Taste of Chaos (or "TOC") was a live music tour that was started in the winter of 2005 by

Kevin Lyman Kevin Lyman is the founder and operator of thKevin Lyman Group formerly known as 4Fini, Inc., a live event production company and brand strategy firm. His most notable live production is the live music festival series Vans Warped Tour, which attrac ...

, the creator of the successful

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

along with his friend and business partner, John Reese. The Taste Of Chaos tour catered to fans of the

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

and

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

genres, while offering the same low ticket price and festival-style format as the Warped Tour. In 2007, each of the seven bands playing the entire tour was a Warped Tour veteran: five had played the 2006 Warped Tour and two (

The Used The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah, that formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalist Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford. Former members include Quinn Allman, Branden Stei ...

and

Saosin Saosin is an American rock band formed in Orange County, California in 2003 by Beau Burchell, Justin Shekoski, Zach Kennedy, and Anthony Green. The band released their first EP, '' Translating the Name'', in 2003. That year, vocalist Anthony G ...

) had played TOC previously. Taste of Chaos has been called the "Winter Warped Tour" since dates run from October (internationally) through April (in North America) of the next year. The tour was highly successful in 2005 for many of the same reasons as its summer counterpart, including cheap tickets and major bands of the genres. In the fall of 2005, the tour became international with

Story of the Year Story of the Year is an American rock band formed in St. Louis, Missouri, Story of the Year at Allmusic.comAccessed May 17, 2007. in 1995 under the name 67 North. The band eventually changed their name to Big Blue Monkey in 1998, and then subseq ...

, and

Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardcor ...

playing in Australia, Europe, and Asia. The 2008 lineup was the first to feature

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese bands, them being

Mucc is a Japanese visual kei rock band, formed in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1997. The classic line up of Tatsuro on vocals, Miya on guitar, Yukke on bass, and Satochi on drums was solidified in 1999 following the departure of original bassist Hiro. A ...

D'espairsRay D'espairsRay (formerly stylized as DéspairsRay or +DéspairsRay+) was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from 1999 to 2011. The lineup of Hizumi on vocals, Karyu on guitar, Zero on bass and Tsukasa on drums remained the same, with the group ...

and The Underneath. In 2010, Taste of Chaos founder John Reese stated that although the tour was successful internationally, it had "run its course in America" and would be replaced by the

Uproar Festival The Uproar Festival, also called the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival, was an annual hard rock and heavy metal tour inaugurated in 2010 by John Reese and sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink. The tour was also created by John Oakes, Darryl E ...

. Reese stated that the replacement was due to, "running out of bands that fit within the profile of what Taste of Chaos was." Uproar will feature

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

bands and will begin shortly after the heavy metal tour

Mayhem Festival The Mayhem Festival was a touring Heavy metal music, heavy metal festival that took place during the summer. The inaugural season took place in 2008; the festival later became an annual event across the United States. Most years also included a ...

in August 2010. Kevin Lyman expects the tour to continue in Europe, and is unsure if it will return to the US. For the first time since the tour began, Taste of Chaos had no dates in 2011. On June 18, 2015, it was announced that Taste of Chaos would return with its first festival in five years. The festival took place on October 3 at the

San Manuel Amphitheater The Glen Helen Amphitheater (originally Blockbuster Pavilion and formerly Hyundai Pavilion and San Manuel Amphitheater) is a 65,000-capacity amphitheater located in the hills of Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California. It is the l ...

in California. It was at a Taste of Chaos show in Orlando, FL, that

Fueled By Ramen Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City. History John Janick conceived of the lab ...

representative John Janick first saw

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...

, which led to them signing their first major recording contract.

Ernie Ball International Battle Of The Bands Winners

Ernie Ball International Battle Of The Bands started in 2006, to get popular upcoming small and unsigned bands to play the Taste of Chaos shows in their local towns across many of the tour dates. Fans determine which band is able to win by voting for all bands though the Ernie Ball International Battle Of The Band
Website
The Top 20 Bands in each city, by way of votes will be reviewed by a panel of judges who will select One band out of the top 20 to play live in their hometown on Taste of Chaos Tour.

Judging Criteria

The Top 20 vote getting bands in each city will be reviewed by the judges. One band will be selected based on the following indicators: #Musicianship #Ability to Draw in a Live Setting.

The Judges

*Kevin Lyman - Founder of the

Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

, co-founder of the Rockstar Taste of Chaos Tour. *John Reese, co-founder of the Rockstar Taste of Chaos, Manager of The Used, Story of the Year. *Sterling Ball - CEO of Ernie Ball Inc. *Brian Ball - Marketing and Artist Relations for Ernie Ball Inc. *Dustin Hinz - Promotions / Marketing for Guitar Center Inc. *Brett Woitunski - CEO and Founder of purevolume.com *John Oakes - Vice President of Freeze Artist Management and co-founder of Chaos Mobile *Mike Kelso - Music Marketing Director for

Rockstar Rock Star or Rockstar may refer to: Films * ''Rock Star'' (2001 film), an American film starring Mark Wahlberg * ''Rockstar'' (2011 film), an Indian Hindi-language film by Imtiaz Ali * ''Rockstar'' (2015 film), an Indian Malayalam-language fi ...

Energy Drink. *Kevin Scoles - Artist Relations/Events Marketing Ernie Ball Inc.

Tours by year

Taste of Chaos tours were conducted annually in 2005 through 2010, then again in 2015 and 2016.

Compilations

As does the Warped Tour with their compilations, the Taste Of Chaos tour releases compilations of the bands that are on the tour. * ''Taste of Chaos'' (2005) * ''Taste of Christmas'' (2005) * ''The Best of Taste of Chaos'' (2006) * ''The Best of Taste of Chaos Two.'' (2007)

Certifications

Reviews

Live Review of April 2006 Calgary, AB, Canada Concert
by Chris Andrade fo
''kMNR''...Music News Weekly

Review of April 2008 Los Angeles, CA Concert
by Winnie Jaing fo
''LA.Cityzine''

References

External links

*
Myspace

AU & NZ TOC Myspace

UK MyspaceExclusive Interview with Kevin Lyman, founder of Taste of Chaos
at TrulyHollywood.com.
Ernie ball battle of the bands
{{Rock festivals Music festivals staged internationally Taste of Chaos concert tours Rock festivals in the United States Rock festivals in Canada Heavy metal festivals Music festivals established in 2005 Punk rock festivals