EMERGENZA - PAY TO PLAY EURO BATTLE/FEST




EMERGENZA is the brain-child of Italian Massimo Scialo (at left) and German Andrea Petricca. This is the Euro pay-to-play fest. This company has been going for about 13 years in Europe. Just recently they stretched their slimy fingers to the US. Everyone got the special myspace spam invite to join the fun and enter the chance to win special prizes (lots of equipment from instrument companies that are dumb enough to help sponsor this one), a trip to Germany for the last rounds and the biggest prize of all...five days on the Warped Tour (in 2007 downgraded to the RedGorilla Music Fest in Austin, TX) and six weeks of recording at Roastinghouse Studios in Malmoe, Sweden. and the chance to claim you are the BEST BAND ON THE PLANET (no fooling!). (Again, like Bodog's recording contract, there is no mention of who owns what, for instance, the music you create. If you enjoy the recordings of other Roastinghouse bands like Cloudscape, Cosmic Ballroom, Faithful Darkness and Timeless Miracle, maybe this is for you. Otherwise Roastinghouse looks just like any other studio. Here's an important FYI: The Sessions, the band that won the 2006 Emergenza Fest "didn't accept this prize").

The Emergenza “Battle of the Bands” represents themselves more as a festival but the basics are still the same. Emergenza requires an entry fee of $70, plus gives you 100 (damn!) tickets to sell. They say that you are not required to sell the tickets BUT if the votes are counted by popularity, that would be pretty much the only way you’ll get a vote. So your choice is buying into the ticket-selling idea or knowing that you’ll automatically lose going into it. It’s the Entertainment Catch-22. Emergenza is so established that all you need to do is google "Emergenza and your choice of expletives" and you’ll get the idea on all the happy bands that have tried this one. YOUR BAND'S CHANCE: 1 in 6,000.

LEARNING ABOUT EMERGENZA
THE TWELVE "MUST DO's
THE INTERNATIONAL FINAL
EMERGENZA VILLAGE
REAL STORIES OF EMERGENZA

THIS IS OUR OP-ED PAGE. THESE GUYS CONTACTED US. INSTEAD OF SIGNING RIGHT UP, WE RESEARCHED IT AND THIS IS WHAT WE FOUND. (We are providing the info and our take on it. Many people have weighed in, and here and even Wikipedia's got a disclaimer! It's up to you to make the call.)

BIGTIME ENTERTAINMENT

RESEARCHING EMERGENZA YOU WILL LEARN...

