Although most people stayed in due to the snow last week, the die hard music fans in Pittsburgh showed up to the 31st Street Pub to support the local bands during the first week of the Emergenza Festival. The 26 bands who played their hearts out last week and their fans all braved the snow and cold to make for a great 1st week of shows. It all started off Wednesday the 19th of January with a fantastic mix of styles and songs. Bands, such as Offshot, Improvise, Positive Influence, Where No Where Begins, Disasterpiece, Kingseed, The Just-Us League, and Fetus took the stage on night one of shows with an eclectic mix of styles. We heard everything from Metal and punk, to alternative rock and reggae-funk. Night two proved to be a success as well. Adrenaline, Lythem, and Ill Fated rocked out. Level SD entertained while spinning their guitars, doing backflips off stage, and stage diving. Big House Pete sucked in the crowd with their tongue and cheek lyrics accompanied by sick guitar and drum solos, while it was obvious that Step 11 had been playing together for a while. Friday night kicked off with extremely diverse sets from all the bands. Shatterstar, Black Tie Affair, Solar Hell, Burgandy Jerk, and Split Screen captured the audiences attention while Segue wowed the crowd with their very original style. They were like Metallica with a strong case of Jim Morrison. Face Down in High Water absolutely blew the doors off owner, Joel''s, 31st Street Pub with straight-up high energy rock ''n'' roll. The final night of shows was saturday. Everyone deserves a huge round of applause for this night, including the audience, simply for making it out to the bar. The weather was less than helpful saturday night and we lost 3 bands in the process, but it wound up being a great night regardless. The 16 year old trio known as Outlander opened up and had everyones attention as they absolutely went bananas on stage. Everyone should expect to see a lot more of these guys over the next few years. The Elderly, a 6 piece group of young high school guys are another band to keep an eye over time as well. The New Fiction, the only group with a couple of young ladies and two guys, rocked out later on and were really solid. Baghead also played that night and put on an impressive display of musicianship. This is another band to keep an eye in the local and national scene. Life''s Like This jammed out and finished off the night with a bang. Throughout the week we ran into bands with some real young guys; some bands that were a little "older"; some weather issues that prevented some bands from coming out all; and some bands that turned heads and grabbed the attention of the audience in a very powerful way. Overall, the first week of shows at the 31st Street Pub in Pittsburgh, PA can most definitely be called a success.