So this is the moment we''ve all been waiting for. The second to last final in Italy before the National final in MIlan and it was up to Rome to show their worth. It was up to PUMPKIN SEED to kick of the night. This 4 piece of young and energetic musicians has a good set with some low points throughout. Perhaps a bit more in the "tightening department" could have helped. as at times they seemed sloppy but it was wonderfully sloppy. Like young musicians should be. They had the crowd cheering for the whole set and chanting for more….especially when the singer took was interacting…..carry on kids! Another band with super young musicians…..as a foreigner in this city (and land for that matter) all I can think is that the kids around here are having fun starting bands. CAMP 23 took the stage like 5 perfect professionals. At times reminiscing of the 90''s pop bands, they take a lot from the British sound and make their own noise and sing in Italian. Once again, a band that perhaps needs some more tightening up but that''s the beauty about young bands…..well done. So far so good. The third band was actually the second to have a keyboard player. STOL ''N'' DRUM were less more mature musically. These 3 boys and 2 girls were a bit more simpler and technically a bit weaker. They did actually remind us a bit of the more cliche Italian sounding bands but not in their look which was strangely ok as they did have a good stage impact. Some hints of pop melodic parts in their songs with the drummer doing open hi hats rhythm but always going back to that simple imprint. Started well but went a bit weaker towards the end. All in all pretty good and so thought the jury as they qualified 9th place. The beauty of music is that despite trends and and fashions the songs will still remain. The reason why I say this is because when I saw these guys on stage I thought they were going to play something totally different and in stead they hit us in the face with a very excellent tunes. Despite what their simple stage image shows of them their original tunes were actually quite good. The drummer so good in fact he got "best drummer" on the night as voted by the jury. NEW SOUND EXPRESS were a confident band fronted by a good singer with energy, smiles and technique. Wonderfully good backing singing as well. RED LIGHTS CENTURY Had decent tunes for everybody to enjoy, Hand clapping and crowd interaction was part of the show and the main rule for this band it seemed. A tight set with good songs was delivered from the band fronted by a charming front man with good vocals. A true joy that the public got and gave back to the band. Also a positive note was the drummer who had excellent dinamics. OUT OF MASTER PLAN Boy and girl fronted band This is decent rock/pop. The sound, the tone, the attitude but perhaps they lacked a bit of balls. The front man came out guns blazing but the girl soon took over. Terrific vocals and a great piano playing from one of the guitarists. CIVICO 23:Progressive? pop? rock? what ever it was it was played masterfully. a mix of styles, sounds and arrangements. Wonderfully different. Maybe some of the public didn''t get it but these guys dared to play stuff that isn''t easy listening. Not simple and straight forward. Story telling through music is something that isn''t done anymore and these guys did it well. Songs of death, polits and trips….should I say more? simply off their heads…….in a wonderful way. Bravo! 5th place and best bass player on the night! UNCOVERED FOR REVENGE. in the style of ac/dc they ripped through a set with energy and catchy hooks. Very competent and well rehearsed musicians (let''s talk about the good guitarist) made this band a super professional unit. Songs about love added to the likeability for these 4 lads. Strong vocal that never lost any of the level throughout the set, made me think this band should be on some open air festival belting it out for the kids. TROPICAL RHAPSODY. Let''s rock!!!. a very tight 5 piece with a singer with a great voice. I also noticed (and all the people in the room as well) that the singer was trying to show the moves of a rockstar. I would give him 10 points there and then for the sheer cockiness. In his case it was either confidence or drunkenness. I couldn''t tell but on the low parts he sounded like Iggy Pop and that I really liked. Whatever. He managed a super tight set. But the band wasn''t just these things I mentioned. It was a bundle of energy rolled into 20 minutes of fun..Fun but with skills. So much skills in fact the lead Guitar player won the very gorgeous Marshall valve Amplifier!……to top that the band came second with only a handful of points less than the first so it was very, very close……let''s rock! LAS VEGAS TANGO A funny name for an equally fun band. An eclectic unit bit a double bass and violin, they were the first and only eclectic group of musicians. You can tell they have 70''s Italian influences in the vein of the marvelous Angelo Branduardi and that obviously goes with the look as well. As well as quirky and crazy arrangements they have a great visual impact and not only due to the instruments. They look like a fully fledged jazz combo that play those strange world festivals. Sound, clothes, haircuts and all…….sounds good. BLIND LINES are a rock band combining american sounding guitars with Italian singing. These well dressed Italian lads were supercharged from the beginning and let all the power blow from the word go. Rock they did and they also displayed the obvious technical skill that''s required to play such music. They did that with such ease it was a pleasure to watch these 4 lovely lunatics. A super powered sets with high energy level. The incredible singer got best singer and won the Shure microphone from the sponsors. Imagine driving your car at 100 miles an hour and getting a buzz from it…….that''s exactly how a lot of people felt. Including me and the judges who gave them 4th best band on the night. THE WAY. A keyboard player fronted band. Started off with a great pop tune with a good melodic hook. A 5 piece with enough confidence to be conniving. perhaps somebody should have told the bass player to tune up after the 1st song but this is part of what a live music event is all about. Good songs and a decent stage presence. Well done! HOG WILD. When they walked on stage they looked like some throwbacks from 1986 (and how very currant since "rock of ages" is at the cinema). They looked Americans with more hair spray than a new jersey salon. Make up, guitars and heavy sounds. Let''s rock! The singer wearing a cod piece with stars and stripes was a classic statement….they meant rock and roll….are we stuck in a time warp? no…it''s just fun and this type of fun never went away……Great singing with the help of a vocal effect and solid playing made this a thoroughly enjoying experience. So enjoyable that they got 3rd place. ATOSHI. 5 piece been together 15 years? yes, and you can tell….A good singer that perhaps didn''t show his full potential. You can tell he was good when he "opened up" in the high parts. Simple songs with simple arrangements are always the trick when entertaining but perhaps too much rhetoric between songs when explaining the "meaning" of them could have been spared. ROCK 118 A bit more effort was made for the stage presence. A singer with great energy and a competent band playing rock and roll. Obviously being lads in the mid 30''s made it possible to see why they were technically so good. Songs were straight forward and energetic but we sill lacked the killer tune. Regardless of that the main point was that the public got into it. They came 6th place from the jury voting so well fone! The next band was called APPLE DATES and quite frankly I was the only one not getting the meaning behind it (I was told later that it had something to do with girls and parties)…..simple pop rock with sing along tunes. very young and still intelligent enough to understand what the kids in front of the stage need…..sing along tunes to jump and down to. Singer was running out of breath sometimes but still made an effort in the energy department which is admirable. This admiration was shared by the judges and gave them 7th place. TURN OVER. A more acoustic sounding band. perhaps not as much energy as the last bunch of lads on stage before. £ guitarists….yes people, 3 guitarists. A strange mix of styles that spaced from rock to a slow almost country feel and then going back to straight forward rock. At one stage the singer picked up an acoustic guitar and played as well……That is the most guitars I''ve ever seen in a band. Ever. And you know what? it worked……as it did for the Jury as they voted them 8th best band on the night. A girl drummer singing "shoo wop shoo wop"…wonderful! THE BLENNIES were the last band on stage and in their simplicity they showed that they can be entertaining. Remeniscing of Vampire week-end and french surf bands from the 60''s they were wonderfully fresh and brilliant when using clean guitars It was up up these guys to make sure the judges were well and truly happy with the whole night. So happy in fact that at the end of the voting they had the highest marks. And so we wait for another 2 weeks for the Italian final in Milan to see if The Blennies will get a decent score from the main jury and go to Germany……CIAO!