1
NO SPEAK THE ENGLISH: One of the things about the main Emergenza organization that everyone seems to agree on is that English is obviously not their first language. This is an Italian/German company. The Emergenza website is sometimes poorly worded, kind of like reading the directions/instructions on products made in other countries. If things go bad, you probably aren’t going to be communicating with the bigshots who really run things. Some people have tried, all without success.
2
TOO MANY MEETINGS: Before you play, you’ve got to attend at least one (per round) Emergenza meeting which is more of a sales pitch than anything else. That’s where you’ll get your tickets. Normally they want EVERY band member to attend, not just a representative. They are not interested in hearing your band so don’t bother to bring demos. They just want to make sure you’re going to get them the entry fee, sell the tickets and bring a crowd to their show. Don’t lose those tickets you don’t sell! They will need to account for either tickets or money. And if you win rounds you still have...more meetings!
3
MORE SHOWS, MORE MONEY: Winning each “round” forces/pushes you to bring more people to the next show. But here’s the real genius at work. Ticket prices increase with each round you win! Oooh, smart thinking! Bands will have so much energy and time invested in each round, they won’t have any other choice than to sell higher priced tickets. They start at about $8 and go to $15.
4
SOPHISTICATED VOTING: It would seem that with a big outfit like this the vote counting is the most sophisticated electronic tallying machine that a corporation can afford. This is serious business, bands’ careers are at stake and obviously no mistakes should be made with the voting process. Think again. The votes are counted by your Emergenza official, clipboard in hand, going out on stage and asking for a “show of hands” from the audience! I’m not kidding. This is the high tech world of Emergenza.
5
PANEL OF EXPERTS: After all that damn ticket selling, they switch it up and in the regional finals your band’s fate is in the hands of a "panel of judges". Their expertise is negligible. Nobody seems to have heard of any of them. And whatever you do, don’t tick them off or they’ll vote you out. I’ve read many accounts of bands believing that at this point the processed is rigged. A fixed contest!? That’s impossible! How many think this could be rigged? I’ll take a show of hands.
6
 THE SHOWS THEMSELVES: How anybody would think the Emergenza BOTB is a good showcase for their band is beyond reasoning. Normally nine bands perform 25 minute sets. The equipment is provided and this is something that many bands have complained about. Like all the other pay-to-play situations, there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the line-up. I won't mention the unfortunate bands but here is a real list of the genres of music: Alt Metal, Death Metal, Metal, Hip Hop, Hard Rock, Rock Alternative, Blues Rock, Power Rock and Melodic Hard Rock. What a night that must have been! Who comes up with those catagories!? Is this really the show you want to push to your friends/fans? You'll love my hip-hop band, but be sure to stick around for the Death Metal.
7
 THE REGIONAL EMERGENZA REPRESENTATIVES: The most aggressive reps of all the pay-to-play companies. They are normally in their early to mid-20s and solidly convinced that they are helping bands by organizing these pay-to-play battles. These people are pretty much like a cult. They are all over myspace with their clever "mergenza" or "genza" sur names and all their myspace top friends are "genzas" too. Just try to complain about Emergenza and see how they react. Suddenly, they are not so friendly and helpful. They will defend Emergenza to the death. Of course, they have to...they are on the payroll.

DIRECT FROM THE EMERGENZA WEBSITE:
THE TWELVE "MUST DO's"
(PROMO TIPS AND HINTS FOR YOUR BAND)
It doesn't seem like "Must Do's" fall under the catagory of "tips and hints" but that's just an example of the wonderful world of Emergenza. If this actual check-list of things you should do to win doesn't set your "scam alarms" off, maybe there is no hope for you or your band. If you know me, you know I just can't resist making a few comments on something this bizarre and stupid. The real check-list is on the left and my rant is on the right. Think I'm kidding? Check it out for yourselves.
OFFICIAL EMERGENZA CHECK-LIST
SAY WHAT? !!!
1
From the beginning explain to fans and potential punters that you may find researching sites (hit myspace or local ones) and going to gigs ( be active), that this is a Music Festival and there will be more than one show, and FAN support is fundamental at all stages and it will be a team effort.

