On February 15th, 2007, I had the opportunity to attend Taste Of Chaos's opening night. I missed a couple of the opening bands due to my interviews with Jeph (The Used), Aiden, Buddy(Senses Fail) and Shannon (30 Seconds To Mars). The atmosphere was definitely buzzing and all bands had that "anticipation energy". The most entertaining interview was with Aiden, who ironically, I felt , put on the best show.

Call me biased, call me whatever you like, but the boys from Seattle(Aiden) really dominated the night. Chiodos put on a good show but the crowd did not seem really amped yet. Senses Fail was actually pretty damn good despite addressing the fact they knew there were some fans out there who did not like them. Buddy was high energy and gave it all he got. 30 Seconds To Mars also put on an excellent show despite technical difficulties which made them run late. The Used was, well, The Used. You could tell they had to work thru some glitches, after all, it was their first night performing with their new drummer Dan. But their fans supported them and Bert gave them what they came for.

And then there was Aiden. Ahhh yes Aiden. From the time they came onstage, they absolutely rocked the venue.
Lead singer,Will Francis, has a unique and demanding stage presence. Whether you like them or not, you are completely drawn to watch. It is as if every move he makes coincides with the lyrics he sings. The music is good on it's own merits, but the band really amplifies and enhances it with their live performance. I can honestly say that it was Will who communicated with the audience, encouraged them to participate, and had them on their feet, screaming their lungs out, waiting for more.

I have always admired bands that take the time to appreciate their fellow musicians, and watch them play. This was the 2nd time I watched Aiden do that. The first was at Warped Tour 2006. In my humble and not-so-requested opinion, when bands watch their fellow pals play, it is a sign that they appreciate music and are still hungry for it, whether they are playing it themselves, or observing. These are the bands who have not become so arrogant that they feel the need to stay inside their dressing rooms and admire themselves. They take the time to put their ego on back burner and appreciate someone else. I am not Simon Cowell or some other musical judge & jury, just a writer and photographer who appreciates when musicians really bring it. I enjoyed the whole show, but Aiden definitely made the evening for me. Their dominating presence is sure to guarantee them a brand new batch of fans as they continue to tour.

I had the opportunity to interview some of the bands on the first night of the show. When I first arrived at the venue, the line-up of black haired kids seemed to go for miles. There was lots of screaming, cussing and posturing amongst them, but all in all, everyone seemed pretty stoked. Backstage was buzzing with anticipation, roadies all scurrying like mice to get shit done. Sound check was in full swing and sounded pretty damn good. The only part of the night I regret, was taking advantage of the ample amounts of "Rockstar Energy" drinks. Having 4 was probably a bad idea. I think I finally drifted off to sleep around 4 am.
It was Jeph(The Used) who first noticed the broken down Zamboni in the room we were in. It fascinated him and he wanted to try to fix it. It was his curiosity that inspired me to have the other bands try their hand at fixing it also. I captured Jeph, Buddy & Angel , all using their mechanic skills to diagnose the broken Zamboni's problem. Unfortunately none of them could get it running again.

1) How involved was the band in the making of the "Taste Of Chaos" video game?
Jeph (The Used)- Zero. We didn't even know about it. It was one of those things somebody did and we found out .
Aiden- We had nothing to do with it, we didn't even get to choose our weapons, but we would have chosen a crow bar anyway.
Buddy (Senses Fail)- We had nothing to do with it. If we did I probably would have a different weapon, like a light saber.
Shannon(30 STM)- We had no involvement whatsoever.
Jenn- Have you played it yet?
Jeph- Ya, it's pretty awesome. I have played all the characters and I have to say I am pretty biased to Bert.
Buddy(Senses Fail)- Yeah .
Shannon(30 STM)- No one's played it, is it cool?
Aiden-Fuck yea.It's awesome
Jenn- Do you play with yourself?
Aiden- Dude you just asked him if he plays with himself and he said of course.

