I shuffled through the various bag checkpoints and hordes of culminating black-clad kids then walked into the pitch-black arena itself, only to promptly trip over. Thankfully, the flashes of brightness from Parkway Drive’s lighting helped me find my way along the narrow rows of seats. Once seated above the floor, I had a pretty sanitised view of the state of affairs. Probably two thousand people on the floor with one section set back from the other, producing two mosh pits. There was a smattering of people in the stands either side and one very, very heavy band playing on stage.

Parkway Drive’s double kick drums, so-low-they’re-dredging-the-ocean-floor grinding guitars and mangled vocal chords seemed to please the crowd. People had come for a Taste of Chaos and that’s what they got. It’s been a while since I’d been to a hardcore show and the mosh pit, seen from above at a distance, provided some great spectator entertainment. When frontman Winston McCall told the crowd that he wanted to see “people jumping off stuff”, they heeded the call and jumped off the people around them. Parkway’s strong stage presence, metal-core riffs and interaction with the adoring crowd made for a good open to the ‘chaos’ to come.

Alternating with the headlining bands over the night were four local Melbourne bands. The first of these was Famous By Association, who was worlds apart from Parkway Drive. They had more of a power-pop-rock, Jimmy Eat World-influenced sound with a few rock out moments but nothing really chaotic or hardcore, which fit with the general feel of the rest of the bill.

Senses Fail followed with their screamo-styled pop-rock. The growling wore thin after a while, but thankfully they had some contrasting harmonies and a couple of metal-influenced guitar solos to round it out. One major problem was that their vocal mix was not good at all. It may have just been the fact that my seat was to the side of the arena but even though the vocals sounded clear at times, I could understand barely a word which frustrated me and no doubt others as well. In the end, Senses Fail failed to impress my senses, though to the diehards I suppose songs like Calling All Cars and One Eight Seven are not simply the dillution of a whole genre into one song, but good tunes also.

21 Summers continued the local representation on the small side stage, with some hardcore/emocore sounds and a vocalist who growled so much that his voice was hoarse by the end of their 15 minute set. I bet he was on the lemon and honey water in no time.

During each of the local bands about 75% of the floor cleared out into the foyer for a breather or to catch a major band signing autographs. After 21 Summers finished, the backing track prelude to Underoath started immediately and, suddenly, there were hundreds of people streaming back in, running past each other to get to the front. As the band launched into In Regards To Myself, with its screamed plea to “wake up!”, kids were still running into the mosh, launching themselves straight on top. This band is loved and you could sense the huge anticipation and exhilaration in the air. It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door followed and the title seemed apt as the mosh pit got crazier and crazier. The crowd revelled in singing along to the interspersed pop parts, including the choir-like “drowning in my sleep”. Thursday’s singer, Geoff Rickly, contributed vocals in the next song and after that came the psychedelic hardcore of Writing On The Walls, which currently reminds me of The Mars Volta. There were more band-crowd sing-along love-in moments in the pop-hardcore of A Boy Brushed Red Living in Black and White, after which the band turned some heads by announcing that they are “all saved by Jesus Christ” and that he’s “the reason they do all of this.” Thankfully they weren’t pushy about it – I guess they just wanted to put it out there. They finished up their pitifully short six-song set with the intensity turned up just a bit higher to tide over their dedicated fans until they return to our shores, hopefully soon. Underoath were definitely one of the highlights of the show with a unique sound, an excellent stage presence and a rapport with the crowd.

The next local band was Don’t Ask Us, upping the skill level. At first I derided them as Blink 182 with heavier guitars and twice as many people, but they redeemed themselves in my opinion with some good songs showing promise.

Political punk band Anti-Flag walked on stage to a riff from Star Spangled Banner, then launched into getting the crowd chanting “the people united will never be defeated!” I was trying to figure out what we were fighting for or against. Nevertheless, their very catchy punk songs like Turncoat, The Press Corpse, and This is the End (For You My Friend) had the crowd loving it. They were very conscientious about telling people to look after everyone else in the crowd and to respect everyone, regardless of their beliefs, before telling us how “that motherfucker” Bush is the “motherfucking worst president in history”. While the irony dissipated, they organised “the world’s biggest circle pit” on the floor where the valiant among the crowd made a good effort to skank it up. This was quite an impressive sight from above. 

Blame it on Stanley were the best of the local bands, with a heavy wall of sound, some metal guitar harmonies, and pummelling bass. They even had an impressively fast drum solo, Children of Bodom-style.

Thursday are sort of the screamo veterans on this tour. Geoff’s strong vocals served both the softer side of things and the impassioned choruses very well. The modern emo classic Understanding in a Car Crash was the climax of their set, and it’s truly great live. Their whole set showcased their varying sounds, from the aforementioned softer side to the truly hardcore, with Geoff indulging in various rock poses while standing on top of various items on stage.

Current buzz band Saosin was sandwiched into a short set after Thursday and impressed the crowd. They have a well-honed stage presence and played very tightly – they even had their own group of Myspace fans down the front. This group of dedicated fans multiplied during their short set which was a testament to how good they are. Now that I’ve mentioned Myspace, it’s worth noting that almost every band that played mentioned the part the website has played in spreading their music to places like Australia. Back to Saosin, Sleepers was solid, Seven Years occupied the middle ground between The Used and Underoath, showing promise, and Voices was a complex, well-constructed, yet catchy song. This band will do well for themselves.

After four straight hours of non-stop music, the headliners Taking Back Sunday took to the stage. Major anticipation matured into adulation for the band. They opened with What’s It Feel Like To Be a Ghost?, as frontman Adam Lazzara pirouetted around the stage like a Mick Jagger / Prince hybrid, continuing the strutting in Set Phasers to Sun. He is a very dynamic frontman, with well-rehearsed mic-swinging moves in perfect time with the songs. Further highlights of their set were Liar, with its pounding bass, the minor-key My Blue Heaven, and the crowd-pleasing classic Cute Without the ‘E’. When they announced that there were only two songs left, a sense of urgency descended on the audience and the heat in the mosh pit was turned up a notch. Taking Back Sunday closed the night with One-Eighty By Summer with lines like ’just come back!’ seeming to be a plea from the crowd to the band.