by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
If you find that you don’t want to wait ‘till the summer for the punk-core of Vans™ Warped Tour, you might want to check out Warped Tour’s little brother: The Rockstar™ Taste of Chaos. It was originally supposed to be an alternative to Warped Tour, one that catered to a different flavor of music, but has since become a sort of Winter/Spring Warped Tour, featuring many Warped Tour vets.
Taste of Chaos was created by Kevin Lyman in 2004, about 10 years after the creation of Warped Tour. Both tours have corporate sponsors which benefit from the association with a punk tour, giving Vans and Rockstar Energy Drink an edgy feel.
In 2005, the tour went international, going to Australia, Asia and Europe with The Used, Rise Against and Story of the Year, among others.
Included in all the action of Taste of Chaos, is the Ernie Ball Music Man Battle of the Bands, which began on Warped Tour in ’96 as a way to draw local bands onstage. These days it’s a promotional tool that helps bands get notoriety on a national level by playing in their home town.
Prizes offered on the Taste of Chaos website http://www.tasteofchaos.com/ include an Ernie Ball guitar, albums from each of the featured artists and a gift certificate from Hot Topic. Taste of Chaos is also running a MySpace contest for their top 8 friend’s spots, for the people who “Chaos-ify” their profiles and promote the tour on their personal MySpace page.
Besides a straight-ahead rock sound that dabbles in post-hardcore, 30 Seconds to Mars has another claim to fame: lead singer Jared Leto, who will always be remembered for and swooned over because of his role as Jordan Catalano in My So-Called Life. 30 Seconds to Mars cancelled their time on stage for the Sacramento Taste of Chaos last Friday because of Jared’s health problems. Jared developed gout as a result of gaining about 60 pounds and then losing the weight rapidly. He gained the poundage for a film role of Mark David Chapman (who famously killed John Lennon) for the upcoming release of Chapter 27.
Taking their name from the creepy little boy in The Ring, are the goth-punk rockers of Aiden. With white pancake makeup and more eyeliner than one band has a right to use, they’re taking the stage as one of the main musical acts on the tour.
By building up a fan base in the Flint area, this post hard-core band of hands-on Michigan boys is on the road to fame and glory.
My first exposure to The Used was a brick wall spray painted with the name of the band. I became curious and ran a search on my computer, coming up with the then-underground band. With two records at Gold and one at Platinum since 2002, the screamo sound of The Used is underground no longer.
Saosin has a fanatically loyal fanbase. They started the band as “a hardcore Bjork band.” The band’s name is actually a word in Mandarin Chinese that literally means keep your heart small, referring to the adage that you must keep a small heart in order to love with caution.
This Jersey punk/emo band was spawned not out of high school friendship and jam sessions, but from a posting on the internet by the lead singer, James Anthony Nielsen, who is looking for band members to jam with.
The Taste of Chaos line-up is due to play at the Morocco Shrine Auditorium on Thursday the 8th at 5:15PM. The concert hasn’t sold out yet, but it has in other cities. Tickets are available through Ticket Master Locations or you can go online atticketmaster.com.
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