Wednesday, October 25 Wednesday October 25th began the season with sound to spare. Nine count them, nine bands performed in the first evening of proceedings of the festival in Montreal at L’Alizé. Punk Rock guys AnotherDay proved that this wasn't just another day with their performance kicking of the opening night, riffing electric punk hooks and belting out a handful of songs. Down Von Day are the boys that have a practice spot on Von Day alas the reflecting name. Being young and melodious seemed to be their defining quality. Face First, alt-rock with a heavy feel had the audience casting their eyes on the stage and their hands in the air at the conclusion of their set. Funky Rock troupe Sunset Drivers had a full warm wholesome sound and really put on an excellent performance on a cool Wednesday night. Edelweiss turning on the heat and switching off the standby switch played with attitude and true Quebecois style. To the sound of chants and cheers Killroom kicked the ass of everyone not paying attention with female fronted assault and a cover of Rage against the machine to complete their set. The Hopes may have had a small support group in the venue but by their last song they had friends in us all… pop rock flavor. Leap followed up with another successful pop set and had people grooving wanting more. And then it happened: NateEscape stepped it up and infected everyone with the 70''s rock love, peaceful sweet rawk. Thursday, October 26 The second evening of the preliminary rounds was filled with anticipation after listening to sound checks. The first to christen the stage this evening, Ocean - hailing from Montreal - had clear sound and vocals. They may have been young but they successfully pulled of that Coldplay-esque feel. Veeto kept the audience intrigued with a four song dedicated to that thick garage rock tone. Tryoxide have a very refined sound, and it truly should be after 20 years together. Jazzy-fusion sound and really impressive style. Hard rockers appreciated the next band: Praesentia exposed their progressive metal style volume, volume, volume!!! Uprising Eternal and Incarnia both respectively stole the heavy metal title that night. A few technical problems didn't mar their performances. Both kept things spicy with tight breakdowns and sharp guitar riffs. Honorable mention goes to Triton for blending keyboard, violin and jazz flavored drumbeats. Test tube Jesus put their own twist on epic rock, applying solemn vocals to textured arrangements. Kudos goes to Mark for attempting the drum jump the blood left behind just a reminder of an excellent show. Friday, October 27 With the successors being an eventful Wednesday and Thursday evenings the ball could not be dropped for Fridays performances. All began with The Superstitions, being 12, 13, and 14 years old respectively it was impressive and inspiring to see these two young guys and one young lady lay down a mix of instrumentals, covers and originals. Special thanks to Cody the drummer for all of his energy that evening. Teens Fall Again took the stage briskly afterwards rocking through a set of good old punk rock. Being timid at first the lead vocalist loosened up to deliver a high paced set that the audience really fed off of. More advanced in the game of life, Gridbias followed to keep things running smoothly. Very talented band gave the older audience their take on rock and roll and their alternative sound meshed very well with the venue's ambience. Refrost was a 5-piece band with two vocalists: their energy was ridiculously high and their fan base completely took over the room. Crowd surfing and dirty street punk was exactly what some people needed. The Creamy Cucumbers may have looked innocent but they probably had the most infectiou