Here it is! All the bands, one by one, reviewed by yours truly. Brace yourselves...Let's go!

My job as a reviewer isn't always a breeze. I know, you may say: «but he gets to fly around the world and watch cool bands and drink!»......well it's true partly but I have to keep farely straight if I want to be objective so here we go...

Lucha Libre
4 young guys who are actually a breath of fresh air. 2 guitars, bass and drums. A classic rock set up for this well balanced band who make arrangements their strong point. The singer has a bit of room for imprevement but generally this is a band that have good songs. Like most young bands they exceed in energy and that is a positive note. Overall it's a decent performance and the crowd enjoyed this set.

Calais
A French name, a British sound and the cool look of Scandinavian musicians all mixed together. A really cool band and they know it. Too cocky maybe but Cocky is good. Cocky means attitude. The songs and the performance are both there. The singer is actually really good and the rest of the band is as well. Quite the competent unit. A good band and a great prospect. Somebody should pick the up.

Soula
Good riffs and good energy especially good in the arrangement department. In my opinion the woman fronting the band did actually do good in «starting well and going better». A crescendo that was probably dictated by the fact that she didn't warm up prior to the performance but you could tell her professional approach and she did brilliantly. The judges were over the moon with this group. A tight, well reahearsed band with great songs. Up to now, out of the 3, this is the best we've seen so far. Very, very good.

Making Progress
The kids are the youngest tonight and we can feel it. Lots of energy on stage and the singer looks the part. You can feel his energy coming through when he sings the high notes with the screams. The songs are goodand we can hear some good elelments of «well thought arranegements» in there. The ideas are all there, they just need to come out with more experience. That's all. Sometimes grunge, sometime hard rock in the constant search for the right melodies these lads are good. The drum and bass solos were good features in this solid performance.

Mo's Religion
This band is competent with expert musicians. Given their age it's an obvious principle. A really good female singer (quite sexy I heard somebody say over my shoulder) and old school in approach. This is how we do it old school. Rock and roll done properly, the hard way. Quite normal really considering the age of the band members but not always true in some cases. They are proof that old school is best schoool. At the end of the day they are a really pleasant band to watch and listen to. Great performance.

Cold Vengeance
The ever present metal band is here. They have experience and a cohesive «feel». The guitarist actually feels more like a blues guitarist who happens to play in a metal band....and that's exactly the good point. He's good and the band is convincing. Solid drums and a good bass player copletes this strong, hard rocking unit. They may play stuff that we already heard but I am in favour of Metal sounding bands like these.... Thank god we still have heavy metal in a world infected with Justin Bieber.


Classic Nawu
Here they are. Your classic hip hop band. You must have a good rhythm section or don't even think about rap. So, a good bass player, a decent drummer and 3 guys rapping who are so cool that Ice cold would not be enough (ok, the Outkast reference is there.. don't hit me) is all into place. This is a good one and the crowd knows it. I've seen 3000 great hip hop bands in Paris (I won't mention even the States and the UK) but this one here is pretty good. I would even go as far as saying better. People are excited to see them, they make young and old dance and they are a breath of fresh air for the evening considering rock is the norm. Cool? Yes. Good? Yes. As long as this crowd enjoys the show we are right behind them.....Amazing!

Locked Soul
Powerful trio of old boys that do old style rock with fat guitar and bass sounds. All 3 with enough make up to make Kiss seem like a bunch of amateurs. Songs that reminded me of Bowie around Hunky Dory period mixed with Supertramp melodies. Great songs and good tones. These guys know a thing or two about amplifier set ups. They are competent players and they seem to live in their own world of rock and roll. They unselfishly give us that world and we suck it all up. They are polite and quite well mannered in approaching the public, something you don't see in all bands. They are very good. Any takers?

Regular Gonzales
It's rockabilly time! Quiffs and grease 50's style. Double bass and enough groove to sell at the local market. The singer even had the 50's style microphone for show. He looked like Elvis on a good day (before the fat las vegas period). A real show. A good show. The crowd was dancing and enjoying this rock and roll set. They do it rockabilly style and they do it well. Not another of those Straycat clones but the real deal. These guys are incredibly good! I'm telling you.....don't miss them. Go see regular Gonzales wherever they play. It would be a crime to miss them!


Brachio Radicals
Quite rock but couldn't put my finger on them. This is a rock band that had the hard task of closing off the night and did a realy good job of doing that. Real character and something new to say in the world of r&r. I love doing reviews like these if the bands are so good.......I wanted to say something bad and pick on the bands but I couldn't even if I tried. This is the joys of my job I suppose. Quite the substance and good songs here. Well done guys. Excellent send off.


The evening closes and the winner is announced: SOULA! They will go to Sydney on the 15th of December and will represent Queensland playing at the world famous Metro Theatre at the national final. Second placed were Classic Nawu and third placing went to Locked Soul. Thanks to all the bands, thanks to the judges but most of all thanks to the crowd who made it really special.

If it wasn't for them these band would be playing to an empty room. You are the reason why they are so «pumped» to play on stage. The reason why us at the Émergence festival do this: normal.

See you all in Sydney!