Taste of Chaos

With more cut-off Tees than the A-Team and New Kids on the Block combined, Taste of Chaos was thick with excitement, sweat, ’80s regalia and numerous bags of swag to be won or bought. On top of this, there were frequent band signings, ensuring that expectancy levels remained through the roof. The sound of pounding drums and a vision in bleeding, over-saturated purple light flooded the senses as soon as one descended the staircase into the main portion of the arena, with As I Lay Dying getting the pulse going with their metal-infused hardcore resounding through the Everett Entertainment Center. They opened up by beating the audience’s collective chests into the floor with "94 Hours” and finished even stronger with the hit that made them famous for being the most downloaded hardcore song ever, "Forever.” Story of the Year strutted up next, and with this being their last night on the tour, the boys ploughed head first into their set before stripping off their clothes to play in their underwear and bring out what looked like every member of the tour onstage, as well as a random clueless groupie or two for their final song. Basically, it was a rock’n’roll circus. Not to be outdone, the styling, ’80s image-inspired Atreyu rocked it out with class, in Alf T-shirts, ninja headbands and with one of the sweetest Gibsons in town, on top of playing a killer set. Meanwhile, California’s Thrice showed that they have mastered the art of their sound in a genuine way, with hearts and souls poured into every note, and the lighting added an ethereal quality to the prowess of "Image of the Invisible” and the prison-themed "The Earth will Shake.” The chunky to intricate guitars intermingled perfectly with the vocals, infiltrating the audience to the core, and was one of the most impressive and diverse showings of the night. Finally, after a completely out of place set by the Street Drum Corps, the mighty Deftones stood their ground as the final act of the night — the crowd was going absolutely nuts, regardless of the fact that the boys are now moving a lot slower than back in the day. Visually it wasn’t much but musically they didn’t hold back. Overall, it was the mixture of great bands with a passionate audience (even the dude in the wheelchair was crowd-surfing!) that made this tour a success.