Changing venues for the 2nd round of the competition, the Emergenza Festival took over Kola Note last night in a unique display of local talent.

Emergenza is a large music competition that runs throughout North America and Europe. This year 14,826 bands of all genres are competing at the local and regional levels for the chance to compete at the International Finals in Germany. In Canada, the festival is taking place in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. o­ne winner from each of the o­ntario and the Quebec regions will move o­n to compete in Germany.

Almost 200 bands competed in the first round of the festival.  Following the first round that field has been reduced to 125. Last night’s show marked the 13th group of 7-9 bands to compete for their chance to move o­n to the semifinals.

Open to all genres, the festival is a fantastic display of different styles of music.  Last nights performances included punk, alternative, electronic and pop rock as well as progressive metal and freak core, all in o­ne 4 hour extravaganza.  Each band was given 25 minutes to play either covers or original works. After each performance the audience was openly polled and the votes tallied. At the end of the evening the top three bands would move o­n.

Starting off the night with a set of intense electronic rock, Sex Oven, combined mellow breakdowns with forceful vocals and instrumentals.  Notably, Sex Oven does not have a drummer, but with the awesome use of synthesizers and recordings they didn’t seem to be missing a thing! Unfortunately the crowd was still slowly streaming in and o­nly a small crowd was able to enjoy the performance.

Second in the line up was So What?, a big band with a diverse make up and repertoire.Classifying themselves as pop rock they offered up a set featuring covers from the Cranberries, The White Strips and Christina Aguilera.  With strong female vocals, tight instrumentals and an enthusiastic performance by the band, So What? was nothing less than enjoyable and I am sure they would have had a larger crowd up and dancing in minutes.

Next up was an entirely unique hardcore experience presented by Live Wire.  Blending violin in with the usual instruments provided a fabulous change to the expected hardcore sound.  The powerful vocals remained but the musically tight group put out a highly rhythmical and very focused performance including o­ne purely instrumental piece that mesmerized fans.

Fourth we had Freakency with their elaborate stage show, matching outfits and of course the 6 foot penis!  Blending techno, punk, hard core and their own brand of freak into o­ne tight and original package, this band is the definition of interactive.  Band members played up the cameras and the stage act got the crowd involved with freshly made toast and feeling the love with the 6 foot Freakency penis.  Instrumentally impressive, with a variety of sound and visuals this band raised the energy of the night in a big way.

From freak show to high school, the fifth band of the night, The Sock Puppets, were alarmingly young at first sight.  Slightly older than they appeared, at 12, 17 and 17, these young men played a good set of original music and slightly obscure punk rock covers.  With impressive command of their instruments for their ages they had the still growing crowd up and moving.

Slowing things down a bit Clockwise Stereo offered up an excellent set of alternative rock.  Completely different from the other bands of the night this mellow-at-times performance displayed well controlled instrumentals, unique rhythms and tight vocals. Each of the instruments was well highlighted throughout the set and the band finished out with a more up tempo song showing their diversity. Clockwise Stereo was an enjoyable chance to breath and a welcome change late in the show.

Dressed in what could be considered a combination of gothic meets circus costumes, Bleak Eyce set out to entertain the audience with truly progressive metal.  Unexpected additions of operatic vocals, organ sounds, and nature soundtracks intertwined with their metal core for form a highly original and well developed sound.  Both visually and acoustically this band was reminiscent of a stunningly dark dream sequence from Cirque du Soleil. 

Finishing out the night with the largest crowd o­n the floor were The Reepeets, another young band.  Performing a set of mainly Red Hot Chili Peppers covers they had the crowd dancing along through the entire set.  The original songs were well done and covers were excellently performed both technically and especially performance wise.  Tossing out inside jokes and comments to the crowd they were entertaining throughout. 

At the end of the night the energy was at an all night high and the crowd waited anxiously as the votes were tallied and the results announced.  The bands moving o­n to the Semi finals to be held beginning in May at Club Soda will be Sock Puppets, Clockwise Stereo, and the winner of the 13th group, The Reepeets. Congratulations to all the bands!

The next second round contest will take place this tonight at Kola Note, corner of Park and Fairmount at 8 pm. Tickets are 12$ in advance, 18$ at the door.
For more information check out http://www.emergenza.net

Sex Oven
Ratman – bass
BooBoo – guitar
Flex – vocals

Set list:
Just a Couple
Pity
Shutdown
Sexcam

So What?
Sylvain – drums
Martin – bass
Mario – guitar
Bernard – guitar
Vanessa – vocals
Isabelle – vocals

Set List:
Zombie (Cranberries)
Like the way I do
Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
Promises ( Cranberries )
Lady Marmalade (Christina Aguilera)

The Live Wire
Mathieu – drums
Marc-Andre – bass
Sebastien – guitar and vocals
Francis – guitar and vocals
Julie – violin

Set List:
Grind It Down
The Final Act
Instrumental
Veteran

Freakency
Frak – electronic drums + programming
Dave – bass
Gilles – guitar + programming
Freakynat – vocals

Set List:
Butcher
Morbid Lullaby
Submission
Gothish
X30
Horror Show Room 66
Orgasmatron
Lili Fame

The Sock Puppets
Stephano – drums
Kevin – bass
T.J. – guitar + vocals

Set List:
Summer of 69 ( Brian Adams )
Jenny 867-5309
Understand
Carousel ( Blink 182 )
Lollypops and Profanity
Go
Never
I Love Rock N’Roll

Clockwise Stereo
Daniel – drums
Mario – bass + vocals
Luc – Guitar

Set List:
Tripping
Drop Dead
Anyone
Tolling Victim
Fun Time
Break the Seal

Black Eyce
[information not provided]

Set List :
Intro Clavier
Danse Macabre
Cheval de Troie
Petite Fille
Vincent
King Diamond

The Reepeets
Julian – drums
Alex – bass
Emmanuel – guitar
Martin – guitar + vocals

Set List:
Intro
Lithium
Stop
Purple Stain
Under the Bridge
Get What you Need
American Gentleman
Fire