A TASTE OF CHAOS @ Hartwall Areena Helsinki, Finnland | 15.11.2010 — ENGLISH VERSION

This is not really my first job for RockZOOM but due to the fact that the “A Taste Of Chaos” tour with Disturbed, Papa Roach, Buckcherry and Halestorm just has started in Finland’s Capital Helsinki and to make sure that you know what you will miss if you don’t go there, here is now the big report about the kick-off show in the “Hartwall Areena”…

“Big” is also the right word to describe the masses of concert visitors which are waiting already two hours before the “doors open” outside in the rain to rock along in one of the first rows later on. In Finland it’s quite unusual to wait for hours until the doors are opened but if four American bands fly across the pond… Even the constant rain can’t derogate the pleasant anticipation, in contrast to the stroppy staff of the “Hartwall Areena”: Instead of a friendly “Minä en puhu englantia.” (“I don’t speak English.”), a harsh “Mene pois!” (“Go away!”) is the answer. RockZOOM recommends the attendance of a course which deals with “Friendly Customer Service”. Fortunately, the lady from the organiser “Live Nation” knows how to help us in a friendly way and – et voilà! – we are already in the audience before the first band Halestorm enters the stage…

While seeing the show of Halestorm you realise one thing from the very first second: The band around frontwoman Elizabeth “Lzzy” Hale performs with passion and has a lot of fun while playing. It seems that Lzzy – first dressed in a rockish style with a leather jacket, then in a cute combination with a corset – can hardly believe her luck to perform in Finland and so she dedicates some kind words to Helsinki repeatedly (“Helsinki, you take my breath away!”). Later on, she even drinks a toast to the land of elks before her wine glass disappears into the audience. Her biggest competitor in “Being an eye-catcher” is her own brother Arejay Hale ’cause what he is presenting at his drums is just crazy. But after his extensive drum solo, Lzzy, guitar player Joe Hottinger and bass player Josh Smith get the permission to drum with him along. The Americans play amongst others “I Get Off” and “Dirty Work” from their self-titled debut album and if there is one thing left to say: If you are going to visit one of the “A Taste Of Chaos” gigs, be punctual already for this first band, otherwise you will miss a live act who is worth to be seen…

Personally, I am here tonight to see Buckcherry and Papa Roach and concerning the former I am obviously not the only one as the hall starts to cheer already when the Buckcherry banner is hoisted. As soon as they appear on stage, the band around singer Josh Todd starts to rock right away with “Tired Of You”. Already during the second song “Rescue Me”, Josh’s bandana flies into a corner shortly after this the same happens with his leather jacket – and then he suddenly stands there half naked, presenting all the tattoos on his trained upper body. Seeing this, you don’t wonder why the one or other girl in the audience now starts to sing along the lyrics of “All Night Long” all the more fervently… *grin* Also the rest of the setlist is dominated by songs of the same-titled, brandnew album, like “It’s A Party” and “Dead”. The gig is finalised by their smash hit “Crazy Bitch”. Especially in the US and in the UK, this party anthem has made them famous, and indeed this gig could have lasted “All Night Long”… By far, one of the best performances I’ve seen in the year 2010!

Not less impressive is the way how Papa Roach are entering the stage with “Kick In The Teeth”, taken from their brandnew live album “Time For Annihilation… On The Record & On The Road”. An explosion of hits follows, performed in front of a more complex stage setting: “Lifeline”, “One Track Mind”, “Hollywood Whore”, “Between Angels And Insects”, “Scars”, “Getting Away With Murder”, “Burn”, “…To Be Loved”, “Last Resort”… Just to name a few songs of their setlist. It’s not a rare case that it’s tried to make-up a lack of entertainment with a bigger stagecraft but that’s absolutely not the case for Papa Roach: Frontman Jacoby Shaddix impresses with an energy that seems to be infinite and with an extremely good mood. He sweeps across the stage, he moves closer to the fans, waves to them, he is all smiles… For the performance of the semi-ballad “Forever” the hall is bathed in a beautiful blue-green light… So whether rock smash hits or smoother compositions: Papa Roach are proficient in the whole repertoire and put on an excellent show which makes you just speechless… Papa Roach, you take my breath away!

Much more complex is the stage setting for the final Disturbed, which includes video installations in the background. Indeed, the stage setting is impressive and I don’t want to say that their performance is not impressive because the truth is that I am generally not that much into Disturbed and in my opinion the songs of their setlist sound all quite similar to each other. But those who are into Disturbed celebrate the band around singer David Draiman right away when they start their show with “Remnants” / “Asylum”… Raise your fist! And don’t stop with it until the final with “Down With The Sickness”… Personally, I like the performance for “Land Of Confusion” the most but, yeah, it’s a cover version of Genesis…

Whether for Disturbed, Papa Roach, Buckcherry or Halestorm: If you are considering to visit one of the “A Taste Of Chaos” dates, just do it! You really shouldn’t miss this incredible tour package!

After Helsinki and the other three Scandinavian Capitals, the tour will continue today in Germany’s Capital Berlin. And after that here:

24 November 2010 Vienna, Austria
25 November 2010 Munich, Germany
26 November 2010 Winterthur, Switzerland
28 November 2010 Freiburg, Germany
29 November 2010 Hamburg, Germany
01 December 2010 Dusseldorf, Germany
02 December 2010 Amsterdam, Holland
03 December 2010 Luxembourg, Luxembourg
05 December 2010 Brussels, Belgium
07 December 2010 Birmingham, UK
08 December 2010 London, UK
09 December 2010 Plymouth, UK
11 December 2010 Glasgow, UK
12 December 2010 Manchester, UK
13 December 2010 Nottingham, UK

www.tasteofchaos.com
www.halestormrocks.com
www.myspace.com/halestorm
www.buckcherry.com
www.myspace.com/buckcherry
www.paparoach.com
www.myspace.com/paparoach
www.disturbed1.com
www.myspace.com/disturbed