Toronto began it’s Second season of Emergenza this past Thursdaay January 15 at the Kathedral and all the bands participating set a very high standard for the other bands to come. Late Night Confession kicked off the festival with a high energy Emo-Punk performance. The Gears followed keeping things on the high energy tip with lead singer reminiscent of a young Iggy Pop. Freshsmoke gave us an entertaining jazz performance consisting of some great bass and guitar playing. Rick Temporao had great showmanship and kept the energy levels in the Kathedral very high. Shedd and Sale showed what it takes to be a great Hard Rock band. Minque entertained all the “Sexy People” with their melodic and moody set of tunes. And to close out the night Stud Puppy led by Big SXE gave the fans somethingworth sticking around for. Friday at the Kathedral kicked off where Thursday ended, with Heart and Stone picking up the Heavy Metal torch and doing it justice. Not to be intimidated was J’s Basement who had the fans screaming for more. Trole who had the limos waiting out front in true rock star fashion did the place justice with some real Rock N Roll. Pavlov’s Dogs showed us how music really is the universal language performing their entire set in Russian. PDQ traveled gave us some great melodies to go home to and Sharons Fate ended Friday the same as Thursday on a high note. Focal Point showed what being hungry is all about traveling from nearly 4 hours away to set the tone. Running Against Radar showed us Hard Rock is where it’s at for them and showed the crowd how to have a good time. Dickie also traveled a long way to show us what they had and gave exactly as advertised great Rock N Roll. City Folk, brought the City Folk and entertained with a soulful reggae performance. Foovana gave us a great tribute to two great bands covering Nirvana and the Foo Fighters. Bad weather aside and in true showbiz fashion the bands Sunday kept the show going, with Haze giving us a great artistic performance complete with a live painter and fireeater. Aviction have us some hard rock and Whaththefunk balanced us out with a great funk rock performance. Test Monkey unleashed their “Devil Monkey” on the crowd and there was no turning back. Anchoring Generation entertained with some great reggae and a sweet smell in the air. And the Cryogenics wrapped up the first weekend with their own brand of hiphop and kept that sweet smell in the air. Congratulations to all the bands who participated and congrats again to all our winners: Minque, Sale, Shedd, Stud Puppy, J’s Basement, Trole, Pavlov’s Dogs, R.A.R, City Folk, Focal Point, Aviction Whatthefunk and Cryogenics. For the winners see you in March and the rest of you see January 22 at the Kathedral. Click here for a complete schedule of the Festival, the concert dates & the order of bands playing each night.