SIS Upcoming: Taste of Choas

Looks like our man Kevin Hakansson wants you to come hang out with him this Friday if you are in the greater Boston area . . .

A few years back, Warped Tour creator and music business pioneer Kevin Lyman had an idea. If his outdoor punk rock summer camp had been so successful, what’s to say kids wouldn’t come out to a smaller, indoor, winter version of such a tour?

As it turned out, there was nothing to say that they wouldn’t, and come out they did. The Taste of Chaos tour, sponsored by Rockstar, debuted in 2005, featuring scene favorites like The Used, Underoath, and My Chemical Romance. From the beginning, this mini-Warped setup featured bands big and small, able to boast an evening of non-stop music, thanks to a smaller side stage, as well as vendors of all kind sporting the types of ware for sale one would expect to find walking the grounds of TOC’s summer counterpart.

Four years (and a total of six tours, three U.S and three international) later, Taste of Chaos is still kicking. Lyman's experiment seems to have worked, with lineups focused primarily around post-hardcore type bands drawing the Warped crowd in droves. Hoping to keep the momentum going by this year's tour is Avenged Sevenfold. This over the top metal act gained national prominence in 2005 with the release of City of Evil, the band's major label debut on Warner Brothers Records. The colorful video for the record's hit single, "Bat Country," gained considerable airplay, and brought the band to the American public. They're touring in support of their new, self titled album, released this past Halloween.

Avenged Sevenfold is also, not surprisingly, a Warped Tour veteran, as are a few other bands on the tour. Both Atreyu and Bullet for My Valentine have done summer stints, no doubt gaining the attention of Lyman and company, landing themselves prime support slots. Other bands performing this year include a trio of acts from across the Pacific; Japanese rockers Mucc, D'Espairspray, and The Underneath comprise an all-Asian second stage.

The main stage also features Idiot Pilot, a band that makes its return to Taste of Chaos after being a part of the initial 2005 lineup. A band with one of the fullest post-hardcore sounds you'll hear is, in person at least, considerably more unassuming than you'd expect. That's because while Idiot Pilot may sound like a fully instrumented musical outfit, they're a mere duo. Michael Harris and Daniel Anderson are, quite frankly, talented enough to carry the load of a full band themselves, thank you very much.

Harris and Anderson, natives of Bellingham, Washington, grew up together, and started playing in bands at a young age with other local youths. It didn't take long, though, before they realized there was a band contained simply between the two of them. They began recording acoustic demos together, and before long, had themselves an act. Their debut album, Strange We Should Meet Here, was produced largely by the two band members themselves with the help of a local studio that taught them the ropes of music production. Some local radio play gained the duo some national buzz, leading to (appropriately enough) Reprise Records re-releasing the record in 2005.

Idiot Pilot is touring in support of a new record, released on Reprise just this February. Wolves proves what a perfect clash of extremes Harris and Anderson comprise. While both compose the electronic music that make up the songs on Wolves, both also show off distinctly different vocal styles. While Harris' soaring, frequently falsetto, Thom Yorke-conjuring vox carry the majority of the melodies, Anderson frequently chimes in with blood-curdling shouts. Take "Red Museum," one of the new record's finest tracks, for example. Harris' cutesy vocal melody, set on top of a compelling background of electrono-pop, is often interrupted by Anderson’s cries, accompanied by a blistering double-bass pedal line, with the song not missing a beat. Anderson takes over later though, as his frightening screams drive the closing bridge section.

It'll be interesting to see how Idiot Pilot, at times subdued popsters, at others intense headbangers, fit in with Taste of Chaos’ hard rock dominated lineup. It's a pretty good bet that their interesting take on rock and roll will be well received by a curious young audience. Boston-area concertgoers will have their chance to find out this Friday, March 21st, north of the city at Lowell's Tsongas Arena. General admission tickets are available at the tour for $35, but be sure to get there early to catch all the bands; doors open at 4:30, with the show slated to start at 5:30.