Get the pushy salesmanship rolling immediately. Think of yourselves as "The Insurance Salesmen of Rock". Let your friends know that one measley $10 show isn't going to cut it if they want to support your band. You can't win unless they are in this for the long haul - and what a haul it will be!
2
Plan on a Party/barbecue, where you can gig and sell tickets. Try to add value to your event (keg of beer, drinking competitions etc.) by adding “special deals” and themes (dress like a punk?).
So to play an Emergenza BOTB, they are suggesting you first put on your own show. Isn't this defeating the purpose of signing up for these things? If I can put on my own show, what do I need Emergenza for? How much is all this "adding to your event" going to cost my band? Kegs of beer and drinking competitions!? That sounds a little pricey to me. A theme show where everybody "dresses like a punk"?! "Giant nerd alert!" Here's one better: a theme night where everybody dresses like a sleazy Emergenza rep! My friends would like that.
3
Plan each stage and give bonuses with each ticket purchased I.E. First round give a sample CD to ensure they are familiar with material. Second round include stickers/T-Shirt. Finals - Ticket price includes Transportation(bus rental) and Drinks on the way to show.
Considering they give you 100 tickets to sell this might also be a little gouge to the pocketbook but yeah, I guess we can give out a CD-R with every ticket. We want to win afterall! Okay, we made it to the next round so now they suggest a free T-shirt with every ticket sold! Well, okay, if we get the shirts cheap at about $5 per shirt, that's only $500 extra. But damn! Those finals are going to break us up in business. Transpo and buying (our crowd - yikes!) drinks on the way to the show!? Why stop there? How about a free diamond ring for the gals and gold watch for the gents? How about we pay off your mortgage?
4
Make all adverts/promo consistant and “uniform”- Info on tickets, Flyers, Websites must be correct and current. First impression is the key. Once someone has misinformation it is very hard to correct it.
Whew! Finally something that isn't going to cost an arm and a leg! Now, I hate to bring this up, and I'm not trying to cause any problems, but at what point is Emergenza going to step in here and help promote this thing?
5
Contact all local media (college or indie magazines and community radios especially) at least 5 weeks before a show to ensure they have time to include information in the local listings and increase the possibility of a preview/review of the performance.
Again...Emergenza? Is anybody out there to help us? Where are you? Okay, magazines and radio...I guess we can handle that too. Got it.
6
Email list Notices - Send a general info about the show 6 weeks out - include any promotion with sales (giveaways) 2 weeks out - reminder email - more involved and making sure people have the date out and pushing them to get their tickets early to avoid paying more at the door. Encourage them to reply whether they will be attending or not. Week of the show - Last chance Email. Make sure you stress the importance of their role at the show and thank them for the continued support.
Keep up with the insurance sales tactics. More giveaways?! What do we giveaway this time...blood? Wasn't everybody satisfied with that bitchin' kegger we threw and all those T-shirts we passed out? What do you people want from us!!!?
7
DON’T OVER BOOK - Try to avoid playing in the same market within 4 weeks of other show dates. No band can go against the laws of supply and demand. Remember you are competing against every venue and show in that area for those 2 weeks. If you just played, fans and music lovers are more likely to use their money to see an act that does not play as often or just a different band
READ THIS ONE CAREFULLY! If you do this BOTB, Emergenza wants you to keep you exclusively to their shows. If you can't book 4 weeks out, and you keep advancing (with all those free CDs, T-shirts and drinks you've been providing everybody), you won't play a real show for MONTHS! How is this going to help my band? If I do get a legit show at a club I'm supposed to turn it down. Very helpful.
8
Get Out and Meet People. No one will come see you if they don’t know you exist. Spend some time at clubs, malls, Coffee Shops, Music stores and force yourselves to speak with people you do not know. The more you do it the easier it will be.Show your face.Be able to describe your band and what your about in 30 seconds or less. Always Always have promo (flyers, CD’s, Tickets) on yourself. That goes for all members of the band. GO TO GIGS AND MEET OTHER BAND’S FANS.
If you've already been in trouble with the law, I would suggest you skip #8. Go to malls, coffee shops and music stores and force yourself to talk to people you don't know. If there's one thing people love - it's pushy strangers giving them a 30 second description of their band. Hell, why don't we just go door to door like the religious doorknockers? And don't let those other slackers in your band drop the ball either. You all need to get out and meet the people/strangers. "The more you do it, the easier it will be" - as long as you don't get arrested for harrassment, that is.
9
Look for non-traditional ways and places to advertise. Sporting event parking lots (tailgaters) Movie Theatre’s, Amusement parks. These people are all spending money on entertainment and like to have a good time. Remind them how much fun a live concert is.
Yeah, I'll go to the amusement park, get on the roller coaster and scream my band's name as I fly by the waiting crowds! I'll stand up and shout my band name during the important part of the movie. They'll remember that! I'll get together with sports fans and see if they'll chant my band name along with their team. This will surely remind them how much fun a live concert is.
10
Bar Hop/Costume Night - Get dressed up crazy, Nice, have a big sign with you, and go bar to bar in a concentrated area. Storm the place, Make a scene HAND OUT FLYERS/PROMO MATERIAL, Make sure they remember your presence then move on. Spend only 15-20 minutes per stop.
Okay Emergenza, I think you're really going too far on this one. What is this? Candid Camera? And where is this help I'm supposed to be getting from your big fancy-pants organization? All right, anything to win. I'll dress like a clown, beat a big bass drum, run through bars hollering my band's name and passing out balloon animals with the Emergenza show date on it.
11
Local Radio Shows, college radio, internet local radio - if they don’t have your CD, Why Not?!!! Let them know about the festival and about your band.
This has got to be the point where Emergenza steps up to the plate and helps us out. We've worked hard to do everything so far, we've spent tons of cash on free giveaways, we're not playing any other shows...No, help's not coming on Step 11 either...more free CDs to pass out. In fact, notice that they suggest you mention Emergenza first...oh yeah...and then your band.
12
Website band directory. Make sure your band is listed in ALL local band websites. This would make things easier for people in “the scene” to remeber your band and so taking more interest in what you are doing.
Here it is. The last step. Here is where Emergenza is going to work their mighty magic of promo. We're ready for that corporate push that our inexperienced band needs. Poop! It's up to us yet again. Thanks, Emergenza, you've been a big help...NOT.

