LONG BEACH, CA (April 1, 2005) Featured in one of the most picturesque arenas in all of Southern California, Kevin Lyman, the mastermind of the Vans Warped Tour, brought a tighly-wound, boiled down, miniaturized version called Taste of Chaos to the Long Beach Arena, slamming the neighborhood with a vicious assault of The Used, My Chemical Romance, Killswitch Engaged, Saosin, Static Lullaby and Senses Fail.

The show began promptly to the largest crowd to ever assemble for a musical event in the arena. Although the opening band Static Lullaby set the bar very low as their set was a total yawner, the effect of the show was not diminished as Warped Tour dolls Saosin grabbed hold of the stage for an effective first 3 songs – then they too ran out of gas, as the remainder of their set sounded like a mindless droning without any sense of direction. Their management, in their omniscience, kicked all of the publicity out immediately, giving a clear hint that something is amiss with this band. Their set last Warped Tour was much tighter and cleaner, so we're a little suspect at what may be afoot at the Saosin camp...or maybe they just fortold of some suckage which was to come.

It was alright, though, as the clean up crew stepped in and schooled the openers in how professionals present a show. Young band Senses Fail did not disappoint by laying down an exciting show. Killswitch Engaged followed by levying a massive metric ton of monster metal on the crowd which had tripled in size by this time. The cyclonic swirl of the mosh pit and smaller satellite mosh pits were a sight in themselves.

My Chemical Romance strangled the stage with a different twist, jumping the shark a bit with skilled dancers performing campy choreography and looking like they shopped at the Hot Topic Costume Shack. Starting their highly anticipated set with the phrase, “Scream for me, Long Beach !” Gerard Way, donning a faux-bullet proof vest and all band members with their Nazi-like MCR armbands, shocked the system by performing their big hit “I'm Not Okay (I Promise)” and sequencing strong performance after strong performance much to the happiness of the 10,000+ fans who where gluttenously gobbling every single second up like a 4 year-old to a birthday cake.

The Used followed with a slightly-toned down version of their last tour, which was a little disappointing, but did not fail to deliver the killing blow stirring the crowd up into an EMS-ready frenzy, allowing for the next chaos to ensue, accompanied by people, shoes, sandals, cds, paper, bottles etc. thrown at the stage. Bert McCracken countered at one point by peppering the crowd with “The Used” stickers, causing a food aid frenzy amongst the mosh pits.

Just adjacent to the main stage, the My Space acoustic stage took the attention between sets in a Lyman-esque timely transition. Unfortunately, this simply didn't hold up as the main stage performances far eclipsed the acoustic performances in terms of quality and talent, cracking a piercing ray of light onto the weaknesses of all the acoustic performances, save Like Yesterday, whose Queensryche-esque feel was quite endearing and lent to the band's natural talent. Remember, some of these bands can barely play more than one chord and can't really sing. Unfortunately, some of the more hyped bands like Bleed The Dream and My American Heart proved that they are more hype than talent.

The Taste of Chaos proven to be a highly successful experiment in concert marketing. Lyman is already the master in how to make money on a concert and keep the fans as a part of the show, rather than an attendee. It was refreshing to see a small presence of corporateness there, as its existence is starting to grow in an eerie virus-like pattern at the Warped Tour. We'd love to see the liars from thetruth.com vanish from their propaganda-promotion, but we can't blame Lyman for not turning down their check. This is, after all, the music business. If this is any hint of the kind of raucous power this year's Warped Tour will be like, get ready for a killer show.

On the web at:
http://www.tasteofchaos.com
http://www.myspace.com/tasteofchaos

The Long Beach Arena and Convention Center
300 East Ocean Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90802
http://www.longbeachcc.com