Sunday September 14 and Monday September 15 saw the final 2 elimination rounds in what has been an amazing season so far for Melbourne, the music capital of Australia. With a change of venue to the infamous Esplanade Hotel (ESPY) the vibe was all set for a great 2 nights and a fitting finish to Melbourne’s 15 nights of eliminations. Sunday saw blue skies, as many a beer was consumed by punters and bands alike in the court yard, as one at a time the bands wandered into the basement bar for sound check, appearing equally impressed and excited as they watched the other bands get ready for what looked certain to be a rocking evening. The bar played host to over 200 punters, which is pretty much a sardine situation in this room, as A Good Excuse for a Revolution, who came all the way from Geelong (with a bus load of fans!) opened the night’s proceedings in ripping fashion. Up next were Blazing Sanctuary followed by Better than Wizards who both put on a fantastic show, before Empire took the stage, equipped with earth shattering guitar riffs, some seriously big sounding backing tracks and one of the best looking fan bases we’ve seen so far. Dogs in Zen put on an impressive rock performance before the chili pepper-esq styling of Electric Vishnu had the room pumping. Impact Driver rounded out the night with an impressive display of garage metal. A brilliant night of music at a very high standard saw 5 bands moving thought to the semi finals, with a tie for both first and third place. Monday saw a typical Melbourne weather change with gale forced winds charging up the Esplanade all afternoon, it was a far cry from the gorgeous spring Sunday we’d just experienced. With a slightly shorter bill on Monday generally a little more difficult on the first night of the week combined with the storm it was always going be a little quieter, however it was also going to be very interesting with this bill containing hip hop, indie, experimental improvisation, folk music and hard rock… and interesting it was! Hey Fever were clear winners on the night with a great performance and some very catchy tunes, a big future lies a head for these boys as it was only their forth gig. Flats and the Friendly Few, Constant Congress and Crash and Burn are all also moving through to the next round after very sold performances, and are all groups to keep an eye out for in the coming months. Stay tuned for more as the weather heats up and so does the competition down under.