2) What made you decide to play Taste Of Chaos?
Jeph(The Used)- We thought it would be a great start after not playing for a long time. Taste Of Chaos is my favorite festival. Most of the other festivals like Warped Tour are outside and it gets pretty hot.
Aiden- It's a good opportunity to end our cycle on Nightmare Anatomy and to play in front of a bunch of people we normally wouldn't.
Buddy(Senses Fail)- It's a really good opportunity to get our music out there to people who haven't heard us before.
Shannon(30 STM)- We played some warped tour dates and it went really well. Kevin Lyman asked us if we want to co headline with The Used. It just seemed like the right thing to do there's a lot of great bands playing.

3) Define Taste Of Chaos and how it differs from other tours.
Jeph (The Used)- Well, it's indoors and bands hang out more. It usually takes place in the winter, so it's not like we can just go anywhere. We hang out backstage a lot more and get to know the other bands really well.
Aiden- I would say it's a collection of bands , pretty methodically thought out from the people who run it. They pick bands that they think would really meld well together and they put it in a package that's fucking attractive to people. We are an attractive band...laughs
Buddy(Senses Fail)- I think it's more of an event, there's other stuff going on. Different companies come and sell their stuff like shoes. It's also not a ton of bands, but it's more than usual.
Shannon(30 STM)- It's indoors, outside festivals, the energy is everywhere. Here the energy is a little more harnessed and focused. One's not better than the other, it's just different.

4) What are you looking forward to most on the tour?
Jeph (The Used)- I'm looking forward to playing new songs, we're playing 4 new songs. We're all freaking out about that and we're working with a new drummer too. He's so much fun to play with.
Aiden- I think we're looking forward to the fact that it's not going to be summertime. My shoes won't melt on the stage.
Buddy(Senses Fail)- The show itself, just getting to play.
Shannon(30 STM)- Sharing the live experience with a different assortment of people. When you're playing your own show, it's just your fans, it's nice that we'll be subjected to different people.

5) What are your plans after Taste Of Chaos?
Jeph(The Used)- We're going to the "Give it a Name Festival" in Europe, H.I.M.'s gonna be there and a lot of other bands, should be fun. And then I think we're doing some promo shows at colleges and stuff. Then we'll be gearing up for a headlining tour of the US and we'll be playing 90% of the songs from the new album. We might put out an EP with like 9 songs on it later this year.
Aiden- We've got 10 days off and then we're gonna head over to England and do some shows with The Lost Prophets & Taking Back Sunday. Then we're coming back in May to record.
Buddy (Senses Fail)- We have a week off and then we head to Europe for some of the European festivals.
Shannon(30 STM)- We're going to Europe, Japan & AUstralia. We went to Europe and those places were sold out realy fast, so they had to bump us up to bigger venues. It was realy exciting to share the expereince with Europeans, their enthusiasm is a lot different than Americans, not better, just different.

6) Is there any bands you think your fans should put on their musical radar?
Jeph(The Used)- Death from above 1979, the bass player is so good in that band.
Aiden- Bullet for My Valentine...(they mentioned another band but I couldn't hear the name due to blaring sound check).
Buddy(Senses Fail)- Alexis On Fire
Shannon(30 STM)- I am listening to older stuff right now, like The Who and The Police.

7) What interview question pisses you off the most?
Jeph(The Used)- Where's Bert?(laughs) I don't really care, I don't mind questions. Stupid questions like the Kelly Osbourne ones, that happened like 6 yrs ago and the ones like "How did the band get it's start" etc., they don't really piss me off, they just get annoying sometimes.
Aiden- "Are you guys gay?"... or..."Y'all in a band?"
Buddy(Senses Fail)- Background stuff, cuz you can just go online and look it up.
Shannon(30 STM)- If you asked me what me annoys me, then you'd be bringing up what annoys me right? The dumbest question I've ever been asked is "If I were hot pocket, what would I be?"

8) Complete this sentence..."If we weren't playing Taste Of Chaos right now we would be...."
Jeph(The Used)- Riding the Zamboni, that should be the name of the new record, "Ride The Zamboni"
Aiden- Fishing....no...recording an album...or going to Taste Of Chaos to watch other bands.
Buddy(Senses Fail)- At home relaxing.
Shannon(30 STM)- In Europe or Australia or Japan or just traveling overseas. We've never really done that, and after all these years, we're finally getting over there.