aaamusic | On 16, Dec 2010

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London, 8th December

Taste Of Chaos is an international music tour that brings together bands from all over the world giving a substantial taste of punk, post-hardcore, rock and metal. Sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink, Taste of Chaos 2010 is the sixth installment of the Taste of Chaos created by the founder of the Warped Tour Kevin Lyman.

The European part of this year’s tour takes place mainly in Northern Europe, visiting cities like Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Brussels, Manchester and obviously London. The 2010 line-up is well assorted bringing on the stage four American bands – Halestorm, Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Disturbed.

London is the second day of the UK tour and the venue is the Wembley Arena (quite an arguable choice). Gates open at 6:00pm, good attendance but still not massive. Maybe not everyone is interested in seeing Halestorm (first band on the bill).

Halestorm begin at 6:40pm. This hard rock band from Pennsylvania released their first album in 2009. Halestorm start their gig with a song from their debut album with It’s Not You, a melodic, non-aggressive song that reminds of Evanescence. Elizabeth Hale (voice)is a good singer and her skills are clearly appreciable in songs like What Were You Expecting and Love/Hate Heartbreak although in some parts the similarity with Amy Lee (Evanescence) becomes too “marked”.  The band plays three more songs, Familiar Taste Of Poison, Dirty Work and I Get Off before leaving the stage. A good band but one of those bands that doesn’t leave a mark at the end of the night, definitely to be seen in different circumstances.

Second band of the night is Buckcherry. The Wembley Arena starts to become warm enough while the smoke fills the room and Buckcherry start to play Tired Of You. Josh Todd (voice) is amazingly in good form along with the rest of the band and it’s a real pleasure for ears and eyes to enjoy such a band like Buckcherry. Their glam-rock style and attitude is so involving that turns the Arena on with songs like Rescue Me and All Night Long (first single from their latest album). Songs like Oh My Lord, Lit Up (introduced by Josh Todd as an ode to cocaine) and It’s A Party are simply marvelous and the audience definitely appreciates the Rock atmosphere created by the band – it really doesn’t seem that this is only the second band of the night. There still time for two more songs, Dead and their biggest crossover hit Crazy Bitch. It’s really not hard to make a deduction from Buckcherry’s performance at the Wembley Arena – this band is the right mix of AC/DC, Aerosmith, Kiss and Guns N Roses on one stage, a bullet of energy shot with guitar riffs, drumsticks and great voice. This is Rock n’ Roll !!!

Papa Roach is the third band of the night and as far as I’m concerned this is an arguable choice (considering Buckcherry’s performance). Jacob Shaddix is undoubtedly a good vocalist and entertainer but his performance doesn’t seem to be one of his best. In my opinion Papa Roach are still trying to find a new dimension trying to leave the Nu Metal/Rap shadow behind, but the result is a band that still relies on the old American nu-metal appeal. Nevertheless, Papa Roach have all the support from the audience, even from the youngest part that doesn’t seem to care that the golden age for this band dates back to their biggest hit Last Resort and still seems to rely on it. The setlist includes tracks from their first album to the latest one (Time for Annihilation) like Lifeline, Scars, The Enemy, Forever and Burn; catchy tunes, good riffs and memorable lyrics.

Finally, it’s time to enjoy Disturbed. The four guys from Chicago are headlining the Taste Of Chaos 2010 and are ready to entertain the crowd with hits from their past albums as well as the last one “Asylum”. Now the Wembley Arena seems to be more packed. The gig starts surprisingly with Remnants with Dan Donegan (guitar) that shows immediately his astonishing guitar skills before introducing Dave Draiman (voice) and the song Asylum followed by The Game and Prayer – this is the “Chaos” !!! The stage is incredibly impressive with massive screens that project images and parts from their videos. Disturbed are definitely getting bigger. Liberate, Stricken and Inside The Fire are big hits but tonight Dave seems to be out of condition; his voice is weak and strained – his performance doesn’t come up to expectations. The most epic part of the night is definitely when Dave take a videocamera and films the crowd while singing the first part of Ten Thousand Fists acoustic – it’s very striking to see all the people’s fists in the air projected on the big screens. The band delights the audience with two more songs before leaving the Arena with the classic shout “We Are Disturbed, We all are Disturbed”. Let’s hope next time Dave will roar again as in the past.

SETLISTS

HALESTORM

It’s Not You

What Were You Expecting

Love/Hate Heartbreak

Familiar Taste Of Poison

Dirty Work

I Get Off

PAPA ROACH

Kick In The Teeth

Lifeline

One Track Mind

Scars

The Enemy

Getting Away With Murder

…To Be Loved

Forever

Burn

Hollywood Whore

Between Angels And Insects

Last Resort

BUCKCHERRY

Tired Of You

Rescue Me

All Night Long

Oh My Lord

Lit Up

It’s a Party

Dead

Crazy Bitch

DISTURBED

Remnants

Asylum

The Game

Prayer

Liberate

Land Of Confusion

The Animal

Inside The Fire

Stricken

Another Way To Die

Stupify

Ten Thousand Fists

Indestructible

Down With The Sickness

Author & Photos: Luca Viola