Manfest Battle of the Bands, Round III ~ Raginpit.com By: metalmadman

It was a Friday night at the Crossroads. You know what that means? Battle for Manfest, Round III! A time where boys become men and girls become rock vixens; where the local bands stop dicking around, put their balls to the wall and give everything they have plus 100% more. During Round II, Absit wrestled the win from Mercury Bullet and I.Q. Zero -- a vicious battle to be sure. Round III was no exception. A large crowd formed, waiting eagerly for 10:00pm to arrive. Most had picked their favorites, but some were keeping a clear head, wanting for a band to prove they deserved victory. Crossroads is a great night club to hold this type of event. It was a dark atmosphere and you could feel the tension in the room; sense the nervous pacing of band members loading their gear. Anticipation was high when the mêlée began. Gatja, Whatever the Matter and The Dirty Sanchez would fight for the chance to open for Taproot and Hinder, and to be a guest of the 2006 Manfest, held by local rock radio station KRZR. As I entered, the house music had been turned off. Small town Clovis's Gatja took the stage to start off the skirmish. They unleashed their arsenal with a very poppy tune called "Chains." None the less, I and many others were definitely quickly caught up in this tune. "Chains" started out pretty fast and the vocals came rushing in like a hurricane. Suddenly, you heard three harmonizing voices (drummer Jerome and guitarists Allen and Greg) behind lead singer Angela Wilder during the chorus. Next on their list was "Set Me Free," a mid-nineties rock lick sort of like Bush. It had a very rugged crunched ring to it. A few people looked their way about mid-song when their guitarist busted out a brief solo. Very crafty and ear-catching, it was similar to Chad Taylor’s style from the band Live. By this time, more and more of the crowd were congregating towards the stage. That must have been the energy that vocalist Angela had been waiting for -- she starting moving all over the stage like Alanis Moresette! Gatja ended their set with "For All We Are." The band decided to give it everything they had as Greg and Allen both began head banging in sync with bassist Tiffany Hamlet. Angela was jumping around, and I thought she was going to fall on Tiffany at one point. That would have been a great addition to the show; chick wrestling and rock all in one! (I should stop daydreaming while watching bands, but I can't help it -- I'm a promoter in my other life.)