One of the backbones of the entire country. One of the best cities for live music. Three nights at the famous Kyber Room, 25 bands and support on the local level made for a great winning. Thursday, March 1st The Brown Eyes are a very progressive experimental band that brought a good stage show to their music. These guys were solid and the bass player was fun to listen too. An incorporated electric violin and a song called “F*$! Terrorists” got the crowd into it. Check these guys out in the semi-finals. Geronimo was a punk-alternative band with lots of energy. Although young, these guys showed a lot of maturity on stage. Pretty good transitions helped move the music along but the vocals need work and the music needs some more variety. Stasis is a good mainstream rock band with strong female vocals. The vocals could use some variation but the ideas and talent are there. A polished band looking for some better exposure, hopefully, they can continue their good run in the festival. A very creative band lead by a great guitar player gave the fans of Statues Cry just what they wanted. A unique progressive-metal band with some new and old school hard rock riffs. Think Joe Satriani meets Dream Theater and you will see a truly original band. Ha Ha It Was Poison was the first hardcore band with screaming vocals. Lots of passion but the lack of energy really hurt the performance. More time spent on stage should get these guys really going. Good luck in the future for sure. Deluge was fun hard-rock, loud vocals, and energetic band with a purpose. The purpose was to start strong and finish even stronger. Great job by these guys! Mayfair kept the metal going. Very explosive and in your face. The Jupiter Effect (formally Rock Valley) was a little shy and hesitant on stage, but these young guys have some potential and more shows with better crowds will help develop these guys even more. Lastly, The Effects of Cinema Violence finished hard and strong. Lots of energy. Thanks for coming out guys. Friday, March 2nd The Godinez Brothers are a great band, and were an excellent way to kick off the weekend shows. These guys were very tight: all the parts blended very well, very strong vocals and a great rhythm section. These guys were jazz-funk and had grove all over their stuff. With a little work on their stage presence they will only add to the already strong elements in the band. Flash Fire started a little shaky. It might have been their youth, but some more time on stage will help them out. A few too many covers and pulling lyrics up from a cell-phone probably wasn’t the best thing to do. Thanks for coming out guys, and hope to see you next year. Chris Despo Band brought in a great sound. Acoustic-rock that was solid and engaging. The whole band together worked well together on stage, but they need to transfer that to the crowd. Look for these guys in the semi-finals. Sky Destroy was a progressive-alternative-hard rock band. Their music moves a lot, they have a good drummer, and they had pretty good dynamics on stage. The vocals are pronounced but strain at times. Like many bands I encourage these guys to work on their look and their transitions between songs. These guys have the potential to really grow in the next year. Best of luck guys. Code of Silence was one of the hardest working bands this weekend. These guys were hard rock with an explosive sound. Good stage presence and the lead singer was able to engage the audience between songs. Vocals need work and the band needs to work on stamina throughout their set, but they have a good foundation to build on. Thanks a lot guys. The best band of the night was b>No Outlet. Great crowd and a great, polished sound. Think a pop Stray Cats sound and feel. These guys look like they are in the band on stage, instead of just blendin