I’ve got a sweet, sweet headache from all of this ROCKIN’! The first weekend of shows in San Antonio started without a hitch this year, and the bands brought fire and passion to the stage and enthusiastic fans to the floor at Reptilez on the South Side. Close your eyes, click your heels three times and let’s go back to Thursday the 11th… Thursday, January 11th Kicking off the 2007 season in SATX on Thursday night was none other than Terill Avenue. They brought the new rock sound to the crowd at Reptilez with a lot of energy and vocal change-ups, with a style similar to 30 Seconds to Mars and Black Tie Dynasty. Nice job from the guest rapper as well! SEED brought out the big guns and fired at will. Ballsy vocals and a solid rhythm section set the trademark for shotguns, whisky and good, hard rock. All I needed was a fat steak and a lean stripper. Nice job, fellas. I LOVE a good horn section, and Kevin Goes To College’s guys were not good. They were great! The singer is a small stick of dynamite, and her solid backing from the drummer, bass and guitar put these guys on top! Their stout set of original ska-rock got the crowd on their feet and put a smile on everyone’s face. Formerly Known As rode the rock wave from hard-rock to alternative to punk to touching on how much modern radio sucks… and just a tad of Justin Timberlake. Niiiice……. Anyway, they rocked it well and were entertaining to boot. Our final band of the night, Deimos, melted faces and caused premature labor in the door girl. Just kidding… about the door girl. They played a solid set of original southern metal, accented by heavy guitar riffs and crunchy bass licks. Bravo, fellers. Friday, January 12th Friday night took off like a rocket with The Staring Game. Their emo-core sound was much broader than emo-core, but kept the basics in the sound the whole time. Energetic stage presence was key for these guys, as they rocked all over Repilez. Ancient Malus stepped to the stage with a no-holds-barred cage match of black metal, ripping technical and powerful drums and face-melting guitar, keys and bass. The vocals cut you like a sword! The mighty men of Malefactor threw some beef on the grill with their original hard-rock, done sweet Texas style. From up-tempo rock anthems to hand-swaying slow jams, they did it right. The New Oxford threw a splash of melodic goodness in their rock ‘n’ roll, and it sounded great. Despite hitting the stage cold after a long day, they entertained the crowd at Reptilez. What can be said about Death Wish that hasn’t been said last season… oh, wait. A LOT! These guys have really grown musically since last season and even minus a bass player, they lit the walls on fire Friday night. The keys accented the vocals and guitars perfectly, and really pushed them to the peak of their performance. Good game; go team. Saturday, January 13th Ice storms in Dallas, freezing rain in Austin, and it’s a balmy 40 degrees F in San Antonio. Thankfully, the Saturday night bands lit the stage on fire and kept us all cozy. Among War threw a metal grenade into the crowd and it exploded with edgy vocals and sharp guitars. The crowd at Reptilez really got into this set! Schuetzilla [shuts – zilla] didn’t slack at all, either. Their RATM-meets-SOAD-meets-The Panic Channel sound broke the sound barrier and energized an already powered-up crowd. To quote Willie, “This band has style!”. The modern rock of RedLineDrop was up next, and these young cats took it from a low, pensive Deftones-esque sound to a stinging, upbeat Incubus-ish sound. Despite these references, their sound was all their own, and they sounded great! December Sunrise wowed the crowd with their unique element of electric violin mixed with rock. The sweet strings floated over solid backline