When Ames rockers Sweet Afton got word that they would be playing with My Chemical Romance and The Used on a stage in front of thousands, they reveled in their success the only way they knew how.

“We couldn’t stop laughing. We’re going to be playing with these guys? It’s insane,” says lead vocalist and guitarist Seth Hoveland.

The Taste of Chaos Tour is a potpourri of some of the biggest rock acts the spring has to offer, and Sweet Afton finds itself ready to breathe in the experience.

Coupled with an all-access pass, it’ll be able to hang out with the bands and get treated like it were a road-worn veteran itself. Moreover, it’ll be looking to the bands for touring advice, Hoveland says.

“Hopefully, we can get some tips on being a band in general,” says Hoveland, senior in liberal arts and sciences-open option.

Oddly enough, the band’s place on the tour was through very little effort of its own. Thanks to some followers, Hoveland says, it was entered into a contest on MySpace.com, a Web site used by fans of the indie rock community. The winning band in each state of the tour gets an opportunity to play on the much-publicized tour.

“We didn’t even know about it until three days before it was over, and those last three days we campaigned like hell,” Hoveland says.

Not bad for a band that formed back in November.

“That was part of the surprise, considering we’ve been around for just four months and here we are playing for The Used and My Chemical Romance,” Hoveland says.

The real challenge for Sweet Afton, however, will be to stick out like a sore thumb when the entire tour is swollen with big names.

Sweet Afton is keeping modest, Hoveland says, and it is setting its sights on earning new fans and getting the word out. When it does grace the stage, it plans to do it with some panache, he says.

“We’ve decided as a band that image does count,” Hoveland says. “Some bands like to think that it doesn’t, but if you’re up there and you look like some guys who just came off the street, I think that makes a difference.”

The band hopes one of its new fans from the show is a record executive, securing it a contact within the industry.

Contacts are crucial to finding a record label, Hoveland says, given that labels throw out any unsolicited mail.

“With being a new band, it’s all about who you know and who knows you,” Hoveland says.

Even if stardom proves to be out of his reach, Hoveland says he is looking toward the sun.

“It is good leverage to be a band in Iowa that played with these bands. I think this is going to open up some doors for us,” Hoveland says.