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Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars
Bert McCraken of The Used
Beau Burchell of Saosin
Buddy Nielsen of Senses Fail
Richard Jonathan Perry of Evaline
By Leah Pritchett
Photos by Neyda Carasa
Making a left turn off US1 into the BankUnited Center, I could already see a line of impatient fans decked out in black eyeliner, flamboyant band t-shirts and ragged red highlights. Oh yeah, the eye-catching look of Hot Topic kids surrounding the venue was the first sign that I was definitely at the Taste of Chaos 2007!
I noticed the endless line of indie clothing and band merchandise that surrounded the venue, once I walked in. Fans pushed, yelled and ran their way over to the stands; I was more interested in playing Guitar Hero 2, which was just sitting there in corner of the room. As I rocked out, I could hear the fans chanting, “Aiden, Aiden,” which was my cue to get to my seat.
Already on stage Aiden busted out with songs such as “The Suffering,” from their most recent album Rain in Hell, and their big hit “Die Romantic,” from their previous album Nightmare Anatomy. After the performance I spoke with guitar player, Angel Ibarra, who was thrilled to be featured in this year TOC. “Gosh, you know, this is just amazing, and our fans are just awesome. And Miami is great I really like it here, I’m just so freakin’ excited. I’m wired and hope we’ll be offered another spot on this tour for next time!”
After Aiden were the sensational hardcore/emo rockers Chiodos. As a new and upcoming band, the guys definitely proved to Miami that they are extremely talented and very diverse. Craig Owens’ vocals were both soothing and stimulating. Not once off beat, they gave one hell of a performance, and I danced to every song they played, which included “There's No Penguins In Alaska” and “Baby, You Wouldn't Last A Minute On The Creek,” both from their album, All's Well That Ends Well.
Once done, the crowd settled down for Southern Cali boys Saosin. Being a fan, but never having seen them live, I was a bit let down with the performance of the lead singer who had no energy and lacked stage presence.
A jolt of energy came when Senses Fail dashed onto the stage. Singer Buddy Nielsen insanely ran up and down the stage, jumping into the crowd of fans while belting out songs from their new album Still Searching. He especially had the mob going, including me, with their latest hit, “Calling All Cars.” I’ve seen Senses Fail a number of times live and I’ve got to say this has been one of their best performances. They confidently owned the stage.
The crowd waited 45 minutes for 30 Seconds to Mars to appear and still they didn’t have their act together. Front man Jared Leto decided to pump up the energy by leaping into the audience while singing their popular song, “The Kill,” from their most recent album Beautiful Lie. This was my fourth time seeing this band live and thought it was their worst performance.
But all was well again at Taste of Chaos when The Used arrived to close the show. After a two year break, The Used was back and ready for action. As singer Bert McCracken walked on stage, speakers boomed with an earsplitting roar as he began to sing, “Take It Away.” He seemed more ecstatic than in the previous performances I’ve seen. The band had the crowd stomping their feet and moshing, which left many people with bleeding skulls, with their hit songs, “A Box Full of Sharp Object” and "All That I’ve Got.”
After attending the first TOC back in 2005 at the Pompano Amphitheatre, I must say this is one of the best and well-handled tours I have ever been too. This is the first year TOC has come to Miami and they left us craving more chaos next year.
Email Leah your thoughts: outloud@outloud.com
Nick Wiggins of Aiden
Craigery Owens of Chiodos
Leah, Jake Davidson (Aiden), Neyda
Neyda, Buddy Nielsen (Senses Fail), Leah
Neyda, Wil Francis (Aiden), Leah
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