With loads of prizes and a trip to the Taubertal Festival on the line, 14 bands brought their absolute best to Atlanta''s Earthlink Live on Saturday, June 25th. In my first trip to Atlanta in about three years, I''m left wandering where have I been and what have I been doing all this time. With every style of music possible, except for country because I don''t personally recognize it as music, this was the best Emergenza Festival Show that I was fortunate enough to attend this season. The night was kicked off by a group of energetic kids called CRUMBLING ARCHES that got the party started off right. They were followed by a fantastic funk group by the name of ENTROPY that had keyboards and saxophones mixing brilliantly with the rhythm section and had the entire crowd on their feet dancing. As for the most adventurous band of the night, you know how when some groups perform, people carry on conversations as if the show is background noise. Not the case with this band. When SOVUS RADIO took the stage, there was not an ear in the house immune to the sounds that penetrated the minds of the mass of people. The next group, GBANJAH, was one of the highlights of the night as they took home the Best Sound &Visual Award, given out by the staff of Emergenza. A terrific R&B group, these guys had the crowd grooving for every minute of their set and their front man, who bears the same name as the group, won the Best Singer Award. The band with the distinction of being the hardest band of the night, DEAD FRYDAY ripped through their set with powerful guitars and even more powerful presence on stage. After the heavy stuff, the crowd was all worked up, sweaty and dirty, and when SLY WILLIE DOWN took the stage, they took the crowd up another notch and put on a terrific show. The 8th place band, THE CYPHER CELL, had the most unique sound of the night, mixing electronic drum tracks, with live beats that drove the energy level in their music to another place the other bands didn''t reach. With morphing guitars sounds and great licks, Jimmy walked away with the Axis guitar from Ernie Ball for The 2nd Best Guitarist of the night. Great songs and a good singer, added to the already mentioned attributes, made them a blast to see. The 7th place band was called FERVOR, and these guys had some of the best songs of the night. The arrangement of the instrumentation was nice and the singers'' vocals are captivating. A little calm on stage, these guys are a terrific band to listen to and a group to appreciate. NARANJA TANG took 6th place on the night but may have had the largest crowd in the club. The MC on stage had to wait about 10 minutes for the crowd to calm down before he could say anything and they continued screaming and cheering for another five after he said their name again. These guys were fun and put on an entertaining set that everyone enjoyed. They were the perfect band of the fourteen to end the party on a high note. Coming in 5th was IDE. These boys, if you haven''t been keeping up with all of the finals in the US, are from Nashville TN and had to do a lot of work to get to Atlanta. They fought through all the bands in Nashville and emerged as the one chosen to move on and represent Music City, USA. Then they traveled to Memphis, also known for its musical history, and stood out from the competition taking the top prize and earning a spot in the National Final. Along the way, they picked up some prizes and got a slot on the Emergenza US compilation disc. If there was giving away a prize for the best songwriters, well lets just say, they wouldn''t have to put many letters of the plaque. In 4th place was a band with a very similar story from Orlando FL named the ED SELF BAND. They beat out everyone in their hometown, then won out at the Regional Final in Tampa to get the opportunity to move on to the National Final. One of the most versatile bands in the competition, these guys change up their styles an