BUT STILL, IF YOUR BAND WINS, MAYBE THIS HASSLE WILL ALL BE WORTH IT...
I believe that Emergenza’s best forte is playing fast and loose with the minor details of what you’ll get out of this contest, even if you are the big winners. If you sell all those expensive tickets, impress the “expert panel of judges” and battle right to the top you for weeks on end (and according to many bloggers the rounds just keep on a-comin'), you will get to go to some “Emergenza Fest” in Germany. However, Emergenza’s presence is only a part of a real-deal huge festival in Rothenburg, "a small medieval village in Barvria” Germany called the Taubertal Open Air Festival. The Emergenza website claims:

The INTERNATIONAL FINAL will be held in Germany at the TAUBERTAL OPEN AIR FESTIVAL, one of the top 5 European open-air festivals, alongside major international acts and in front of 20.000 people!

"Man, playing in front of 20,000 people with major international acts! Damn, that would be pretty sweet!" But note that it says "alongside" major international acts. Unfortunately, much like BigTime Entertainment who rents crappy rock nights and then pretends they are the club bookers, Emergenza appears to trot out the “winners” to play on their "secondary stage" at the Taubertal Festival. If you’ve ever gone to one of those big mega-festivals you know the difference between the Festival Main- stage where The Red Hot Chilli Peppers play and the Coors-lite/KFUK stage where the local bands perform. A friend of ours calls it “Band Ghetto”. I’ll give you an example.

THIS IS THE PHOTO YOU'LL SEE WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT THE EMERGENZA FESTIVAL IN GERMANY
(Wow! There must be AT LEAST 20,000 people there, probably more! It’s gigantic!)

BUT THESE ARE A FEW PHOTOS OF THE REAL “FESTIVAL”

This tactic is known as Bait and Switch. Be sure to check out their photos. There are a few bands that have varying amounts of audience but no matter how you slice it and dice it, it ain’t 20,000! More like 200 and I'm being generous. All the band photos appear to be shot purposely to avoid seeing what the crowd is like. Hell, you want to get really nerdy about it you can blow a few of the photos up and actually do a “head count”. There aren’t any that seemed to be more than 300 (and not all those people were looking toward the stage!). Maybe that’s where the wienerschnitzel cart was parked. And obviously if you pull one of those mid-morning slots, it’s going to be tough to get a wild crowd out of the thirty people that show up. Mostly they look like they just want to play haki-sak in the mud while you perform. Check out the photo at top-right. That's the huge main stage way down the hill! The one Grand Prize Winning band does finally get to play on the BIG STAGE...in the afternoon.

PICTURES SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS: Go to their official site and check out all the photos for yourself

THE EMERGENZA VILLAGE

If you want another really good example of how Emergenza plays fast and loose with the details, you have only to check out their write up on Emergenza Village. Read what Emergenza says about “Emergenza Village” and then see what it really looks like. This one just about made me wet my pants! Here’s the official write-up:

“It’s a space to gather, work, have fun, prepare the shows and keep the public informed.
Find it on August 11, 12 and 13 in the Tauberthal Valley, a few steps away from the stage of the Emergenza 2006 Worldwide International Final. The Emergenza Village is a reserved area. To access the Village’s services a special pass will be provided by the organization to the invitees."
... from the Emergenza website

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...MAY WE PRESENT EMERGENZA VILLAGE

in reality, it appears to be a lot of yellow picnic tables and red tarp shelters.

