I always thought Taste of Chaos was a pretty sweet name for a rock show, but I don’t think I had fully appreciated its “appropriateness” regarding the tour. I’m slightly ashamed to admit, especially after now having gone, that this year was my first Taste of Chaos tour.

Something I hadn’t realized until close to the second set is that the Taste of Chaos is being kicked off by a few JROCK bands from Japan this year. Japanese hardcore is something I will openly admit to knowing nothing about, but it was pretty cool to see, and a lot of the Chaos fans really seemed to like all three Japanese bands: MUCC, D’espairsRay, and The Underneath (which, if they were the one’s playing as I was playfully patted down by security upon entering the venue, were really good.)

The first of the headlining bands to come on stage was, surprisingly, Bullet for my Valentine. The British metal band had a crowd of hundreds, likely thousands, chanting every word and tearing up the arena in insane ways. The view from the stadium seats was a spectacle. The floor of the arena was replaced by thousands of tiny, glowing faces and a sea of waving arms, interrupted by half a dozen gaping holes where guys, and girls, from all over the northeast were showing off their stuff. As if the shear numbers of concert goers and the level of excitement wasn’t enough to make it a memorable evening, Bullet for my Valentine had to try to make it a day of legend. The band went in true metal fashion up to the end of their set, when they issued a small request; they wanted to see the most crowd surfers in the air ever… as in record breaking numbers of people tumbling forward over the crowd. I don’t know if we made a record or anything even close, but it was one of the most ludicrous things I’ve ever witnessed. Bodies were being thrown like rag dolls, tossed over heads and arms, doing summersaults, being catapulted and even nose diving into the waves of people. By the end of the night I’d see two more attempts at this record breaking feat, along with the biggest pit in the middle of the crowd and a mediocre wall of death that was pretty entertaining. Read More

Avenged Sevenfold played a great show at Lupo’s yesterday to kickoff WBRU’s 38th Birthday Month. I could feel the excitement when I entered the building. While the opening acts (Black Tide, The Confession, Operator) all sounded good, everyone seemed a little impatient in anticipation of Avenged Sevenfold. The fans began chanting “Sevenfold, Sevenfold, Sevenfold…” as soon as the opening acts ended.

Avenged Sevenfold walked onto the stage and immediately jumped into “Critical Acclaim” off their new, self-titled album released a few weeks ago. M. Shadows, the lead singer, said to the crowd, regarding the new album, “I don’t give a f**k if you download it as long as you enjoy it.” The crowd certainly enjoyed the show, which featured songs from Waking the Fallen, City of Evil, and Avenged Sevenfold. Nearly everyone sang along to “The Beast and the Harlot,” “Burn It Down,” “Afterlife,” and “Bat Country.” The band seemed to be having a great time too. The guitarists and bassists were constantly moving around the stage, jumping up onto platforms, and acknowledging people in the crowd. Read More