After 12 nights at the Double Door in Chicago I got a few things to say about momentum. If you were so lucky to share a night at the club during the Emergenza Semifinals you too would be able to feel what’s happening amongst the Chicago local scene. We started with 97 bands of all shades, styles, attitudes and motivation. 97 bands that wanted to raise the bar for themselves with a chance to move the Emergenza Chicago Finals at the Metro on June the 5th. I’ve seem a lot of nerves get turned into sincere music. Acoustic guitars, piercing distortion, smooth ballads, rock anthems and more, none the less sincere. Through their music, bands like Collapse, Dedkor and Innerchains made it clear that they were ready to kick your teeth down your throat in the drop of a hat. (In a very sincere way of course) Stellar Road, Chestafried and Zenfeat reminded us all that the acoustic came long before the electric. You want style, how about the haunting sounds of All Systems Halt, Grigori 3 and Urn or the pop, rock, funk combination of the Ghettobillies. (And yes, you guys are hilarious) Emergenza and the 97 bands involved served a buffet of talent at the Double Door and now we have 12. 12 bands that now look at themselves a little different. 12 bands that made it this far. 12 bands that share 1 common goal, Emergenza U.S. Finals in Boston. In order to get themselves there each band must prepare and perform at their highest level. I look these bands in the eye and see the fire, I see the desire, I feel the momentum, you can touch the potential and a very real sense of want. You too can experience that for yourself come time for the finals. It’s been a real treat for me to manage this tour and see goals being achieved for many of these bands. I can type for days about what I’ve seen, but until you see the tears rolling down the faces Maxlider (see the picture by Angel Sallade) or witness the celebratory beer cans getting smashed off the heads of Crankchest fans or joined in a post show hug with Treologic, you may just not understand what’s on the inside. Every single band out of the 12 remaining have been snowballing this festival up until this point. On June 5th, 1 will survive. Good luck to all that remain and again thank you to every single band that touched the stage since day one.