What does Emergenza Village offer? (Emergenza discription with real photos).


- FEEDBACK STATION
A point of gathering and discussion, where musicians finishing their show and just after hopping off the stage will have the opportunity to meet a group of experts and professionals that in a detailed and personalized manner will provide useful tips, advice and opinions on the just finished concert. An absolute must!

DJ BOOTH
Every evening starting from 11:00 p.m. Emergenza Village turns into the coolest Tauberthal party. DJs will make our Village’s invitees dance, party, and have fun. After 11:00 the musicians participating in the final will be allowed to bring along an external guest to participate in the V.I.P. party.

- THE COOL BAR
beers and soft drinks to all the Village’s invitees.
- DRINK BAR
A bar reserved to the business area where managers and executives can have an unlimited taste of beer, wine and/or soft drinks.


- PRODUCTION OFFICE AND WEBMAG AREA
An area reserved to the staff where the special number of the web magazine dedicated to the Final will be produced in real time. Comments, reports and opinions in real time translated into 6 languages, minute by minute.

The International Emergenza Team in their plush headquarters at the Taubertal Open Air Festival in Rothenburg, Germany tallying up the winners.

Here's a real comment from a former Emergenza rep I found on myspace. I will delete his name to protect him. Here he consoles a friend, who's band lost an Emergenza BOTB:

Jul 12 2007 7:38A
Awe, that sucks. I’m sure you were awesome! I used to work for Emergenza and I did tell CT that ultimately they choose who’s gonna win before you even make it to the finals. Last years winners won cause their manager worked for Emergenza. But, like they say, life is about the journey, not the destination.

Mike Turner from Chicago actually got propositioned to work for Emergenza! I won’t blow the surprise ending but this one is a hoot (but not to Mike at the time). It’s very well written, well worth reading and gives you the proper prospective on how this company is run. The whole story is amazing but I will say I really loved the part about how Mike wasn’t acting like an American! Here's Mike's blog from MYSPACE.
Our old pals at the Portland Mercury weigh in on this subject with Matt Davis' article
"For the Love of Money: Is the Emergenza Festival Ripping Off Local Bands?"

I'm going to show two posts from CD Baby. These are from people who have specific detailed experiences with doing Emergenza Battles of the Bands. One is a post from "drmrsdad". This is a father who’s son’s metal band entered the Emergenza contest and his take on the whole thing. The other is from "Iain" who doesn't say what band he's in, but this is so detailed, he obviously lived through it. I'm just going to re-post them here because there are now many posts with mostly unfavorable rants, it's hard to read through everything to find them. If you want to read all the accounts (check out some of the pathetic Emergenza reps trying to defend the whole thing - and yeah, I just couldn't help but putting in my two cents, er $20 worth - and please enjoy the reply by the former Emergenza rep Ellie. She lists every virtuoso violin class she took in high school (!) and how she's played with people you never heard of! And oh yeah, she toured the Southeast...SHE LIVES IN THE SOUTHEAST! Wow, she really lets me have it! Yee-ouch, that's gotta hurt!). Read drmrsdad's and Iain's enlightened accounts of what a mess this is or check it all out on CD BABY:
------------------------------------------------
by drmrsdad on Monday July 10 2006 @ 10:42AM PDT

Ahh Emergenza, I say DON'T DO IT. It's ok to Play for no pay, but never PAY TO PLAY!!!

The Brooklyn/New York finals this year July 1st 2006, was a travesty on all levels. The Emergenza official was the most unprofessional person I have ever met in the entertainment business. Emergenza should send their officials to some kind of Customer Training course, because after all, the bands that enroll are customers to Emergenza.

