The first of three rounds of the Emergenza Festival kicked off on a Tuesday night in late January at The Velvet Lounge. Seven bands played that night, four of whom would move on to the next round. In all, about 100 bands played during the first round. Each night, half of the bands would move to the next round. The crowd chose which bands move to the second round of the Emergenza Festival. When the people from Emergenza approached us at Chuck''s (WMC) about being a major sponsor for the Emergenza Festival in the Summer of 2003, we jumped at the opportunity. WMC has always looked for ways to show our gratitude to our customers and show our love for our music community. For myself, it was a great honor to be asked by the people at Emergenza to be the Master of Ceremonies for the festival. I''ve worked at WMC for nine years, and I''ve built great relationships with a lot of local musicians who have invited me to many shows. So being an MC for a major music festival showcasing some of our areas finest musicians and performers was not only a great opportunity for me to see and hear some great music, it was also a way for me to keep up with some long overdue promises. Being a Washington DC native, I have experienced many concerts at The Velvet Lounge, located in the heart of downtown DC on U Street. Its a small club: two levels, a bar downstairs, with local music usually playing through the house system, and the concert stage upstairs. For years, its been the club to visit if you wanted to check out local up-and-coming musical artists. And musicians know that if you are just starting a band, The Velvet Lounge was the place to go to get a good gig. Bands from all over the US like to hook up with bands in the Washington Metropolitan area for a choice opening slot at the Velvet. They know they will get an excellent sounding show, great support from the other bands and the club personnel, and most of all, an excellent crowd. There were lots of highlights each night. The bands Papashake, and Devine Nature pumped up the night and got the crowd dancing with their electric funk rock sound, while the group AJQ presented more proof to the crowd that jazz is still alive and well in the DC area, and its not confined to high-priced, jazz-only clubs. The band Misalaneeosseeds, with their raw and powerful energy, brought back old memories of another DC native band, Bad Brains. Audiofix blended old school jazz/fusion with today''s hip-hop (with a scratchin'' DJ) and put on one the most memorable, and creative performances I''ve witnessed. The a capella group, The Swingsations introduced a rather young crowd to an R&B doo-wop sound, and were very well received. And after years of having the members as customers, I finally got to see Catch-A-Fire play. After each band played their 25-minute set, I would walk on the stage and ask for a show of hands (and a lot of noise) if they thought that the band they had just heard deserved to move on. The votes were counted by several representatives of Emergenza who were located in several places in the club. After each voting, they would get together to make sure that their counts were all accurate. At the end of the night, I would present the results, which was the hardest part of the entire evening. Every band that night, and throughout the whole first round of the festival, was spectacular! Due to some extremely close votes, any of them could have moved on to the next round. Although some bands had only been together for a few months, and some have been a staple in the DC music scene for years, they all came out and gave 100% to the audience. Most of all, they showed a ton of gratitude. They were thankful for the opportunity to play the Velvet Lounge, and happy to play in a crowd they''ve never seen before, with bands they just met that evening. Music styles never mattered. One night had reggae, hip-hop, heavy metal, and the unofficial sound of DC, go-go music. Another night had country music,<