Taste of Chaos and the Used

Last night was one of the coolest nights I've had in a long, long time. I haven't been to a show in way too long, and when I heard the Used was headlining the Taste of Chaos Tour, I knew that I had to get off my ass and go see them. I ended up going with a little chicky I like to say that I know, and it was a great night altogether.

We left Santa Barbara at around 4:30PM, and of course, thanks to LA traffic, we didn't get to the Long Beach Arena until around 7:30. After maneuvering our way around a street that goes THROUGH a parking garage downtown, we found the parking garage for the arena and made our way inside.

We passed two security checkpoints, and three ID checkpoints to get our first round of $12 beers and then made our way up to our seats. When we got to our section Thirty Seconds to Mars was gearing up, and it was obvious that I had missed Saosin, which kinda bummed me out, but it wasn't too bad because I had gone to see the Used anyways.

Right before their set, 30Seconds sent a guy and girl up to the mic to do a skit saying that they weren't playing, and that Jared Leto was in the hospital blah blah blah, but oh wait! He's right here, it looks like Jared's going against the doctor's orders and he's gonna play the show anyways.

Yup.

His voice wasn't 100% so his singing was only par, but he still pulled it off. Their stage was awesome, and their so crowd oriented, that in his hometown nobody seemed to notice Jared's voice, or lack of it. Their set went off without a hitch and even though it wasn't everything everyone was hoping for it to be, they still rocked out.

"The Kill" was sang by the entire Long Beach Arena, and "From Yesterday" was a crowd favorite as well. And although they didn't sound bad, it is only the second week of tour so it makes you think if 30Seconds is gonna be able to pull the whole tour. he better drink lots of ginseng tea or whatever it is those singers drink...

After the set we headed down for a few more brews and then made our way back right before the intro for the main act, the Used!

The first time I saw these guys live was at the Warped Tour as a small-time band trying to bring themselves up amongst the big boys. They had an awesome following, and it was clear they were going to break big soon.

Bert (the lead singer) had an intensity that was unmatched by any other band at Warped that year, and his stage presence was incredible. The only problem was that with their debut CD there was a lot of screaming in his songs, so before the end of their set his voice would die and he wouldn't be able to finish with the fire he started with.

Since then I know they've improved immensely, and on the verge of releasing their third CD, I could only imagine that on this night they would be incredible. They opened huge with "Take It Away", a crowd-chanting rockout. They stopped to say hello, then they stringed together three songs in a row with a blend from the end of one song into the next.

The place was jam packed on the main floor, and the stadium seats were full. They were rocking and rocking hard. Bert didn't miss a beat, and even busted a beat when he broke into a crazy white-man rap with the help of the drummer ripping into a bassline. That had the crowd cheering for the sheer sillyness of it, and they went back into dominating the rock world.

They played a couple of their new songs, "Find A Way" and "Liar Liar", which both seem like they're representative of their newest CD coming out in May. If the intensity and the sound of this show are representative of their latest material, the new CD won't disappoint.

And in answer to my waning question, throughout the whole show, on top of jumping around and playing the crowd, the singer didn't break his voice or slow down at all. It was one of the best shows I've seen.

The Used, being one of my favorite bands, has had an impact on my life with their music since I first heard their music. For the moment they were playing one of their slower songs, I experienced a state of pure happiness. With the way things have been going lately in life, I started feeling very blah. But on this night, rocking out with who I was with and watching one of my favorite bands pull of a great show, it felt like there was hope.

Now I'm back at work, and although it is payday, I'm wishing I wasn't here. I wanna be back there. I wanna be back in last night standing next to a beautiful chick rocking my heart out and screaming with the thousands of fans that are there to feel what I feel when that band hits the stage and blows our minds.

I really wanna see a lot of concerts this year, and Taking Back Sunday is next up on the list. They're playing the House of Blues in Vegas on the 10th of March, so I better start getting my shit together so Darsky and I can try to nail this monthly Vegas trip thing.

Until next time.