This weekend brought out the best and brightest talent that Tampa had to offer for the final preliminary Emergenza round. Some new and some returning once again this year to stake there claim for the title of Best in Tampa. Despite torrential rains and one big sad game, fans came out and enjoyed so good old’ fashioned Rock and Roll. Thursday night’s top performers were the boys of Deshrived. They came out to all the shows last year, studied the competition and practiced like mad in the off season. And it showed. Playing a set of tight metal, they have vastly improved from the 2005 season. They will continue on to play at the Boiler Room in the Semi’s. Joining them will be a new band called The Seed. Blending metal and rock look for them to improve before the next round. In the true spirit of Emergenza, Chimotherapy played there first set ever of live Electronica to the delight of there dancing fans. All kinds of music were present on this evening. Anastasis also claimed a semi spot with great hooks, and catchy melody’s. Nothing brought their form of industrial metal complete with the Stompesque beating of a 50 gallon oil can. Though not winning on Thursday their performance warranted them to receive one of the coveted wild card slots. KillRoy had to fight through a broken string and some other tech problems, but still were able to play 3 of the best songs of the night. Never Project and Nomyo opened and closed the show with hard rock and some metal, just missing out on the Semi’s. But keep an eye out for them in the year to come. Heavy rock was the rule on Friday night at the Orpheum. The Blood Between, made great use of the wireless units, and played well for only having 3 days notice. St. Valentines Massacre was very well polished and looked like they had been playing for years. Their devoted fans stood at attention with hands raised, moving them on to the semi’s. Following them was the Primitive Astronauts. With a sound akin to System of A Down, look for them to continue to make lots of noise in Tampa in the coming year. At Heart played great hardcore breakdowns and had kids hitting each other through out the set. They will defiantly be back again for the Semi’s. Make sure you bring your band-aids to that one. Opening the evening was a promising set from Broken Chevalet. This female fronted threesome played well and will keep the kids a rockin’ next time around. Saturday at the Orpheum is always left to the youth. With out fail, some of the best musicians are always the youngest. Taking the top two slots were bands with no members over the age of 16. Six Bullet took first with a chant of “We are the Robots, You are The Slaves” that still haunts me at night. Second place went to Right Split playing straight up rock and roll. The lead guitarist put all others to shame and not many could believe this 12 year old had only been playing for 2 years. Punk was also present, complete with the mandatory Ramones cover, thanks to Consolidated. They managed no less than 15 songs in a 25 minute set. Linda Vista’s version of Screamo was a favorite with the ladies who were front and center for the whole set. A bright spot of the night came was Neveah. This young troop traveled over an hour and a half to entertain the Orpheum. The sported a harmonica player, baritone horn, and whole bunch of heart. Their dance friendly set landed them a spot in the semis. The wild card of the night went to the fully female Corsets. Still a little light on playing ability they will only improve when we hit the Semi’s in March. The Sophomore Effort and So She Says both played great sets but unfortunately will not be moving on this time. They are defiantly worth checking out though if you get a chance in the future. Though a dismal performance on the field in Detroit, there was a host of action on the main stage Sunday for our final day of preliminary shows in Tampa. The stand outs were The Hat Trick<