Taste Of Chaos Tour - Apollo - 12/11/06 by
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Check out an
interview with Alexisonfire!
Check out an
interview with Senses Fail!
It’s a mammoth line-up tonight with six loud, aggressive (apart from Taking Back Sunday, of course, who are much more smartly attired than I’d imagined…) and very screamy bands on the bill. Five hours of pure noise, sweat and circle pits. At this point, it sounds like I am not looking forward to this. Actually, I’m rather excited about the prospect of seeing Alexisonfire. This is the kind of gig I used to thrive on. I saw my very first ‘rock’ (OK. So maybe Sum 41 aren’t rock, per se, but that album was actually amazing, if not very credible…) gig in that very block of seats. I’d been in the comfortable art-rock/indie bubble for far too long, so on this fateful Sunday evening I was reverted back to my former self by the Taste of Chaos tour ’06. I was also reverted back to my former self who suffered three-day-bouts of tinnitus after every gig. Damnit.
I have received a seated ticket which I sink into and survey the crowd from my prime position. I think I am actually the oldest person in my block. The girls next to me act incredibly, well, girlish throughout the entire show: screaming at lead singers, for example. At 19 years old, I suddenly catch a glimpse of what I will feel like in my mid-thirties, still desperately attending gigs at Academy 3 and realising there really is no place for me there anymore. My fears are confirmed when later on three lovely young gentlemen land on me during their exuberant jumping, in the aisles, despite the fact it’s a seated area. Tsk.
The first band to take to the stage is Saosin, of Orange County, California. This five piece ‘post hardcore’ group are Newport Beach’s alter-ego, if the glamour and riches portrayed in the TV show ‘The OC’ is anything to go by. Yet from their storming performance, it is evident that this band could have what it takes to take Anti-flag’s coveted penulitimate spot in the lineup. Following on from Saosin are Senses Fail, hailing from New Jersey and still a relatively new band to the ‘Screamo’ scene. It’s not quite two years since their debut record was released yet they are firmly established within the rock circuit, not to mention songs which are pure power.
Underoath bring something a little different to tonight’s show. A common theme which seems to becoming more popular is combining electronic sounds with heavy guitars and roaring vocals. Whereas Enter Shikari are a electro/rock band which please those new to the sounds of ‘hardcore’, Underoath immediately hold their own in this field. Following are Candadians Alexisonfire, who, after Taking Back Sunday, are the most immediately accessible band on the lineup tonight. With smooth, soaring vocals provided by Dallas Green juxtaposed with the gravely shouts of George Pettit, Alexis demonstrate an interesting character which please both those who like to sing along and those who like to punch people in the face in the pit.
Anti-flag provide what they believe to be ‘way out there’ commentaries on politics and the importance of sticking together, because it’s ‘all about the music’. For me, slating George Bush and Tony Blair is something which anyone with a modicum of intelligence can conjure up. It may have been fresh and new in the 1980’s when bands such as NOFX were doing the same. For me at least, this comes across as slightly old-hat, not to mention patronising.
Rounding off the evening are New Yorkers, Taking Back Sunday. With an incredibly pretty front man, Adam Lazzara, it is clear from the crowd who they have been waiting for. Rather oddly opening their set with a slow acoustic number with a harmonica accompaniment, before a rather jolty cover of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’, Lazzara explains that guitarist Fred cannot be there due to family issues. The audience are instead treated to appearances of band members of the former-acts, which adds an interesting twist in sound to crowd-pleasing songs ‘You’re so Last Summer’ and ‘MakeDamnSure’.
Leaving the venue and through my haze of not being able to hear, I realise that the Taste of Chaos is an incredibly apt name for the tour. It’s a taste of what I’d be like if I’d followed that Sum 41 route instead of abandoning my pop-punk roots. I’d be down in the stalls, trying not to get hit in the face by a crowd-surfing emo kid whilst simultaneously pulling up my too-baggy jeans. I think I’ll stick with my more sedate gigs, thanks…
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