Two days of semi final shows goes off with one freaky Friday and some fourplay. Friday night Café Dekcuf hosted the first evening of this seasons semi final round in Ottawa. Eight bands took the stage on what was to become one of the hottest nights in a tiny club this season in Ottawa. First Chosen led the pack with some scrambled pop-punk artistry placing the fist marks on the wall for the night to come. Alloyed have a mean type of rock sound and some impressive guitar work to boot, to boot you in the ass that is! Next on stage we found Aggressor with Bob heading up the metal troupe the venue began to feel its size as the audience rubbed shoulders to rock out. The Autumn seemed a little misplaced after the metal set but gently held their own in an alt-rock turnaround that hurried in the second half of the night. Third Eye, francophone 3 piece instrumental talents that they are, had the entire club on their feet at the end of their set. The air was dense with pure and simple rock music. Symphony In The Stairwell had only to be listened to once to realize these guys write some crazy stuff lyrically speaking. A strong rock band that was rewarded with the first bra of the weekend being cast upon the little stage. Tomorrows Downfall have an impressive mix of lyrics, musical talent, and energy packed into a tight cluster. Euphorium probably the most raw band of the night rounded out the Friday experience with a taste of their own take on metal and grunge. Saturday night brought just four bands downtown to Rideau Street. Harmonic Distortion began things with male powered, female fronted rock. Quick and straight to the point. Pysiedius have phenomenal guitar players and define what I think will be called “math metal” for all intents and purposes, calculated and at 250 kilometers an hour. They happen to be looking for a vocalist who can keep up and belt out guttural lyrics while they wildly flail fingertips. Alyss brought madness to life with their theatrical antics, retro and progressive styled songs and had a cluster of the audience dancing wildly posthaste. Agwanti are another instrumental band that is thrilling to listen to. An absolute musical groovefest with these guys it’s a shame there wasn’t an innumerable audience to truly appreciate their incredible style.