Zurich. Sunday evening. The club is nearby. We park the car and make a beeline straight for the entrance. It’s a cold night, very cold. We’re attacked by an icy wind, chilling us to the bone, and an onslaught of sleet so heavy that we’re covered from head to toe in snow in the matter of time it takes to park and get to the entrance. We head downstairs into the Dynamo, where the first phase of the Emergenza concerts is starting. The heat inside warms us up, and all traces of winter melt away as we are suddenly transported to another world where the weather is humid and balmy. Getting in is another story, seeing that there is a throng of people at the entrance. Once at the bar, the adventure really gets under way. A group of people have already set up camp round the bar, and they’re not budging. Like Stan Ridgeway would say in “A mission in life” - …….you got a mission in life, to hold out your hand. To help the other guy out, help your fellow man. That’s why I own this bar, they’re thirsty outside, I give ‘em oceans to drink, then they drown in the tide……And the girls behind the bar really know how to make a mission of it. They are able, with a good dose of playful spirit and knowledge, to create an orgasmic expectancy as people patiently wait for the sublime alcoholic “potions” better described as alcoholic bombs. The “Emergenza” cocktail, in fact, which is a potent concoction of some super-alcoholic substance, has already been identified by ONU inspectors as the “weed” that everyone has been after. We can only guess that this lethal weapon is soon going to be playing a part in the fate of the world. Despite the crowd of people at the bar, we’re able , without too much difficulty, to make our way into the show and suddenly we are overwhelmed by the refreshing music of a young group who we might describe as “back to the roots”, playing with complete disregard for typical contemporary rock and nu-metal. Obviously, the impulse to return to classic rock is strong, as we have recently seen quite a few young bands in England and the States that are going back to the origins of good ol’ rock ‘n’roll, bands like The Libertines, White Stripes, Strokes, B.R.D., etc…The audience seems to like them, and in fact, the band ends up qualifying for the next round of concerts at the Abart! Throughout the evening another five bands take their turns onstage, and even though they’re all musically diverse they are still able to get the crowd at the Dynamo riled up. But the show isn’t over yet, it seems that everybody is anxiously waiting for the last band. The group make their appearance right on time and proceed to bring down the house. No sweat and blood here – just simple harmonies and melodies with lyrics in Swiss slang, which literally makes the audience go wild. This group is also continuing on to the semi-finals at the Abart. That’s it for the concert. Time to review the situation with the local manager of the festival. Michele Siciliano lets us know that the preliminaries are over and now it’s on to the semi-finals in April at the Abart (April 8th, 9th, 10th, and 22nd, 23rd, 24th). During the last three years, Emergenza has really taken off in Switzerland thanks to the collaboration of promoters and the three hottest clubs in Zurich – the Dynamo, the Abart, and the Volkhaus. The local staff has agreed to merge the entire organization and with the patient support of technical partners like Jimmy, Chris (Sabian/Mapex), Martin (Sennheiser) and Scotch (Ampeg/Crate) the festival has been able to continue based on the standards given by central management. While the bands pack up and the audience gets ready to leave, Michele is congratulated for his work in presenting such an excellent show. He also tells us that a wide range of interesting bands playing electronic rock, trip-hop, reggae, and more will be onstage at the Abart in the semi-finals. There will be Swiss bands just returning from an explosi