Taste of Chaos @ EntertainmentCentre, Adelaide, (14/10/06)

Sat 14th Oct, 2006 in Gig Reviews

After experiencing last year’s inaugural Australian Taste of Chaos tour, I was pretty glad to see it return for another year, and I really hope it can go the distance as a long term annual music event. The best thing about this tour is that it brings some very cool bands into the country to play some much bigger venues than they would normally be playing if they were to come here on their own.

The line up this year was a little riskier than last year, but only in terms of mass market sales. Last year’s headliner and main drawcard, The Used, had a couple of songs in the top 40 commercial charts at the time and were receiving quite a bit of exposure. This year’s roster didn’t really have a band with that sort of pulling power. I wondered whether this would affect ticket sales in an obvious way. Although I don’t have the official numbers that were in attendance, it didn’t seem overly crowded, yet I really don’t believe there was a big decline in numbers either.

I was sure that I had read somewhere that this year’s event was going to have more of a festival vibe with market stalls around the venue but I was pretty under-whelmed with the atmosphere when I arrived. Maybe I missed something, but it just seemed like another gig at the Entertainment Centre to me. Apart from a couple of signing booths for the artists to sign autographs for the punters, and a couple of tiny booths to promote a couple of products, there wasn’t much new here tonight. While on the subject of the venue itself, it has to be said that while the Adelaide Entertainment Centre is a nice clean place with good facilities, etc…it just does not have the ability to create the vibe needed for a great rock show. For atmosphere, any Westfield Shopping Centre would be just as well fitted.

Considering the lack of intrinsic atmosphere, the bands and the punters themselves made up for it in spades. For fans of energetic and heavy music, this was the place to be. A major notable difference between this year and last, was the fact that there was no real respite from the onslaught of loud and heavy tunes. Between the bands on the main stage last year, we were entertained by mellow and acoustic performances which worked well to keep us entertained yet give us some breathing space between bands. This year we had non-stop cranking bands alternating from the big bands on the main stage and then from the local and smaller acts on the small stage. This seemed to drive many people outside for a break after the main stage bands played.

As for the bands themselves, the only Australian band to make the national line up was Byron Bay’s Parkway Drive. These guys really stood out from the rest of the bands due to their huge metal sound. They were ten times heavier than any other band on the bill and did a great job of entertaining the fans that came for the harder sounds that were on offer. Apart from these guys, the majority of the bands could have fallen under that popular pigeonhole called emo-rock with their heavy yet sensitive side showing through all too often. Florida’s Underoath were one of these acts that really made a lasting impression on me. They delivered a highly powerful and non-stop energetic set. This was probably made easier by the relatively short slots the bands were given. Every band member seemed to be possessed and gave a 110% performance which was really impressive. I must admit, I was a little taken aback by the religious rantings of frontman Spencer Chamberlain as they wrapped up their set. They may be a Christian band but I am personally not a big fan of hearing a sermon at a rock show. Anti-Flag were another highlight for me, playing their catchy punk tunes reminiscent of early Green Day and Rancid, but even though they did their best to fill the huge stage, I’m sure they would really shine in a smaller, smokier venue. All of the bands seemed to get a similar response from the crowd with Thursday and Saosin performing towards the end of the night and both putting on energetic performances but Taking Back Sunday were certainly the best received overall, at least from my perspective. They seemed to be a really professional, well-oiled machine. Their performance had a real classic rock feel to it, particularly from singer Adam Lazzara. His Mick Jagger-esque persona along with his mike swinging tricks made it hard for the crowd to take their eyes off him. This performance capped the night off just right and made it clear to me why they were the headliners.

While I was pretty impressed with the performances from the bands on offer, the only complaint that I would make regarding the line up would be the limited demographic catered to. While there were thousands of teenagers there to make up the numbers, this event could be so much bigger and better with just a little bit of broadening of the appeal. I wouldn’t suggest the organisers take the variety to the extremes of the Big Day Out, but maybe a seasoned band or two…Rancid?...or a band with a slightly different fan base to draw in a more diverse crowd…This would ensure that the International Taste of Chaos tour continues and grows well into the future.