I am not being biased here, I'm just telling it like it is, because I was there. First I want to start by saying this thread is about 2 things. I just wanted to give you a in depth, view on the "Farce" that is The Emergenza Festival and, who ever was or were the minds that came up with the creation of this "festival" are geniuses. Secondly, what happened to my son's band on July 1st was a direct result of what happens when ego's clash and one is in a position more power than the other.
My son's band was one of the bands that went through the NYC area competition in Brooklyn. They won their first 3 rounds by having the most votes on each night, 49, 78 and over 100 in round 3. The Finals were held at The Knitting Factory in NYC with 10 bands who were the winners of their respective rounds at the same venue in Brooklyn as well as a band from Buffalo NY and another band from somewhere else in New York.
Ok it works like this. Through each of the preliminary rounds the top 3 bands from each night who have the most votes that particular night get to move on to the next round. The votes are counted by an Emergenza Official who stands on stage and counts how many hands are raised in the audience after their performance with a hand held click counter. As you can see most people that come to see "their Band" won't vote for another band, because they don't want their vote to go against their own. Here is the genius of this "Festival"! It is not about talent, it's not about the best goes onto the next round, and it is not about "an environment that aims to give up-and-coming bands the tools and the means to succeed." It's all about Business and Emergenza making money!!!!! Hey I don't see anything wrong with that, but let's call a shark a shark when you see it! This is just an incredible way to make money on the eagerness and lack of knowledge of kids wanting to get to the top by making them believe that their talent will take them to the "Holy Land" or the Warped Tour, National and International tours and recognition. The simple fact of the matter is this, I'm pretty involved with finding programs and events for kids to be involved in when it comes to music programs and I never heard of this event until my son's band joined, and apparently Emergenza has been in existence since 1992!! LOL!

So each round pushes you to bring more people, to the next round. With each round the ticket prices go up, clever! $8.00 for round 1, $10.00 for round 2 & 3 and it was $15.00 for the Regional Final last night. In total my son's band made Emergenza gross aprox $4500.00 now just take a look at this link and look at the numbers that the New York City rounds brought in. The Numbers to the right are the amount of votes each band got for that particular night, now multiply that by the each one of the cities around the world, cha ching!! http://www.emergenza.net/document/shows/schedule.asp?dett=yes&res=152
Ok about last night. The guitar player in my son's band had a major blow up with the Dictator, oops I mean Director Official from Emergenza, which caused her to basically Blacklist the whole band. It basically was about the band trying to get ready to get on stage, which they have only 5 minutes to set-up and be ready for their 30 minute set. The backstage area was no larger than a walk in closet and there was so much gear, guitar cases, bags that it made it impossible for bands to exit and enter the stage smoothly. 2 big ego's stress and heat, just added to the fire that had begun after sound check, when the Ticket finalization must take place in order to play. Hand in money and tickets not sold in order to play. The band planned to bring in about 100 people, but couldn't get tickets sold before the show, but they knew their peeps were coming, but ya gotta pay to play, So besides the money that reflected about 50 tickets sold, the band put up their own money to buy a book of 100 tickets at $15.00 a pop and managed to be able to recoup when people arrived outside the front door.
Of the 10 bands my son's band probably came in 2nd or 3rd with ticket sales as they sold 150 tickets, but remember this round is "judged"! As soon as my son's band started their performance, the "Dictator" came upstairs to where the judges were and where I was standing and whispered something into each judge’s ear. I stood behind the judges the whole night and during my son's bands performance one of the judges pulled out a dig cam and started to video my son's band. He even went on to say how much he dug the band to the other judge and personnel around him. During some of the other bands the judges just got up and left their seats to go outside! So after all 10 bands played and before they gave out individual awards for best guitarist, bass player and drummer, the 2 judges were on stage doing their PR thing, getting the crowd hyped up, and talking about how "even though only one band wins, they all win" yadda, yadda, yadda,. The one judge says, OK we are going to give out the individual awards and points to my son's guitarist and says, "What’s this guys name, now that boy can play guitar!” When they announced the winners, none of the guys in my son's band won. Now I knew they weren't going to win to move on to the next round because of the backstage altercation, but seeing all the bands which were labeled Punk, Hardcore, Pop Punk, Punk Alternative, Metal, Alternative Metal and Progressive Metal (my son's band) and honestly not being biased, they bar far had the best musicianship and skill. It appears that in the final round, only the top 4 bands with the most audience votes are judged to move on to the next round. The Emergenza official purposely keyed them in as 5th. Don’t' believe me, check their website. It's right there in Black & White
01 NEW PIRACY Hard core
02 DURTNECK Rock
03 SEXY HEROES IN TRANSIT Pop Punk
05 UNTIL DESTINY Progressive rock
06 VICTIM 6 Metal
07 LIES BENEATH Heavy Metal
07 WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS Punk rock
07 SECTION 8 CARTEL Alternative metal
07 RID OF ME Punk Alternative
http://www.emergenza.net/document/shows/schedule.asp?dett=yes&res=176

