Rockstar Taste of Chaos Entertainment Art Aragon Ballroom Chicago, Ill. March 11, 2008

As the doors opened in the late afternoon, kids and teenagers in skinny jeans and black shirts, bombarded the stage to make sure they had perfect view. Many came for the main head liner, Avenged Sevenfold, but they had something more in store for them. For the first year, Taste of Chaos featured JROCK, a Japanese movement of hardcore metal bands, who were the pioneers of their trade. D’espairsray, Mucc and the Underneath were the three bands featured tonight from JROCK and they set the bar for Japanese rock.

D’espairsray was the opener and had a surprisingly good sound, even though their lyrics were all in Japanese, the language barrier didn’t pose a problem. With their hardcore feel and accompaniment of poppy backgrounds, the crowd’s reaction was overall positive.

Mucc (pronounced “mukku”), on the other hand who was featured on the main stage, was a bit of a disappointment. Their lack of energy and force was directly related to the reaction of the audience. They were a little less than boring. However, The Underneath covered head to toe in a paten-leather outfit and choke collar,

was a sight to see. Although they were the headliners and face of JROCK, they played on second stage along side these obtrusive power chords, which were hanging from a massive speaker directly vertical in front of the stage. Even with these obstacles, lead singer Taka used them as a prop and was unfettered by their presence.

Taka, along with lead guitarist Talro, who sported a black and red mohawk, spent their set feed their energy off each other. Both were definite showmen and used their sex appeal for their screaming female fans. The Underneath had strong intensity and energetic feel that resembled a better version of Static X, minus the English lyrics. Their colorful display and playful antics made it hard for the other openers to follow.

Idiot Pilot, who is known for their chillax style of music, played an intermission special for the Chicago audience. Yet, Idiot Pilot tonight seemed a little out of their element. With the heavy use of synthizers and melodramatic style, it was pretty odd that they would be playing with harder bands like Bullet for My Valentine. Still, the two man band (Michael Harris and Daniel Anderson) belted out the lyrics to songs like their known hit “Retina” and “The Sky.” A low response from the crowd didn’t do justification for the band; they would’ve fared better on a tour with The Killers or even Radiohead.

Bullet for My Valentine hit the large stage next with a disappointing performance. It was typical of their live shows and tend to have the live technique show after show. Their fast rip cords did nothing for their mediocre act, which seemed to be somewhat staged and practiced. That is pretty bad and unfortunate when it is only the third week into a three month tour.

By the time Blessthefall hit the small stage, the ballroom was packed with all walks of life, from kids, to parents, pierced, tattooed to drunken 20 somethings. All decades were present: the occasional hippie, crazy big hair 80s fan and the grunge rocker with their ripped jeans and yes, even the flannel shirt made an appearance. Blessthefall started their set off strong and only progressed through the course of their set. The vocals were powerful and the drummer, Matt Traynor, stole the show with his heavy use of double bass pedals. They did their occasional synchronized head-banging together, but as a whole, the band was memorable. Blessthefall is a youthful talented group of 19 and 20 year olds and is a force to be reckoned with.

Five hours into the show, the second stage was silent and the main stage was now in the spotlight. Next up were sets by Atreyu and Avenged Sevenfold. Atreyu played an hour long set that was muffled, due to sound check. Their bassist, Marc McKnight, and drummer, Brandon Saller, overpowered Alex Varkatzas on vocals. In turn, it was hard to distinguish the difference between every song. Varkatzas was overwhelmingly caulky; guess it comes with the territory of the job. And the anticipation of Avenged Sevenfold was apparent from the crowd during Atreyu’s show. Arguably the only highlight of Atreyu’s set for me, was when Varkatzas took his shirt off to reveal a tattooed six-pack, nice. Lastly and highly awaited, Avenged Sevenfold came out with their no-holds-bar attitu

de and complete rockstar persona, accompanied sunglasses and all. Echoes of screaming fans filled the air, with a complete smoke background, banner of their signature bat logo and a laser light show. Humidity of the ballroom was cranked up on high, from sweating mosh-pitting and crowd-surfing teenagers. The laser light show was perfectly orchestrated with every song played. Of course, their famous songs of “Bat Country,” “Almost Easy” and the ballad “Seize the Day” were all played, as the voices of the fans sang along.

Reminiscence of the wildly popular Guitar Hero II came to mind when Avenged Sevenfold played “Beast and the Harlot.” Their guitarist, “Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengence”, were mind-blowing during each of their many guitar solos; both guys are brilliant and extremely talented. Avenged Sevenfold gives an old feel sound to a new feel spin with their music; that’s why they have been so successful. In true rockstar fashion, the guys came back for a seven minute encore song, ending with a confetti downpour into the crowd and kisses at the end.

Rockstar Taste of Chaos has definitely made its mark with picking some truly gifted and artistic bands. It has become a tradition of not only being considered “the winter Warped Tour,” but as being a heavy hitting tour that will stick around for years to come.

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