Weekend 2 at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco started off with an exciting array of in-your-face rock and ended up as an all out heavy metal assault of the senses. Thursday night saw 5 bands hit the stage. One of the bands, DRIVE TIME, even ended up changing their name halfway through the set. From here forth they shall be known as 9th OF NEVER… and a great rock band with a nice punk edge. DRUNKEN PUBLIC had a super high energy set with some great vocal work, and superb drumming. BROWN SHOE''s set was a moody and mellow one that emerged from the speakers like a brown bear from a cave after a long winter''s nap. The high power artillery came out on Thurdsay as well with ANAURA hitting the stage guns blazing, and GUNS OF AUTUMN rounded out the night with some ska/punk influenced tunes. The first of many full-length coach buses hit the intersection of Polk and Clay on Friday. AROARAH pulled out all the stops and ripped through a high intensity set of girl powered rock. AS A PEOPLE had a bit more mellow thing going on, but impressive none the less. So impressive indeed, that we''ll be seeing them in round 2. THE RIGHTEOUS FISTS OF HARMONY rounded out our top 3 of the night with some good ol fashioned frontmanship, and super solid musicianship. ECHO OF SOULS had one of the strongest and best sounding sets of the night, with great vocals, and all around just a great band, with great tunes. FINE BY ME killed it on stage too, with a great guitar parts, and awesome presence on stage. The night full of rock had a special treat in store towards the end… KING WAWA AND THE ONENESS KINGDOM BAND had an amazing reggae influenced world beat sound with some great vocal harmonies, and all killer instumentation. With the 1st half of the weekend out of the way, Saturday and Sunday rolled through like a freight train. Saturday night''s stand-out act was INNOCENCE. It''s sometimes hard to stand out from the crowd in the word of heavy metal, but with a frontman leading the way froma customized podium, and killer players backing him up, it would be hard not to stand out. AMOTUS was a touch out of place on a mostly harder night, but held it down with superb tunes and a great package of musicianship and vocal abilities. OF SECRETS wowed the crowd, and last minute addition FLAILING DOWN from none other than Fresno, CA, had an impressive amount of originality to their sound. Incorporating keys, a sick drummer, and well-written tunes proved to be the right combination to get them on to round 2 in San Francisco. MIND FURNACE had a killer thrash metal set, and MANIACAL hit the stage hard with their heavy sound. INRUIN used some very unorthodox methods to intrigue the audience with a sampler and vocal effects that were very impressive indeed. The last band of the night brought metal back to the homeland of Germany with a retro sounds that should not be missed. Check out BLITZENHAMER for a taste of bratwurst and Beck''s. On the final night of weekend two, the band ALL AGES came out on top with a great poppy alternative sound laden with keys and samples and all around kick ass high energy songs. I think we''ll probably be seeing plenty of them around town. CHRONIC NARCOSIS had a much heavier sound, as did most of the bands that night. (PAR'' E DIM SHIFT) came a long way to represent Sactown and walk away with a spot in the quarterfinal, and AMOROUS rounded out the top 3 of the night with a great performance. BAJO PRESION threw a little espanol into their metal, and GLYPTIC had a great melodic metal sound. Highlight of the night though had to be BURN.HEAL.SCAR. Don''t let the name fool you, this was hands down one of the most fun performances of the festival so far. The name might suggest something a little more evil, but their set was full of in sync guitar waving, and a heartfelt salute to the rainbow of pain. You''ll have to check out one of their shows to get the in on that one. These guys are super good players<