Milwaukee musicians and fans alike, like a properly concocted James Bond martini, were shaken, not stirred, by the last two weekends of first round Emergenza action at Vnuk''s Lounge. With snapped guitar and bass strings strewn about the stage, cymbal stands taking spills and drum sticks splintered into crude sawdust, one thing was perfectly clear: Emergenza Milwaukee had hit its stride and had led local fans into a feverish frenzy of festival furor. The second half of the first round started in a bizarre but beautiful fashion: two bands with equal votes, Shyone and Forth Effect, tying each other on a night of razor-thin vote margins and joining Myself Alone, Fractured and Cobalt Fur in the winner''s circle. The intrigue continued as Friday night brought the diversity of punk rockers, The Gas Rats, as well as the indie and alternative rock allure from bands Veracity, Lockwood and Strange Land. It was Saturday, February 12th, however, that perhaps presented the most interesting of evenings. The classic grunge talents of Anura started the night in the right direction. Their decidedly catchy tune, “It''s Lonely Time Again” had the audience, bands and staff altogether duped. The question of the night around Vnuk''s inquired exactly what song were these lads covering? This delectable morsel of music was far too fetching to be an original… when the news hit that “It''s Lonely Time Again” was a true blue, bona fide Anura creation, astonished admiration ran the night amok. The evening continued with the captivating sounds of one of the most unique bands in Brew City: American Death. Nearly drowning in their own humility, the selfless band''s undeniable singularity captured the apt attention of the enlivened Saturday crowd and previously unsuspecting concert goers were treated to a blend of punk and country like no other. Rallying the crowd behind their unique flare, American Death snatched victory from the flames of defeat and secured a place in the night second only to their predecessors, Anura. As the clock approached midnight (or, as I like to call it, jazz noon), the surprises kept coming as surf-rock band The Suspirios donned black eye masks and treated the already highly-entertained crowd with their playful riffs and Los Straitjackets appeal. Sunday''s show closed off an energetic weekend with the spirited stylings of Avantrock and Special Blend, combined with the omnipresent hard rock of Von Din, Scurvy and SLM. After a one week Emergenza hiatus, Milwaukee metal bands opened the intrigue with a steady diet of metal, metal and more metal-indeed, last Thursday night in Milwaukee there was so much metal being dished out, I was genuinely afraid I would have had trouble making it through airport security the following Monday on my way to Pittsburgh. Still, growling bands and grizzly fans of the likes of Underthreat, Demeto Nocturnum and Sauder were warm to welcome the acoustic outsider Matthew Haeffel to the night''s lineup. As with several previous nights, by the time the last beer had been poured and the final cigarette lit in the seasoned walls of Vnuk''s, one band in particular stood out among the others and this time it was Elatia. If uniformity was the theme of the night prior, quite the opposite held true for Friday''s lineup of music. Show goers were appropriately amused by the authenticity and clear talent of bands such as Shoe, Naych and Hat Trick while wooed by the genuine punk rock of Commercial Kid. The band of the evening, indeed the band with the most Milwaukee votes thus far was Ultra Magnus-a hard working group whose music found the pleasure of 116 patrons. Still, the evening was nearly stolen outright by the captivating Showdown Band, featuring Tony TNT. Tony worked his yellow-corded microphone the way the rest of the band worked the crowed-in whimsical confidence and with a groove and grind that made even the pastiest of wallflowers induced into dance. Ska reigned on Saturday as youthful band, Catch of t