Where the heck is band 4????

Yes they learned a lesson that night one that I often stress more than anything. It's not always about talent and ability, but how you are able to interact with people and how your attitude effects how other people perceive and work with you.

Remember, never PAY TO PLAY!!!
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by Iain on Monday May 14 2007 @ 04:55AM PDT

Emergenza is a huge pile of Eurotrash Sh*t!!! Strong words you think!!, but, read on....

It all started to go wrong from the start!!
We went to our 1st meeting, they told us when and where we would do our 1st show and when the technical meeting prior to the show was going to be (tech meeting @ 4pm, on the Thursday before the show scheduled for the Sunday after)!! Ok, sounds organized...but a couple days before our scheduled show at around 2pm, I got a phone call from them asking if we were going to make it on time for the tech meeting and how long it would take us to get there... I was surprised he'd asked the 2nd question...."Wow" I thought, "these guys are really taking care of business!!" I said "Yeah, we'll all be there at 4pm like it says in the paper work you gave us!!" I was then informed that the tech meeting had been changed to 2pm instead, and we were now late for the meeting!!! I told the rep on the phone the fact that nobody had told me of the change!! He then asked "Are you still going to be able to do the show tomorrow night" (Friday) At this point I coughed up a testicle as our show had been scheduled for the Sunday! He then informed me that our show date had been changed too because they could not get the venue as planned! Again I told him nobody told me!! Then I coughed up the other testicle when I suddenly realized we had sold a ton of tickets for the show which was supposed to be on Sunday night, and now we were not going to be there!! Over 100 people were going to show up, with tickets in hand, expecting to see us perform and we were not going to be there!! There was no time to contact everyone that had bought a ticket to tell them we were going to be doing the show the next night instead!! Right there and then I told the Emergenza rep, "well, things are all fu@ked up now, huh!". "How are we going to get to the next round when all our fans/voters are going to turn up 3 days late?" This Emergenza rep's testicles must be so big he needs to push them around in a shopping trolley cause he actually suggested we do the show anyway, throwing down the gaunlet by saying if we were really good we could win over enough fans of the other bands to get enough votes to get through to the next round. Well then...I told him I would call him back, mainly to pour a stiff drink but I felt I had to have a conference call with everyone in my band and put the decision to a collective vote, to actually pick up that gauntlet and do this f*ck*d up show!! So, I got out voted! (my argument to tell Emergenza to go F**k themselves went unheard) and I promptly called the Emergenza rep back and said "OK...we'll do it!!"

We did the show and yes!...we did get enough votes to get through, despite the fact that we had none of our own fan support due to the Emergenza F**K UP!!! After the celebrations of getting to the next round, the next mission was to go to the venue on the originally agreed night of the show (Sunday) and catch everyone that showed up with our ticket in hand to explain the situation and give them their money back!! Can you imagine repeating the apology speech to over 100 pissed off people who were looking forward to seeing us play!! I wouldn't wish that on ...erm...even an Emergenza organizer!!! Well, ok...maybe I would!!

After several rounds in the competition, my band got into the top 3 of the finals...we had a very good following, made them a lot of money on the tickets we sold, for them.

We worked our asses off, promoting the shows, designing and printing flyers, time spent advertising online (which every band should do to promote themselves) ...oh, and actually paying Emergenza the $70.00 enrollment fee, and didn't even get a single string, drum head or anything out of it that was promised on any of the rounds we got to!! Doing all this pre show work comes naturally, or should do, to those who are serious about their music! But, folks...you should not have to do it for nothing in return!!! Unless you don't have much faith in your own musical works or just regard it as a hobby!!!

