Last night, EMERGE did a bit of party-hopping. Granted it was a Wednesday night, so we were heading home to Brooklyn by about 1 or so. By that point, we'd been to two very different events: an ad industry shin dig and a "kill 'em thrill 'em" set at one of downtown NYC's most iconic rock venues.

First stop: The Creativity Awards. The first ever awards event organized by Creativity Magazine, the event celebrated some of the finest creative work (be it broadcast, interactive, product design or anything else for that matter) chosen by a juried panel of experts. Nintendo Wii, the iPod Shuffle, Axe Deodorant's Game Killers spot, Dove Evolution, Volkswagon "Safe Happens" and several more were honored. Of course, the hors d'eurves were delicious and the cocktails (oddly branded by event sponsor Yahoo! were flowing. Best of all, EMERGE was behind the turntables, providing the soundtrack while getting a behind the scenes look at this fledgling event. Good times and congrats to the winners.

Second stop: !!! live. Not the best known band out there, !!! are an absolute juggernaut live. Blending the sensibilities of a punk-disco group with the shambolic vibes of a heady jam band and the propulsive rhythm of electronic music, they absolutely mopped the floor at their homecoming show last night after months of touring. An eight-piece band with two guitars, bass, multiple percussionists who may switch to trumpets, saxophones, shakers, tamborines, one of the most mindbogglingly tight drummers ever and two vocalists (not including the guest vocalist who did several jams with them), !!! was never dull to watch and they managed to transport big festival tricks like spraying the crowd with water, stagediving, and singing from the center of the crowd into effective party starters in a 700 person room. If you've never checked out !!! (pronounced Chk Chk Chk) do yourself a favor and try to catch their next show in your town. It's one hell of a sweaty good time.
Listen to "A New Name" here

Here's a clip of !!! in action at Coachella 2007

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