"Control the Chaos" Takes the Prize @ 1st Annual VRMAs

Control The Chaos takes the award for "The Best Teen Band in Vegas" at the "2010 Vegas Rocks! Magazine Award Show" inside the Las Vegas Hilton. Surrounded by Legends of the industy and our fellow local bands, the night was an incredible whirlwind of excitement.

It's a great honor to be a part of Vegas Rocks! Magazine. When our Category was called, it was the most exciting, (but at the same time the most nerve-racking) feeling we've experienced. Hearing 1psychotic shout out our name for winning the award, there was a major feeling of accomplishment. As the famous Lemmy from Motorhead confirmed, "Just as long as I'm around, Metal is safe!!!"

Accepting the award on-stage, it was hard to see the crowd over the bright lights but we did notice that Dee Snyder (Twisted Sister) was clapping for us!

To hear the crowd cheer for us was also amazing. We always try to support everyone on the local scene in Vegas, but to hear them give us the cheers and applause was really overwhelming and humbling.

We were totally psyched to see other great bands from the scene and get pictures with them too. It was also pretty awesome to walk the red carpet along with the BIG names, like Lita Ford, Lemmy, Dee Snyder, Flavor Flav and Glenn Hughes. When we walked into the arena and saw thousands and thousands of people there... our jaws just dropped.

This night was incredible and winning the award made it one of the best memories of our lives!!! Horns WAAAAAAYYYY UP!!!! Sally Steele, congratulations on pulling off this amazing event - can't wait 'til next year!!

Adventures to Santa Monica

Driving through the misty coastline of Oregon on our way to the sunny state of California. Waking up to the fresh smell of Grandma's Pancakes and eggs as we start off our morning. As we are preparing for the show ahead in Santa Monica on 08/21/2010 at Club Trip, we are also going out and exploring the greater city of L.A. We are also celebrating the "BEAST" 19th birthday this Thursday August 19, 2010, so make sure to send a shout out to the "BEAST". Right after Club Trip in Santa Monica we are heading straight back to our home town of Las Vegas for the Vegas Rocks Magazine Award show on Sunday August 22nd, 2010, where we are nominated for Vegas Best Teen Band. Be sure to check back in to see what we are up too. And also vote for us for Vegas Best Teen Band. Email to: vote@vegasrocks.com and on the subject line put: Category #6 Control the Chaos.

- Thanks for all the support! CTC

Inked!

All bands know that the best time to get tattoos is when you're on tour! And even better if you can find a cool shop that is willing to sponsor the band's ink work. That's why we were so excited when our original designer, Don Melendez informed us that his close friends over at Triple Crown Tattoo (in Bremerton, WA) were excited to come to our show, work with us and agree to sponsor and endorse our tattoo work for the band.

Accomplished artist Gary Graves has been doing tattoo art for over 12 years. He joined Andrew Christian to help launch Triple Crown, an upscale boutique which caters to those who require prestige and professionalism when it comes to body art. Needless to say, the band was stoked.

With the exception of Bones, this was the band's first experience under the needle. Entertaining to say the least. The pain was a little expected but probably under anticipated, but Gary was incredible at his skill and speed. In one afternoon, he was able to get all the band members inked up with their initial outlines, including details.

CTC was absolutely delighted with the results. Future ideas included doing additional design collaboration and a grand opening event. Stay tuned!

A little R&R

So after a few thousand miles, a couple of shows and an adjustment from leaving Vegas it seemed like a perfect time for CTC to take a weekend off and enjoy the great outdoors. Since we were already in the Great Pacific Northwest, it only seemed suitable that we'd take our adventures to the Mt. Rainier National Forest - so we headed out to Bumping Lake to enjoy a little camping.

The drive up was beautiful as we took in all the incredible landscapes. Once up to the campground, we quickly set-up and acclimated ourselves to a world-without-toilets. That was an adventure in itself, but NOTHING compared to dealing with the man-eating insects. Though doused in bug-spray and non-stop burning of citronella candles, we learned quickly that in the thick of night the bed-bugs do indeed BITE! CJ probably got it the worst. The 1st day his forearm got attacked and swelled up like a golf ball had been implanted. The 2nd night he woke up looking like the pillow kicked his ass. His face was read and his eye was almost swollen shut. Must've been one hungry spider. 2nd was Zach. Event bathed in chemicals and 2 layers of clothing -he still managed to get about 17 bites on his back, shoulders and nether regions. The other guys escaped with minimal damage. Cody must not taste good because he was almost entirely unscathed. Evan and Sam seemed to luck out as well and Ed got the inconvenient delight of a bit on the pinky - the most treacherous injury of them all.

Late night coyotes kept us on alert. Saw a couple of interesting animal tracks about 100 feet from camp and a low supply of firewood made us appreciate the term "black as night".

