A mix of Guitar Hero fanatics and adventurous newbies battled it out for dominance and supreme bragging rights when the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith ROCKS the Hard Rock contest—sponsored by SPIN and the Hard Rock Café—stopped at downtown Atlanta's Hard Rock last night (July 23).

It's not often that you catch a frontman call for his father's approval from center stage, but, then again, Bradford Cox is no ordinary frontman.

Who? After moving to the Midwestern U.S. from their native Sweden in the early 2000s, brothers Erik (vocals/guitar/piano/Moog) and Kent Widman (bass/Moog) began power-pop

Who? Score one more for the Great White North. Edmonton, Alberta quintet the Whitsundays -- Paul Arnusch (vocals/percussion), Dave Swanson (guitar/vocals), Clint Frazier (drums), Lyle Bell (bass/vocals), and Doug Organ (keyboards) -- are busy fellows. The '60s-inspired indie pop ensemble shares members

Who? A vet of early emo act Mineral and indie rock sentimentalists the Gloria Record, Austin-bred singer/songwriter Chris Simpson disappeared in 2004 in the midst of recording what would've been the latter band's sophomore effort. Simpson finally reemerged two years later with a new sound and a fresh moniker: Zookeeper. A

The emo train stopped in Atlanta last night (Oct. 2) for a large-yet-intimate show at Midtown's Center Stage where Dashboard Confessional indulged a near-capacity crowd with a mostly solo performance featuring material from singer Chris Carrabba's earlier Dashboard days.