Our first-ever B.E.S.T. of Emergenza Showcase Tour was an absolute success! 3 days on the road on our snazzy yellow bus, some 1,300km under our belt. Our bums are quite sore and we all need major rest, but I bet all the bands wish they could be back on the road to play more shows. On Thursday night in Montreal, more than 400 people were present at the amazing Club Soda. LEAP, who will go to represent Canada at the International Acoustic Showcase in Paris this December) couldn’t have been a better choice to open the Tour. They set the bar for the others and showed the audience what being the BEST of Emergenza is all about. The much anticipated Ontario Winner, SLAVE TO THE SQUAREWAVE, lived up to the hype and even received a standing ovation from the stunned crowd. Local heroes BROKEN PICTURES put on a very solid performance for their many, many, enthralled fans. Grammy-nominated producer Robbie Finkel (Moist, Les Colocs, Cirque du Soleil’s Allegria) met with them for a long time after their performance. A good sign! The A&Rs showed up in numbers at Reverb in Toronto Friday night, making the long 650km treck along the 401 highway more than worth it. EMIL BULLS of Munich, Germany put on a great show and a Universal Canada representative had a long chat with them and their manager for a most probable distribution here and in the USA. DIRECT LINE, winner of the Montreal Final 2002, gave their best performance of the weekend and were spotted by EMI, who wants to see them again back in their home town as soon as possible. Direct Line serves up a very special blend of metal and hip hop, infused with a unexpected dose of salsa and island beats. Great stuff - maybe they will be traveling Europe soon? We must wait and see... SLAVE TO THE SQUAREWAVE gave a treat to their long-time fans by putting on a brand new show, with a whole new set of tunes – their brand new song “Spit On Me” is now everyone’s new favourite and introduced ska beats to their act with the infectious “Rebel”. Back on the road at much too early a time, we made it to Ottawa by 2PM. We wished we could have THE RUDE DUDES play at all the dates. The Dudes put on a wicked show at Barrymore’s in Ottawa Saturday night. They are just so funny and so full of energy - hooray for Ottawa’s coolest trash ska band! Local favorites LOVENBODYPARTS put on their best performance yet, sounding bigger and better than ever. The techno band is about to record a new album that better reflects their live performance, which includes a live guitar, congas and a styling MC. None of the bands was more pro throughout the Tour than Ottawa winner STONE MELODIES. They made new fans and some great connections in all three cities. Stone Melodies plays a dozen shows per month, and is now ready to slow things down a little to write new material and head back to the studio to record new material. ZEN, of Rome Italy, certainly had the best time in Canada and was most positively the band to get to most drooling girls in front of the stage. The Zen boys were so sad to leave Canada so soon – we will miss them too. Thanks also to SWORDFISH and BRAIN TOY, who put on a great show in their respective cities. All in all, a fantastic time! Many of the bands are already talking amongst themselves, hoping to hook up for other shows together. Better watch out for these bands coming back to a town near you real soon! www.braintoy.net www.brokenpicturesmusic.com www.directlineband.com www.emilbulls.de www.leaparea.com http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/567/swordfish_montreal.html www.lovenbodyparts.com www.squarewavemusic.com www.stonemelodies.com http://www.geocities.com/therudedudes www.thezenworld.com