Thursday, February 15th On the first night of the Second Round, Ignit, a heavy-hitting metal band with a penchant for the unusual, showed their unusual skill by playing their catchy original songs both forward and backward—some kind of “cool”. Bombshell Murders did a searing cover of the Misfits, “I Turned Into A Martian”. 3 Dead, a trio of good old hard rockers from Monterey, sent their politically-tinged songs directly to the frontals of a frenzied club crowd, and sold their souls to the chanting throngs. Dammit!. Harder, faster -- and dammit, these guys went on to the Semifinal Round. Doc Freud’s namesake was absent, but this band put the psychological whammy on the night, and is off to the Semifinals. Malcontent, a well-promoted hard rock band from Northern California, planted a big “1” as in first place. Congratulations. Costa Nostra smoothed out the lineup with their original songs. Dynamic Featuring Kimiko Joy made joyful music, with a multitalented group of musicians and is a shining example of alternative soul music. Enough Soul to stir themselves into the Semifinal Round. Friday, February 16th The second night of the Second Round saw Beneath The Iron Heel, a rock band from Sacramento, lead off a charbroiled lineup of electrifying bands. The trio’s stage presence was impressive, as was the sincerity of their participation. In Honor Of, a metal core band, consisting of two guitars, bass, drums and vocalists worked their high volume set into the rafters, leaving a few screeching chords bouncing around the room. Disastroid, a garage-rock band, excited the masses and ended their set in second place. Motherhumbuckers, a widely versatile power-pop-rock band sang blues, rock, funk and soul, and bucked it to make it a premier performance arriving at number one. Congratulations, guys. Sueco, is an indie-rock band that rocked, with good guitarists and a front man, also a guitarist, and is going on to Semifinal Round. No Nothing Party moved to Petaluma from Reno and want to tear it up on the music scene. Impromptu appearance during the set, was a guest singing an AC/DC cover, “You Shook Me All Night Long”. Midnight Radio, a new band, assembled by a group of musicians from Peru, Mexico, Netherlands and Belgium, have been together for only one month, and we’ll be listening to the Midnight Radio station at the Semifinal Round. Saturday, February 17th The last night drew a lineup of Esky, now known as Behind The Green Door, that blew away the closest listener with heavy-hitting metallic punketry. A Bleeding Epiphany, who, without drummer, or lead guitarist, as a duo shone brightly on a diminished stage to prove that will power, and dedication to your own beliefs, is enough to turn up the electricity and make the crowd take notice. Now, just back from the Grammy’s on the “red carpet,” comes Zen Vendetta, a five-piece rock ‘n’ roll unit that has opened for Sugarcult, Journey and Def Leppard. This high-octane quintet flames out with original titles from one of their current CD’s, as well as their standard menu of shredding guitars and tight vocals. The Seventh Season band was established in Moscow, Russia in 1972, and this father and son team returned for a second year to the Emergenza International Music Festival. They are a good example of this festival’s purpose, to provide a professional atmosphere for musical creativity and performance. Custom Built Empire, an alternative-rock band, played a strong set and came in second. The moral of the story is that every empire is custom built. Ziazan is a female keyboard-vocal-fronted rock band that turned in an admirable performance and managed to debut their original song, “Outlaw”. They moved on to the Semifinal Round. The Trash Musica