Thursday, March 1st A powerhouse set opened with Goat Milk, an instrumental combo of sax, drums and bass playing an original blend of jazz, rock and funk. Hot Farm returned to the Emergenza stage with a Dick Cheney impersonator, and the band played Rick James Is Dead (their original). Jeremy Miller Band featured a strong guitarist, good material and is going on to the semifinals. Deciduous – keyboard front man sang, and the band is whalin’ – off on a Euro tour, with a quick stop at the Semifinals. It was the first funky rock band of the night to “kick out the jams.” Thinman from Sonoma, California, is a solid-sounding four piece group of rockers whose varied originals bridged, meandering moods in ballads, old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll, and reggae, and were performed with a crowd-pleasing stage presence. This band came in first place, and got’em on their feet and rocked into a Semifinal slot. Overide, an alternative rock band closed the night with a solid set and is going to the Semifinals. Friday, March 2nd The night opened with a guitar shred episode originating from the amps of a San Jose band called I-Six, a six-year-old metal band, that played in support of their 2005 album, Epic of Hate. OK City OK is a four-piece indie-pop band whose bass and guitar swapped instruments. Culann’s Hounds, returned to Emergenza, with their pleasing modal Irish rooted songs. James Caran composer, producer, brought an international flavor to the evening’s music, which influenced his rock originals. Look for James Caran at the Semifinals. The Boneless Children Foundation returned for a set of philosophical titled songs, such as: People Care About Their Cars. Evolution Eden, the front-runner for the evening did a new song, Fixer Upper. Their songs are original and melodic, and they closed the set with a song called Radioactive which moved the crowd into a sing along mode. Allofasudden, a rock alternative band delivered funked up rock ‘n’ roll, and will be rocking in the Semifinals. Bat Makumba, a world music ensemble, brought a strong, percussive ending to the night. Saturday, March 3rd Rock and metal merged to brand the evening, “Not for the faint of heart.” Opening was God’s Name In Vein, from 250 miles away, in Paso Robles, pounding the eardrums with originals such as Roots of Decay, Demon Inside and Oblivion. Black Of Mind a metal band from Hayward, California have been together just under one year, and with a power set of originals, made it into the Semifinals. An EP will be available this summer. Binky, known as the Mistresses of Metal, are incisive metal punkers and are visually theatrical with HazMat-style costumes. Their motto: “To corrupt and deafen.” See Binky at the Semifinals. For starters, the bass and guitar players in Jade of Days were in synch providing a tight foundation for this female-fronted four-piece progressive rock band, from San Jose. Coming in at number one, Jade of Days’ versatile vocalist sang with an intensity that was woven into the bigger fabric of each song. Kinetic Chain, the second-place, alternative rock band, had a powerful guitarist and pumped up the crowd with their original songs. Zenergy, a psychedelic three-piece rock band from Oakland, California had a good drummer and a guitarist who bit into the atmosphere with shredding streams of sound. This band closed out an exciting night at Rockit Room.