They call it the Big D for many reasons, but this weekend, the “D” stood for “Diversity”. The crowds avoided the cold snap that hit us and stayed in to rock out to some of the best undiscovered acts in the Dallas area, and I’m pretty sure everyone was surprised at the level of talent that we heard this weekend. And now… let’s review, shall we? Thursday As the sun set over the Dallas skyline, casting a cool shadow on the building that houses both Curtain Club and the Liquid Lounge, we cranked up the amps and started the rock show with the sounds of Memories Past. They rocked it right with excellent guitar and bass work and solid vocals. Fire for Hire jumped up next, and put up the only female vocalist of the night, who took the crowd by storm and didn’t let go. These guys rocked! We flipped the style a bit next with Coalition, who absolutely mesmerized everyone. One solid set of funk/jazz fusion led by outstanding work from keys and guitar, with arguably the best rhythm section of the weekend, and from start to finish the set took you on a ride. Desiderata did not disappoint the Liquid Lounge crowd with their alternative rock set of original material. The Good Fall’s acoustic rock was a page turn in the Book of Rock. The vocals were great, and the set was refreshing. Cleatus Blackfoot brought the element of roots hip-hop to the stage. No frills, just lyrical thrills. They laid out a thick groove and dropped solid lyrics to get the crowd going. Chronic Theory wrapped the night with an energetic set of melodic hard rock. With a drummer with more energy than the Energizer Bunny, they rocked the house! Friday Friday night kicked off with hellomaryjo, an outstanding rock band with an indie sound that pleased the crowd.Captain Gallagher & the Savvy Travelers, who also laid out an intuitive indie sound, followed them. Their set was really good, and I hope you picked up a CD; it’s great! Embrace the Embers put some balls on stage with their hard rock/melodic metal sound, and dropped some serious rock! On stage next was Free Lasting Souls. They stood out with some outstanding vocal harmonies, and were a refreshing change with a positive message. Parallax View took us home with an outstanding set of original progressive metal. Solid vocals,technically adept guitar work and great all around stage presence took Parallax View to the next level. Saturday Saturday was a full meal deal, with eight bands that rocked! A Month Old fired the night off with great stage presence and a happy pop punk sound that pleased the young but enthusiastic crowd at Liquid Lounge. Okay, now sing some devious, villainous theme song in your head… time for Danger Cart! They came with force, rocking the crowd at Liquid to frenzy, and left everyone impressed. A Matter of Perspective took over next, and left the stage smoldering with the embers of hardcore rock. Gatsby opened the windows and let the air flow back in the room with a breath of folk rock. Passionate vocals and intense acoustic guitar work made their sound truly folk-rock. Borderline followed, and gave us a great set of original material along the lines of the 90s grunge movement, even wrapping the set with a bonus cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. Our next band, Hearingsight, was a Christian band, and played a great set, accented by exciting drum action and solid vocals. The seventh band of the night was iS… Yeah, that’s the name: iS… They rocked, plain and simple. iS… played a great original set with superb vocals and guitar. Sleepless Ruth finished Saturday night with a clean sweep. Their lead vocalist was beautiful, and her voice was awesome, with power and dimension. The guitarist ripped some great riffs, and the band, as a whole