Every year I am working at the concerts of Emergenza and every time I am wondering why a band is making the choice to participate these concerts. The first thing I can imagine is that a band wants to play life on stage. After all, it doesn’t make any sense to form a band and not to perform life. Second thing to admit is that there is no organization like Emergenza that helps an unknown band to catch the eye of the international scene and introduce them in the world of professional music. At the same time a band has to be actively involved in the process of preparing the concerts, organizing the promotion, perfectionating the concerts, taking care together with the Emergenza staff of the technical side of the gigs, participating at meetings and so on. Nevertheless it seems to me like some bands only participate to “play a bit”. In this case it is useless and disappointing to participate at the contest. Putting it straight, in this festival it is possible for everyone to get on stage, have a gig and have fun. The reason why dozens of managers in Europe and Canada are working hard is to create relevant opportunities for “up and coming” musicians. They not ONLY wanted to give them a chance to have their fling on stage for 30 minutes in front of an audience. There is more! It goes further and deeper than the concert nights that many of you have seen around Europe and North America. The structure of Emergenza is the most important and efficient way in Europe and Canada to discover and promote new bands. In other words, I believe that the choice to participate the Emergenza festival presupposes a commitment to a certain goal. This goal can be a variety of items like: win the concert, get in the picture of producers and A&R, grow as a band through this experience or may be even convince the managers of Emergenza to put the band on the international scene of showcases! The well-known little concert in the pub or club, beside Emergenza, can be amusing but knows an end when it is over. A concert with Emergenza is an open window. It can be the first step to create other opportunities for the next days or weeks! As I said before, I have been watching hundreds of concerts. There is no band that will pass unnoticed. Most of the musicians don’t realize that during the meetings, the sound check, before, during and after the concert their side of human behavior is noticed and registrated by members of the organization. Well yes, the band that is not interested or concentrated on the project has the same chance as the band that cannot make any music or hasn’t any talent. Cynism or realism? Don’t ask me! Ask it the bands that, through Emergenza, are now involved in a professional career. Good chances for everybody. Keep on playing!