After the craziness of week 4, week 5 was a nice change of pace with the widest variety of styles we have seen so far in the festival at the Middle East. Amber Alert, Chillblane, The Underdogs, and Cash Money Medusa kicked off week 5 with some upbeat jams that got the festival week off on the right foot. The Highway took the stage and followed with some rock-jazz-indie-fusion. They were like an awesome spanish version of the Strokes. The Dying Season and Gutwrench rocked, while the 13 piece Soul-hip hop-funk group Soulfege not only had the largest band with the fastest changeover the Middle East has ever seen, but they got the whole room feeling their groove. Friday night Public and The Afterhour took the stage to play for a large crowd early in the night. The Murder Elite played a dynamic set with a eclectic style of jazzy-funk rock. I got solid beach boys vibe from their guitar riffs. Daylight, Fleshpetal, and Bettersweet had a huge crowd response while Obscurus ended the night with a solid set and a fantastic attitude. Saturday was a great night. The punk tunes of Green Acres started the night off. Piracy, the Rush-like tunes of Straight to Video, Audrey Can''t Die, and Push followed. The Matt Chase Group made the girls go crazy, while Pi Theta Pi and the ska-punk tunes of Plan 17 finished the night on a high note. We had yet another busy sunday night at the middle east as week 5 came to a close. The young guys of Alcott started the night off playing to a packed house early. Keep an eye on these guys; you''ll see a lot of them in the near future. Lifted took the stage with their hip-hop-soul-funk jams and won over some new fans for sure while Four Weeks From Friday and Session continued the night keeping the crowd happy. The unique power trio Left Hand Does wowed the audience with some solid, very full-sounding, straight-up rock ''n'' roll, while the jam band style of Mocean 8 impressed the crowd with their songwriting. Satellite 7 ended the night with some up beat indie rock tunes to close out week 5 of the first round at the Middle East. As we prepare for week 6, another solid week of shows has gone by bringing us that much closer to Paradise.