Taste Of Chaos @ CIA, Cardiff (21/11/06) [Live]

December 1, 2006, 11:33 PM

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I guess the most obvious question to pose before the show tonight is: just how chaotic can a tour sponsored by a clothing brand and an energy drink be? I was intrigued to find out.

The night before, these bands had been tearing up Nottingham's Rock City, a venue probably not even half the size of Cardiff's 7,000 capacity International Arena. As a result, you would expect the acoustics to be crap, the bands to look lost on a large stage and the venue to seem virtually empty (all of these occured at one time or another). There was also the issue of the second stage, something which other venues have located in side rooms, a luxury the Arena doesn't possess. All in all, it's safe to say I wasn't really sure how it was going to work.

The first band on was SAOSIN, complete with 'new' singer Cove. His live vocals weren't that great, and the guitars blurred together, making for a set which meant you could make out what song they were playing, but missed a lot of the fiddlier lead guitar parts, for example in 'Bury Your Head', probably the highlight of the set. The band rip through the likes of 'Sleeper', 'Voices' and 'Seven Years', never once seeming phased by the size of the stage and end to raucous applause from the young crowd. An energetic and solid set that includes all the standout tracks from both the early EPs and the recently-released album, and more than anything, a good solid start to the proceedings.

Next up, SENSES FAIL. A band who I have little experience with, not through having never heard of them, but because I've always found them pretty boring, and well, to use a lazy cliche, generic. The set is once again energetic, but probably not strong enough to win over any new fans. Senses Fail are a band that select groups of people will enjoy and others won't. The melodies, the vocals and the subject matter all come as one package, and the formula is unfortunately a little safe and there's little to shout about.

A trip over to the second stage now, which is actually attached onto the side of the main stage, to see SAIDMIKE. I've seen them enough times now to know exactly what songs they'll play and in what order, and it's almost disappointing to not see them play around with the setlist a bit, or at least write some new material. That's a side issue though, and the set is fun and energetic, their synth-driven pop-rock winning over a few fans in the Arena tonight. A great choice for keeping the crowd moving in between the bands on the main stage.

Back to the main stage now, for UNDEROATH, who are a band I've seen before, and a band who didn't blow me away on that occasion either. They shun older classics like 'When The Sun Sleeps' in favour of a set that consists mainly of newer material, with a few older tracks wheeled out in between. It's a relatively short and sharp set, and the band throw themselves around like relentless crash dummies, but despite the fact that they've obviously been around long enough to hone their performance, the set disappoints.

Watching ALEXISONFIRE play a 20/30 minute set is incredibly painful. Easily the most anticipated band of the night for me, they open with the aggressive 'Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints', opener for new album 'Crisis', before going straight into 'Boiled Frogs', 'Waterwings', 'This Could Be Anywhere In The World', 'Control', 'We Are The Sound' and ending rather predictably, but much to the crowd's delight, with 'Accidents'. It's a good performance and everyone is on top form, but the songs chosen to fill out such a short set could have been better. I look forward to March, and seeing them back in familiar territory at one of their own headlining shows. A great band, and the best of the night so far, but I've seen them play better.

On the side stage, CANCER BATS rattle through their down-tuned, southern-tinged hardcore, and the acoustics of the venue are such that you really can't hear anything but a wall of distorted noise. Not helpful for someone who's only heard about three songs before tonight. They jump around and keep everyone entertained before the next band, but it's difficult to make any kind of observation about the performance itself.

The penultimate band on tonight is ANTI-FLAG, who caused controversy recently by breaking what is still one of the biggest taboos in punk by joining a major label. This appears to have had little to no impact on their outspoken political nature, however, as each song is accompanied with a short speech concerning political and social issues. It's almost like a battle cry, and each statement receives rapturous applause. The band open with 'I'd Tell You But' and rattle through a set that includes 'This Is The End (For You My Friend)', 'Turncoat', One Trillion Dollars', 'Die For Your Government' and culminates with 'The Press Corpse'. Possibly the best band of the night, the one that connects with the most hearts and minds and the one that seems most likely to even know the definition of the word 'chaos' let alone practice it. There are those that like to bring out the old 'sell out' argument when talking about Anti-Flag, and to some extent that's fair enough, but I say this - now more than ever, we NEED bands like Anti-Flag to be up there speaking out on our behalf. It's a storming set, and one that leaves a lasting impression on the crowd, not least because of the huge circle pit attempted halfway through.

Tonight's headliners TAKING BACK SUNDAY have a problem - Guitarist/back up vocalist Fred has had to leave the tour for unspoken 'family reasons'. To the band's credit, they've dealt with this extraordinarily well. Out onto the stage wanders vocalist Adam Lazzara, acoustic guitar in hand and coated in a bright white light. He proceeds to play a couple of acoustic numbers, including recent Killers hit 'When You Were Young', which he performs really well, and makes a fairly bad song into a rather good one. He then explains the situation, and the band walk out. Inviting guest vocalists and guitarists back up onto the stage from Underoath, Saosin and Anti-Flag, they open electrically with 'What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?' and play a solid set including the likes of 'Error:Operator', 'MakeDamnSure', 'Cute Withtout The E', 'Liar (Takes One To Know One)' and end with breakthrough single 'A Decade Under The Influence'. It's a decent performance and fully showcases just why they're continuing to rise in popularity, but most of all its a fitting end to the evening (this is, I'd imagine, the band that most people are here to see - the most melodic, the least offensive and the most well-known). Fred who?

After a long evening of music, its Anti-Flag and Alexisonfire who emerge victorious, defeating a dodgy sound system and winning over a whole bunch of new fans to come out fighting. However, they also seem the two bands that are the most out of place on tonight's bill...and I find it strange that the two most chaotic bands on a tour dubbed the Taste of Chaos seem out of place. How much that says about the true nature of the tour, and the way in which buzzwords get used to attract a certain kind of audience is up for debate. Maybe I'm just cynical.

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