Thrice,
Deftones, Atreyu rock Long Beach Arena
By
Brigid McGuire
Online Forty-Niner
Diversions Editor
The line stretched around the large arena with the race track only inches away.
No this is not a NASCAR event, it was the scene March 30 at the Long Beach
Arena for the Taste of Chaos tour.
This is the second year of the tour and is being called the winter Warped Tour.
The arena was set up with two stages next to each other; the MySpace stage
and the main stage. While one band was playing, the other stage was being set
up for the next act, so the flow of music never stopped.
The first band to take the MySpace stage was Take the Crown from nearby Orange
County. The group was voted into playing the show from a contest on MySpace.
They rocked the crowd with screamo riffs and melodic vocals. The crowd responded
well with clapping and head nodding.
Next up was the Smashup from New York and Dredg on the main stage. Dredg gave
an amazing performance with dramatic red back lights and an array of instruments.
The group has an experimental sound with haunting guitar riffs and powerful
vocals. Dredg has a sound all its own, like a mix of Coldplay and ’70s
experimental rock gone postal.
As I Lay Dying, the second main stage act of the evening, opened with the epic
metalcore song “94 Hours.” The group hails from Oceanside, Calif.
and has been on multiple major headlining tours, as well as Ozzfest.
I got a chance to grab the drummer, Jordan Mancino, for an interview before
the show and ask of him how the tour has been going so far.
The American part of the tour has ended and the Canadian has just begun, but
even with a almost nonstop tour Mancino just keeps on truckin’.
“
When I get on stage everything else just goes away,” Mancino said. “I
love what I do, I wouldn’t want to change it for anything.”
When asked how this tour compares to other tours he has been on Mancino said, “This
tour isn’t as heavy as some of our other tours.”
“
This tour is kind of heavy, but moving away from that and it definitely helps
to stick out [musically],” Mancino said.
Other bands on the MySpace stage included Millionaire, Adair, Pelican, Greeley
Estates and the Street Drum Corps. Music wasn’t just at this show though,
there were also many independent clothing labels and a large video game station,
where video game fanatics can play all of the latest games.
The next headliner was Story of the Year. The group has left most of it’s
pop/rock roots behind.
Compared to its first album, “Page Avenue,” the band plays a lot
heavier and delivers more metal and screaming vocals.
At one point in their set, the guitar and bass players handed their guitars
to roadies and did back flips off the drum stage. The crowd went crazy and
everyone sang along at the top of their lungs. During the song “Falling
Down” Toby Morse, from the band H2O, came onstage with his son and sang
with lead singer Dan Marsala.
Story of the Year was definetly one of the show stealers of the night.
Another Southern California headliner was Thrice and when the band members
took the stage the crowd swelled and erupted.
The band began with “Image of the Invisible,” a tribute to the
cause “the Invisible Children,” a film about child soldiers in
Uganda. The band also played old favorites like “Artist in the Ambulance” and “Deadbold.” The
entire crowd sang along to “Stare at the Sun” and one could feel
the energy from Dustin Kensrue’s voice as he sang.
The major headliner was the Deftones and the entire show was a great mix of
rock, emo-core and metal.
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