Holy blizzard Batman! My second week in a row of the Emergenza Fest here in Chicago and the snow keeps coming. This time it literally came down in buckets. So bad, in fact, that a plane slid off the runway at Midway Airport and ended up on the highway! Have no fear; Mother Nature can''t hold a candle to the angry old man that is Chi-town Rock! Weekend 3 kicked off here with some of the greatest teamwork I''ve ever seen at a local rock show. The band Johnny and the Blue Stone started the night off with some groovy rock and roll topped off with their gigantic, heavy organ. I didn''t lift the thing, but nearly half the participating musicians in the house helped lift it on and off stage. Bravo to the selflessness and overall comradery of the musicians involved. E''liss played second and will be hard rocking their way into the quarterfinals along with Lifes Other Side, a young group of screamo kids that took care of business with their attitude and stage presence. January Embers also played their own style of screamo. Great musicianship from both those groups of young musicians. K.O.C. held it down for the punk fans in the house, but ultimately Loaded and Bizarro owned the night. Loaded''s lead singer had the ladies in the crowd swooning and the band had the fellas in the crowd rockin hard. These guys can write some killer tunes. Bizarro capped off the night with their lead singer sporting a halter-top and eye makeup. As he hovered over the crowd with his foot on a stage monitor, I knew they''d be heading to the quarterfinals. A unique Celtic punk vibe started the night off on Friday, with The Closet Squatters impressing the masses. They''ll be joined in the quarterfinals by Setonas, Intelligent Dennis and Laz. With their great wardrobe and stage antics I can surely say Setonas is the definition of true Goth. Intelligent Dennis on the other hand played some indy sounding alt. progressive that was anchored by their talented guitar player and lead singer. If you like super funky grooves combined with hard rock, be sure to check out Laz in the quarters. Emo was the name of the game for One Man Crowd, but don''t let their name fool you. The crowd stuck around all night whether for the punk rock of Juicehead, the metal of Frayed End, or the trio of lovely ladies and the lonely male bass player that make up the Reptoids. I say Mother Nature…bring on the snow; it''s keeping our crowd comfy and snowed in here at the Note. Two words can sum up Saturday night at the Note this week…loud and crunchy. Between the metal of Aggressor, Oedipus Complex and Degradation, the hardcore of Fets and My Design, and the grungy garage rock of Plasma and FizGig2; there was plenty of distorted guitar and aggressive vocals to go around. Despite this, at the end of the night rap was king. Fast Life the Movement hip-hopped their way past to the next round. NYCO will join them led by their multi-instrumentalist front man who equally impressed the crowd on guitar and piano. Tied with NYCO, in votes, Oedipus Complex will also be going to the quarterfinals. At one point during Oedipus Complex''s set, their lead singer hurled himself off stage to sing in the crowd armed with a Sennheiser wireless mic. Degradation stayed on stage but still had the crowd head banging and hand raising with their teeth grinding tunes. Last but not least, Plasma in advancing with their sound reminiscent of old school Seattle grunge rock. Keep on rockin'' in the free world Chicago…and for Christ sake, don''t eat the yellow snow.