So onward with the rip off...With each new round we got to, by getting votes, they increased the ticket price and decreased the bands set playing time till it got to the point where I was embarresed asking our many fans to pay so much to see us play for 20 minutes...especially when they could come to a regular show we put on ourselves for less than half the price, in a much better venue, better sound system, better stage lighting and over an hours worth of our music!! From a musicians point of view on the equipment, our drummer, whose own kit is a top notch kit, complained had to play their kit with cracked cymbals that had been drilled and sounded like trash cans!!! The Emergena rep went off the deep end verbally as if we had just bitch slapped his mother!!

It just get's worse...

The hand in the air count at the end of each band's performance to see who goes through to the next round...yeah, right! Was the M.C seeing double, due to double vodkas he'd consumed before certain bands?? Cause when the vote count was listed on their website...it was way off from the actual hands in the air votes I counted from the same vantage point as the MC!!! Sometimes more than double what the vote really was!!!! What a crock of shit!!

Oh, and get this....Bands that had already been eliminated from the previous rounds because they did not get enough votes to go through to the next round were ASKED BACK anyway because Emergenza did not have enough bands to fill the night on the next round!! WTF was the point of bands, like us, going the extra mile to sell a ton of tickets to get enough votes to get to the finals when we were up against bands we had already beaten, and they had been eliminated in previous elimination rounds! I'll tell you what the point was....so Emergenza had these bands, once again, selling tickets to line the organizers pockets even more by waving the proverbial carrot in front of the donkey (or jackass if you prefer) to lead those band members on in hopes of them actually getting a 2nd chance of getting to the next round and onto winning the grand prize.. Yeah right, like that was ever going to happen, as each Emergenza rep for that city or town event had already decided who was going through!!

As far as the judges, present at the final rounds, are concerned!! Yeah right!!...I asked our Emergenza rep, 2 minutes before we hit the stage, how many judges there were so I could give him copies of our set list for the judges and it was obvious by his mumbling, stuttering answer that he did not have a clue how many judges there were...Hmmm, I'm thinking were there any!? Was he the JUDGE!!?? It was obviously already decided what bands they preferred, by the inviting back of eliminated bands, and the others the asked back! Emergenza just wanted to milk the hard working musicians out of the money on tickets they would sell on each round right up to the final of the Final of the FINAL! round...milking them right up to the point where the line is blurred from maybe this is not acceptable or legal to totally ridiculous!!!

My advice, having been there, done it, didn't even get a t-shirt to show for it...Stay Clear Of This!!!

If you have your own personal amplification equipment, PA system and instruments( and come on let's face it, if you're serious about being a musician in the music BUSINESS, you will find a way to get the money together to have what you need to play your music live to your fans) It's really not that freaking difficult to put on your own show at a local venue and sell tickets (& make money from your merch) at a reasonable price to your fans and make money for the advancement of your band rather than lining these jerks pockets!!

Go to their website and look at the statistics...
How many shows in each state and each country, multiplyed by how many bands by ticket price of $12 - $15. That's a lot of money that those Fu@$ers are making from your hard work on the wild dream that these greedy bastards are concerned about advancing your money making chances on your God given talent!!!

I could go on telling more horrors of this experience with Emergenza, but, I think you get the picture!!

Are you still thinking of putting your band through the Emergenza nightmare!!???

WHAT THE BLOGGERS SAY: CHECK OUT SOME OF THE DETAILS
WHILE A FEW PEOPLE DEFEND IT (MOSTLY PEOPLE THAT WORK FOR EMERGENZA) YOU CAN FIND LOTS OF INFO
FROM WORKING MUSICIANS WHO'VE WALKED THE WALK.
BLOG FROM TALKBASS.COM - Bass players have it figured out.
BLOG FROM RAWKSUAWK.COM - Rockers have something to say.
SONICBIDS - Read the forum from these happy campers.

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