First of all we must remind all the people in musicland out there, that Emergenza set foot for the first time in the land of the long white cloud and so the first ever NZ final was not only a new experience for us but a pleasant one as well. We ventured for the first time in Western Australia as well and precisely to the most populated, most isolated city in the world: Perth. Emergenza did, for the first time, go to sunny Perth as we said to see what the fuss was all about. A thriving music scene with a great tradition, after all Bon Scott from AC/DC was from Perth. The final was a great affair with nearly a thousand people cramming The Rosemount Hotel on Fitzgerald st. and 10 bands rocking the music thirsty punters. THE SIXTH EXTINCTION, THE CLOCK STRIKES, SIDEWALK DIAMONDS, FR8 TRAIN, AMONGST THE QUEER, OLD BOUGINVILLEA, REAPER’S RIDDLE, THE BIGNESS, AMBERDOWN and THE TYPHOONS were competing for a spot in the national final in Sydney. They gave us everything from hip hop to rock, from stoner to indie or funk. The technical prizes were given out by the jury to the best individual players. It was a tough decision but the results were unanimous. Best bass player went to The BIGNESS. Andrew received a Hagstrom bass guitar. Best drummer received Sabian Cymbals and it was the drummer from REAPER''S RIDDLE. The best guitarist award went to Nigel Watts of THE SIXTH EXTINCTION and he collected a Hagstrom custom made guitar. The band that flew to Sydney in the hope to go to the big one in Germany in 2009 was…. AMBERDOWN. Click here for results. http://www.emergenza.net/document/shows/schedule.asp?dett=yes&res=247 3 Days later and Emergenza was flying for the first time to New Zealad for yet another first ever final. On Sunday the 30th of November, we had a ball at The Kings Arms. It was a perfect setting for the Auckland final. Bands with all different musical background were playing out of their skin once again. MOLOKO VELLOCET,,ETHANOL 58, WEREFETUS, COMEUNDONE, DCYPHOR, ESHALON, WELL NO WAY and THE BENKA BORADOVSKY BORDELLO BAND were all competing for a spot at the Metro. Congratulations to WEREFETUS for having the best bass player on the night. Simon won the Hagstrom Bass. Best drummer went to the sladgehammer arms that was the guy from DCYPHOR, best Guitarist went to Ben Healy of ETHANOL 58 and best band went to MOLOKO VELLOCET. See results on the page here linked. http://www.emergenza.net/document/shows/schedule.asp?dett=yes&res=249 It was all go for us as we caught another plane back to OZ. Adelaide is commonly called the city of churches but there’s another place of worship in the South Australian capital: it’s called Fowler’s Live. This establishment has been for Many years the absolute best rock and roll venue within 1000 Kilometres (sorry, have to adapt Aussie measurements). THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, WYLDE THROE, THE JETPACK ESCAPEE SCENE, MUTUAL AGREEMENT, DIRT PLAYGROUND, A DEATH IN VENICE, FLIGHT 86, OCTANIC, THE FLOW, THE FUNKY SCUM RUMOR and WASTED ELEGANCE were the 11 bands competing. An odd number but still a perfect night of entertainment….and Fowler’s was the “biz”. On this mad Friday night the Guitar went to Daniel from OcCTANIC, the Cymbals to the very talented guy from THE FUNKY SCUM RUMO and the Hagstrom bass was collected by Joel Rasmussen of THE JETPACK ESCAPEE SCENE. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTt took best band from the jury and they flew to Sydney for the big one. http://www.emergenza.net/document/shows/schedule.asp?dett=yes&res=234 And so we were off to Melbourne, one of my favourite cities anywhere. This was our second year in the Victorian capital and we are more and more convinced that It may sound a cliché to most Australians that knew that but for us Europeans it is a pleasant discovery. This eclectic city offered all sorts of genres. Ska, funk, metal, pop and even cabaret style music. Billboard, The Venue was the club and these were the bands: FELIX GLADE, RHYMADA, SPARTACUS LEAGUE, CIRCUS KA