If the Vans Warped Tour had a defined cousin, it would be Taste of Chaos, which is no surprise since it was started by Warped founder, Kevin Lyman and his business partner John Reese back in February of 2005. Following the Vans Warped Tour model, Taste of Chaos provided a festival-styled line up (although smaller– around 20 bands and 2 stages) with a low ticket price point, and rather than being in a parking lot in the peak of summer, it aimed to hit enclosed venues across North America in the winter.
In its 11 year run, TOC booked a variety of bands from The Used and My Chemical Romance to Pierce the Veil and Four Year Strong and what began as a primarily U.S. tour expanded into much of Canada for its sophomore run. By 2007, Taste of Chaos went international, bringing the touring festival to countries as far as Australia and New Zealand. As the years went on, the line ups reduced and by 2010, the tour was a small package of bands in Europe. In 2011, the tour took a hiatus that would last the following 4 years.
In 2015, rumors quickly spread across social media about the possible return of Taste of Chaos. The speculation online was eventually confirmed and the festival returned on October 3rd for a 1-show event that featured performances from TOC veterans The Used, along with Jimmy Eat World, Thrice, glassjaw, The Movielife and more.
This year, Taste of Chaos returns with not only a full on festival, but a summer tour as well. TOC is bringing back all of the feels of 2005 with their main festival in July that features Dashboard Confessional, Taking Back Sunday, along with Quicksand, The Get Up Kids, The Starting Line, Senses Fail, Hot Rod Circuit and more. Dashboard Confessional and Taking Back Sunday are headlining the full festival tour which leads up to the main festival in San Bernardino with Saosin with Anthony Green and The Early November. While many fans may be bummed the full California fest lineup is not part of the entire tour, Taste of Chaos made an effort to add special guest performances on select dates.
Side Stage Magazine recently caught Taste of Chaos at the Nikon Jones Beach Amphitheater in New York where the package tour included special guest Motion City Soundtrack, who are amidst their own farewell tour this year.
The Early November kicked off the day at around 5:30PM. The amphitheater was mostly empty, but the GA pit in front of the stage was packed with die-hard fans early awaiting to relive their teenage emotions through music. Although their set was brief, it included “Frayed,” “Ever So Sweet” and “Narrow Mouth.”
Giving the lineup a throwback to the Taste of Chaos post-hardcore roots was the energy charged Saosin with original vocalist Anthony Green. Green had left the band in 2004 to form the band Circa Survive, but began performing with Saosin in recent years. The evening sun beamed down on the band, the band wiped away the dripping set and barreled through the heat into their final song, “Seven Years.”
More fans filled the amphitheater as the sun set behind the grandstand and the backdrop for special guest Motion City Soundtrack rose to the top of ceiling of the stage. Cheers broke out around the venue as the Minneapolis-based guests took their positions for the opening notes of “Everything Is Alright.” Fans on the barricade sang back every word for the set and laughed with lead singer Justin Pierre about the Warped Tour sun. Pierre continued to express his appreciation for the crowd showing up early and welcoming them to their one-night-only appearing on Taste of Chaos before ending their set with “The Future Freaks Me Out.”
Shortly after 8PM, a large American Flag covered the back of the stage and the opening theme to the Lion King echoed through the concrete venue; it was time for Taking Back Sunday. With the boots, vest and hat, lead singer Adam Lazzara looked like a western rockstar as he posted up with his mic stand down stage for “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)” and eventually abandoning the stand for his mic-swinging antics on “Liar (It Takes One To Know One).” With the venue full and large Rockstar Energy signs glowing next to the stage, Lazzara couldn’t help but make comments at the tour’s sponsor, joking he gets paid every time he mentions “Rockstar Energy” on stage and working toward a $500 bonus. The crowd laughed and by the end of the set, they could have easily been paid $1250 for all of their sponsor shout outs. With no more Rockstar Energy to plug, the band bid farewell to New York for the night with “MakeDamnSure.”
By nightfall, the cloth backdrops had been replaced with illuminated LED screens and colorful images began to appear as Dashboard Confessional took to the stage, opening with their hit “Vindicated,” which was notably featured in the 2004 film, Spiderman 2. Night would transition back forth from acoustic periodically for fan-favorites like “The Swiss Army Romance” and “The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most” and an all-new song, “Heart Beat Here.” The emotions continued to charge through the hour-long set with “Screaming Infidelities” and a cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You” before ending with a crowd-lead sing along for “Hand Down.”
If you’re in the mood for a solid summer tour that will have you reliving all of those emotions from your youth, then don’t miss Taste of Chaos which continues on the road through July – visit tasteofchaos.com for dates & tickets.
Check out photos from the bands below:
