic ending to a great set – my favorite of the night.

Thrice was up next, and they played pretty much the same set as they did five months ago when they were here with My Chemical Romance. They kicked it off with my favorite Thrice song, Image Of The Invisible and also ripped through songs like Red Sky, Music Box, Silhouette, Stare At The Sun, and of course, they ended with fan favorite Deadbolt. I’ve started this many times before aboutThrice, I don’t like them – but they do put on a good show. The lighting effects were spot on, they sounded perfect and they just played song after song after song.

Sadly, from that point on, the night went downhill. Next on the side stage was Street Drum Corps – they are a three piece all drumming band. Kind of like a “punk rock STOMP” and I can never figure out why promoters put them so high up on the schedule. They’d be a good opening band, because they are interesting. They are trying something new and are cool to see, but after a few minute the gimmick wears thin and you just want the next band to come on. When you’re the second last band on an twelve band bill, you expect to hear something good, and after a while, this just becomes repetitive.

Finally, the headliner came on: Deftones; and my God, they sucked. It is really that simple. They were horrible. Not only did they sound bad with muffled vocals and ear splitting squeals but their performance as a whole was monotonous. They always seemed to be in the same spot, with the same expression, and even their lighting was boring. While I could easily sit through any of the eight or so bands that I saw last night again, I really hope I never have to see these guys again, because, well, they just sucked.

Really, Taste Of Chaos wasn’t all that memorable for me, and was probably one of the most disappointing shows I’ve been to over the past few years. The security sucked, the organization sucked (not the tour, just the venue), and I was only there to see one band; and while a few others did impress me or weren’t too bad, they still didn’t get me as excited as I’m supposed to be at a concert. Hopefully next year’s Taste Of Chaos will be much better, closer to last year’s selection of bands – because that was a great night.