Final week of the first round -Emergenza Detroit- Rock and Roll on the Cass corridor! The first night saw a variety of music. The blues Band Hoodoophaz blew people away with the incredible voice of their lead singer and sweet grooves of their bass player. Perhaps the best stage presence came from the band Jonah--performing like rock stars--not in the pretentious “look at me” way--but in the “let’s all have fun” way-- with good music to back it up. Animal Chinz showed up with some great fan support. They got the most votes, but that had as much to do with their solid musicianship and quality song writing. Friday night at Alvin’s again showed a nice range of rock and roll. Atlas-7 grooved it out--the lead singer, during part of the set, playing his djembe full blast. South on 5 gave their own style of rock, pop and catchy, but still keeping a driving beat. Some heavy aggressive rock came from Brotherhood Junction, with their bass player providing clear harmonious vocals while jamming steady on the strings. The Robin Horlock Band mixed it up; some acoustic, some hard rocking, one song with an island sound--the keyboard player throwing in some nice steel drums. Saturday had a lower than usual turn out. Several of the bands couldn’t make it and some of the fans were preoccupied with the Michigan State Final Four basketball game. The decent sized crowd that did show partied down and had a fine time. Band Called Pharisee, a Best of Emergenza band who made to the National Finals in 2004, came in from Chicago as a special guest and they didn‘t disappoint, tearing it up for a bunch of newly-made Motor City fans. 47Uma, a 7-piece world beat band, provided a nice bridge between some of the heavier rocking groups like Stimulus and Fear Blind. One of the many highlights of the show was when Withagainst took the stage; a mix of John Spencer meets White Stripes meets good old punk. The lead singer/guitarist won over many, even encouraging participation by threatening to take off his clothes and stick his guitar up his... yeah, that’s right. The final night of the opening round drew a good crowd, especially for a Sunday. All of the bands sounded great and were all very professional. Writhing got everybody going out with their hard driving metal, extremely tight and extremely fast. The lead singer kept it loose with some funny commentary--thanking the other bands for bringing their girlfriends. Changing the drum set around for the left-handed drummer of Silverspork was well, well worth it. The southpaw knocked everybody out--sick double bass pedal, working the sticks like he was born with them. The Ghouls rounded out the largely hard rock show with some great punk, a few loyal fans moshing by the stage.