By the end of the weekend, we had accomplished a great weekend of male-bonding, had a chance to appreciate the conveniences of modern plumbing and returned home: exhausted, stanky and itching. Showers here we come!!

Former Porn Theatre Makes for Cool Venue

Okay, so skin and rock have gone hand-in-hand forever. Porn and Metal music - nothing new there. That's why when we arrived in Bremerton, WA to play at our 2nd stop: a quaint, little ex-porn theatre turned music venue known locally as "The Charleston" aka "The Chuck", we weren't too surprised.

The place was Punk extreme. This place had character. Tons of culture and it was just as dark, gritty and sticky as one would assume. But absolutely friggin' cool! Everything was decorated in graffiti or band items. Freelance artwork, school-kid drawings. Vintage video games. The place was "ALIVE".

The sound guy was definitely on-point. He was pretty proud of his set-up too, walking us through all the components, how it was built and where the best acoustic advantage was in the venue.

Given it's history, it's ironic that The Charleston is an ALL-AGES venue. But for those thirsty transients in need of tunes and beverage, there is a fully stocked (and equally decorated) bar for the 21+ patrons.

We arrived to learn that the other 2 bands had to cancel for the night: We Watched Them Burn and Headless Charlie. The booking agent told us that one of the drummer's broke his fingers and that since the bands were traveling together, neither would be able to make it. No worries, we were there to play regardless and we had a few eager fans so we'd make the most of it.

Another rockin' set! The sound was awesome, the vibe was killer and the new fans were totally into it. Also present was our original designer Don Melendez aka Crimson Brand and he brought some new folks to the gig from Triple Crown Tattoo - a really slick and upscale, new ink-shop right in down-town B-town.

The owner of the shop (Andrew), his lead piercing artist (Alex) and lead tattoo artist (Gary) showed up to the gig and helped us rock out. Also talked a little collab business with the guys, so there's a story to be continued there.

Afterwards,headed to Grandma's (since she lives in B-town) and grabbed some awesome grub (again!). A light night run to the Bainbridge ferry got us home by 2am'ish.

All-in-all, fun night and good times.

Emerald City Rocks!

Getting to the venue last night was no easy task. Traffic, which is notoriously bad - was no exception for us. We hit it full-on at the peak of rush-hour on our way to the El Corazon and once we got there, the street traffic was just as intense. Didn't help that Zach had to piss like a racehorse.

As we pulled around the corner, TOTAL SCORE - parking RIGHT in front of the door. Just big enough for our van and trailer to fit outside of the tow-away zone. Coolness.

The venue was dark. Tucked away and peppered with banners, stickers and the dank smell of wet and rock-n-roll. Okay, in reality it was pretty clean except the bathrooms carried there own unique blend of funk. The joint was dope. Reminds you of a smaller Whisky-a-Go-Go and you can tell that some GREAT acts had ripped in this place. The bulletin board was covered with upcoming shows. Some known, others to be known. Dan the sound guy was amazingly good at his job. Take the awesome sound of Las Vegas' Cheyenne Saloon and turn it up about 10 notches. The place rumbled off the richter scale. it was insane and unbelievably awesome!! ALWAYS tip your sound guy people!

The other bands were in full focus too. Tygerr's Lair was first to greet us, then Pangea. Cool guys. Ravages of Time came to set-up last, all the way from Concrete, WA. dude, those guys freakin' rocked it.

Here's the deal: Seattle bands definitely play with massive HEART. U could feel how
much this venue and this stage/audience meant to them. They connected with everyone and REALLY brought a show. CTC was no exception! All in all, we're proud to say the largest crowd was for us and that made us feel very welcome back in our old city.

People definitely took advantage of the bar. Someone even had a massive puke attack right on our trailer hitch. Wow, thanks to whoever did that INTENTIONALLY. That was really the only uncool part of the night.

Later, our cousin Tony hosted an after-party in Bellevue to celebrate the show. A ton of old friends were there, including our old homies Edgar and Rodrigo from Everett and it was awesome to see everyone. Even some old friends from way back in Middle school came out (Julie, Mikey, Brenna and Amanda - it was totally awesome that u guys made it!)

Tonight - round 2. A little tired, but still stoked: we head to Bremerton, WA in 2 hours!! Keep bangin out there.. we definitely WILL!!

Before the Show

Just a few hours before check-in time at the El Corazon (Seattle). Kinda muggy today with some high clouds. Luckily no rain! Everyone's fired up. This show is gonna kick ass.

Before heading out, did some last minute prep, checked the vocals, loaded the equipment and made a quick round of calls to friends and fans.

Got a call from our original designer, Don Melendez to wish us support and to let us know he'll be at our show in Bremerton tomorrow. It'll be cool to sync back up with him - the originator of the CTC logo! Haha!

Gas - check, directions - check, ready to ROCK - CHECK!!