Ottawa, home of the Capitol (no not those guy’s) where we held the finals, a beautiful venue with a stage made of steel and a sound system to match. The place where we packed in 1200 or so fans and put fourteen bands through sound checks and performances without running a minute late or killing anyone. The crew was in top shape and we thank everybody, especially Fluid, who had what it takes to win a trip to the Toronto finals. Here are few notes on the show. The Seventh Sign took home the best guitarist award with searing solo’s wrapped inside an iron maidenish package, vocals not bad either. Best bassist was taken by Last Project with grinding lines that tried to escape but was locked in place by solid time keeping. These boys put on a high energy thrash-a-thon. Decitone grabbed a whole bunch of awards including, best original song, best singer, and best rhythm guitarist. Wow serious damage from a three-piece band. This next band, A Legend Falls, won the sweetest award of all, best band, chosen by not the jury, but by the other thirteen bands that played this night, respect mon. They also stole, no took, the best drummer award, easy to do when your drummer is an animal-like monster. Fluid, one in thirteen, hell, one in one hundred, is the only band to move on. They also won the best sound and visual performance. See, looking good and sounding good, nice shoes and haircuts, that’s all it takes. Oh yeah, there are also all those months of hard work. Fluid had it, did it and took it all home. So for now we take a rest and maybe head down to Maroosh for a little shwarma, or grab one of those famous beaver tails. But capitol city favorites, Fluid, should get theirs to go, because they will be in Toronto next week to throw down. In the mean time, wrap the cables tight and polish the tubes, see ya next year. Peace.