Thursday, April 12th This weekend began with Cynical Bird, an acoustic duo performing original music to a mellow and reserved crowd. Olive Lampshade followed, a four piece experimental hip-hop fusion band incorporating slam poetry with a dub oriented rhythm section and dual keyboardists to fill in the high end melodies. Below the Earth brought it around 180 degrees with a full bore metal set. Shadows Reach brought it back down a notch. A female fronted hard rock band with incredible vocals and a solid backing. Returning favorites Ad Nauseum closed out this night with an energetic and hard-hitting metal set. Friday, April 13th Friday night started out with Anything But Fifty, a five-piece band reminiscent of more recent brand of NYHC sounds. Corrupted Vision followed with a metal set. The Violent Saint was definitely this weekend’s surprise hit, catching us all off guard with a rocking stage performance and incredible technical, yet accessible guitar work. If these kids keep this up they will soon be dangerous. Xiphoid followed with another impressive performance, but were plagued by small technical problems throughout their set. Hailing from Santa Fe, The Revolutionary No Water Blues Band gave us a taste of their homebrewed alt-country sound. Unusual Content followed up with their usual crowd-pleasing hip-hop performance. Saturday, April 14th Chaos Effect opened up with a metal set. Stowe followed with an experimental yet heartfelt set of their flavor of ambient-rock. The Hammocks filled up their set with their eclectic mix of rock, bluegrass, and country that we’ve come to expect. Poor Man’s Ferrari followed with a half assed and unenthusiastic performance before walking offstage in a huff. In contrast, Random Order followed with a well-prepared and executed set, even despite the recent addition of a new member. Signal 99 closed the evening with a theatrical and prop-laden metal set. Sunday, April 15th Baked opened with a well performed, but scarcely viewed set. Inner Genes followed up, but again, with many technical difficulties and setbacks. Stinky Pinky came back from El Paso for round two, and put on a well practiced, and well arranged hip-hop fusion performance. Phocus followed with a stunning R&B performance laden with excellent arrangement s and complete with stage choreography. Blissful Destruction made this show their own, rocking it out like it’s meant to be. Obscene Jesters closed out with their own brand of punk-rock, completing the second round in Albuquerque and making their way into the finals.