On the night of March 25, chaos took over Portland, Maine. In an extensive line, kids stood outside of the Cumberland County Civic Center, holding tickets that would get them in to one of the biggest concerts on one of the most anticipated rock tours of the year – Taste of Chaos. This line up of 39 shows happens every year and visits various locations through out the U.S. and features some of the most popular and underrated rock bands in music today.

On this particular night, seven groups brought their sound to Portland. One of the most enjoyable things about this tour is that there is an incredible mash up of different bands to check out. There are some unknown groups such as Evaline and Radiation Year and there are the more popular bands such as The Used, Senses Fail, and 30 Seconds To Mars, with their videos being played on FUSE and MTV fluently. With music ranging from violin infused ballads to full on gothic rock, there was no shortage of music for fans to sing along to or in many cases…scream along to.

Out in the halls of the Civic Center, you could find tables set up with various band merchandise, protestors from PETA asking for petition signatures, and kids playing the coolest new video game, GUITAR HERO II, on televisions lining the walls. Bands who just played on stage walked around, signing autographs for fans anxiously waiting to meet their music idols. Another great part of this tour is the interaction between fans and bands. Even one of the top bands, 30 Seconds To Mars, who had won an MTV2 award for their song, “The Kill” and recently became the first American band to shoot its entire video in China, sat and signed posters and shirts for devoted fans.

Even if you have never heard of many of these bands before, you would have definitely gone home entertained that night. With the gothic band, Aiden, helping to create one of the craziest crowd surfing mosh pits I had ever seen and Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars, climb across the seat barrier during his band’s set, there was definitely the smell of chaos in the air. Next year, hopefully the Taste of Chaos will come back to Maine, so the music fans here can go wild once again.