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| Taste The Chaos |
| Tour Double Dips At Asbury Park, NJ |
Two days and nights of back-to-back chaos and the hotel rooms are still intact after the "Taste Of Chaos" Tour rolled through the old Convention Hall in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The age and history of this oceanside town that has seen it's heyday come and go was contrasted by the freshness of new music, the overwhelming number of young female fans, and a casual wash and wear audience attitude.
The Used frontman Bert McCracken is a fireball. The kind that is red, has lots of layers, and is sweet one minute and unexpectedly hot the next. Unpredicable, believeable, vulnerable and mouthy, he's the unique kind of talented lead singer that comes along so infrequently that you really have to savor the flavor. Early on in the set Bert proudly announced, “It was my birthday yesterday! I am extremely illegal. I want to have sex with you and you and you." Playing fan favorite tracks like "Taste of Ink" from their release In Love And Death as well as new tracks such as "Listening", the California quartet were the finishers for each night of the show.
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To say that fans are nuts for The Used is not giving enough details of the countless tattoos, hours of waiting in the cold for a chance to meet the band, and the variety of make-it-yourself T-shirts paying homage (our favorite is the Bert as Che version that reads "Bert is my homeboy"). The Used was the only band to get bras thrown at them on stage to which Bert exclaimed, "“Thank God for rock and roll music man!" He introduced "Blue and Yellow" with, “If you would, put your arm around your best friend and give 'em a big kiss on the cheek. If I could I would kiss each one of you. This song is dedicated to you guys, my best friends.” Emotions ran high on "All That I've Got" as McCracken bonded with, “This goes out to all the hard core fans out there. You know who you are. Thank you for making me feel alive.”
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One of many memorable highlights of Night #1 of the Taste of Chaos tour NJ stop was the finale encore when My Chemical Romance joined The Used on stage for a full dual band version of "Under Pressure".
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Saturday, February 26th
A Static Lullaby
Underoath
Senses Fail
Killswitch Engage
My Chemical Romance
The Used
Acoustic Stage
BEDlight for BlueEYES
My American Heart
Nicky P
Bleed The Dream
Opiate For The Masses
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Sunday, February 27th
Unearth
A Static Lullaby
Underoath
Atreyu
Senses Fail
Killswitch Engage
The Used
Acoustic Stage
Nicky P
My American Heart
Gratitude
Bleed The Dream
Opiate For The Masses
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Jersey! My Chemical Romance treated fans to blood pumping renditions off Shoutweb's 2004 Record of the Year Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge igniting the run-down venue with
specific instructions to "blow the roof of this place" leading into their chart-topping radio hit "I'm Not Okay".
In what may have been confused for possible Oscar weekend support for the animated film The Incredibles, frontman Gerard Way donned a black make-up mask and blood red tie.
The New Jersey native superhero has many talents including the ability to get even the rafter seats on their feet and singing along.
Not lax for material, the entertaining singer storyteller instructed his followers to "clap from the front to the very back" and "from the side to the side" before leading into "Thank You For The Venom". Eerie vocals for "here comes the bride all dressed in white" were followed up with a crowd participation event in the “home of Bon Jovi” to lift high all lighters and cell phones to introduce "The Ghost Of You".
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Guitarists Ray Toro and Frankie Iero were sporting bulletproof vests. The band's set was a tribute to "our brothers and sisters on the road" and climaxed with the song "Helena" that was met with crowd screams on the chorus line "so long and goodnight".
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