Last night, I had the good fortune to go to the first night of Emergenza at the Note. I don’t mean good fortune because Emergenza is cool; it’s not very cool. Every band I know that’s either been a part of it or was asked to be a part of it had pretty terrible things to say. You have to pay to play, and then you get to play at a bar where most of the crowd wants someone else to “win” the “battle”. It kinda makes for a weird scene. (That said, next weekend will be Rory Lake Presents: Battle of the Bands 4. That will be incredible because The Party Downers will be competing and Cooler By the Lake‘s battle theme song is incredible. Shake, rock, roll and rattle, indeed.)

Anyhow, so whatever about Emergenza. The weird thing was that I went there because an old friend from high school was going to be there. A friend of a friend of a friend of hers was in one of the bands, but she didn’t know anything else about them. So we walk in, and I look on the stage and its none other than Bad Vibes, a band I’ve seen a bunch and whose drummer I’ve known for probably a decade. After the set, I realized that the people I was there with (including the friend from high school) were friends with the same people I knew. Small world. After the show, we go to the Clipper, but can’t get in for some reason, and end up going to someones house downtown. I didn’t think anything of it, but as we’re driving to the house I realize that the house we’re going to is a place I’ve been a handful of times already, owned by the same dudes from the band. Anyhow, it was kinda awesome. Bad Vibes were pretty rad. The best part of their set is when the guitarist/singer will play some ripping solo, real face melter type stuff, but as he’s doing it he’s casually talking to the crowd over the solo like it ain’t no thang.