It was the debut of Emergenza''s International Rock Competition in Columbia South Carolina this past weekend and the shows turned out to be quite a success. As Winter set in on the sunny south, rock bands from all around warmed up the weekend with some pretty hot sets. Thursday night kicked off the first annual Emergenza events at the New Brookland Tavern to a rockin'' start. Omega Theory set the bar high with their intense solos and some black eyeliner. Jemani then took the stage with some hardcore rock with a hip hop twist. Don''t be scared of the fangs or the sword the lead singer pulled out and stabbed into the stage at the end of his set, it was all just part of the show! On By Seven followed with some good ole'' rock-n-roll while Meridian and Maycomb awaited to storm the stage with a lot of energy and passion. Cities Apart got the crowd going when they took the stage on Thursday and had everyone gettin'' down. Killeen followed with a great stage presence and feisty lix. Primo Noctis closed out the evening to a roaring crowd and screaming vocals. WHAT A NIGHT!! Friday night was another example of a great night for rock. Hollywood welcomed South Carolinians to California with rock that captured the audience. Long Street, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, followed with a great presence and attitude. Naphtali Sangreal wasn''t necessarily the act everyone expected him to be, but was quite entertaining despite the fact that his only instruments were a kiddie keyboard and an acoustic guitar. Hugo, from Monks Corner, took the mood back to one of rock with a very high energy performance. Minus one microphone stand later, The Letter Red landed on stage to show us what a true rock performance is supposed to be like. Saturday took all by surprise with an array of incredibly tight musicians and different genres of rock. Midnight Train opened the evening true to Carolina with some foot stompin'' southern rock. Their rendition of Free Bird had the audience go wild as they closed out their set. Knowface followed with an excellent example of metal. Veara, of Augusta, GA featured the only female drummer of the entire weekend, and she was AWESOME. Lindy Dobbins and the Red Velvet Manxx followed with the only female vocalist of the evening. They truely swept the audience away with songs like "Contact High" and "Paint it in Black". Just when you thought things couldn''t possibly get any better, Deezy Slim took the stage with their funky jazzy hip-hop ensemble and blew the audience away. Every eyeball in the room focused on them and the response was the loudest I had seen all weekend. You can keep an eye out for Deezy Slim''s video, "Shake it Like a Pit Bull" on BET. Mind Your Head then took the stage and brought everyone back into the rock groove. Chasing August closed out the evening with a very high energy performance featuring a little stand-up comedy as well. LOOK OUT NASHVILLE!!! Sunday rolled around and completed Columbia''s first weekend with Emergenza Music Festival. Division By Zero opened the evening with excellent vocals and intense rock. Seven Stories Down followed with a quite entertaining punk rock performance. Movin'' South moved the audience with rockin'' originals such as "Funky Lady." Sunnyblunder, of Greenwood, followed with a great stage presence and strong vocals. Last Hour kicked off the last hour of Emergenza elimination rounds in Columbia with intense drum beats and solos. Just R Luck closed out the evening with some of the best pop/punk all weekend and just like that, the weekend was over. Without the help of local photographer, Jennifer Lopez, none of the weekend would have been captured. Check out some of her photos on Emergenza.net and be sure to keep an eye out for all of the great bands that performed this weekend at the New Bro. (photo courtesy of Jennifer Lopez)