It has been a long, vialis 40mg strange April. The 2013 Rock N’ Roll Rumble has sadly come to a close, and now all involved can go back to semi-normal sleeping schedules (not really). Either way, Friday night was the perfect way to bring an end to a great, and, at sometimes, ridiculously chaotic, Rock N’ Roll Rumble. Here’s a quick recap of Friday’s events before we get to some takeaways that we can dwell on for the next year.

After three weeks of intense prelims and semifinals, the final lineup for finals shaped up to be one of the most diverse billings of the whole Rumble. Before any of the bands started, Anngelle kindly pointed out to the rest of the audience that I was the youngest human at Finals (gracias). It was one of the most fun nights at the Rumble yet, and really drove home the fact that the Boston music community is really a family. I watched Twin Berlin’s set with members of the Field Effect, had a few drinks with some of my previous bosses at WFNX, and saw numerous other members of Rumble bands there who just like listening to good music with good people. What a town.

Twin Berlin graced the stage first, and their energy and sheer determination onstage were a testament to how good they’ve been throughout the Rumble. Having survived two wildcard berths, they stuck to what they knew with their loud, bratty, catchy garage-rock. Did I mention loud? Their set was so in-your-face (and I was at the front of the crowd) that it was impossible not to jam along unless you were deaf. Their current single, “Can’t Take, Take, Take” blew the doors off the place at the end of their set and led to some lovely stage destruction.

Glenn Yoder & the Western States were another band who needed a wildcard berth to make it through to the Semis, but killed their set on Semifinal night 1 to win and get through to the Finals. While not changing their set all that much for Finals, the band continued to stun the crowd with their incredibly tight playing and the harmonies of Yoder, bassist Cilla Bonnie, and guitarist Jeff Katz. The band’s energy and stage presence had only gotten better each night I saw them, the high point of their Finals set (other than closer “Pretty Little Girl,” which I still can’t get out of my head), being the dueling guitar solos of Yoder and Katz at the end of “Not The Man For You.”

Eddie Japan continues to amaze me. With several members that have played in past Rumbles, this is a band that had clearly been building a winning formula. They stuck to what they knew for Finals night, and it paid off. There’s something about Eddie Japan’s set throughout the Rumble that was just plain fun. They were easily the most original band I had seen, combining horns, violins, and fantastic vocals. They were also the only band that was completely undefeated, winning their prelim and Semifinal. Lead singer Dave Santos is a dynamo, holding the large group together with stellar crooning. I honestly don’t know how he hit that final note in “A Town Called Nowhere” night after night, but damned if he did.

After the smoke had cleared and guest band/1985 Rumble alums The Dogmatics had closed out the festivities with their high tempo hard rock, it was time to announce the winner. The 2013 Rumble crown went to Eddie Japan. After nine nights of partying, fright, and some seriously loud and awesome music, 2013’s edition of the Rock N’ Roll Rumble came to a close…and thanks to Richard Bouchard for the lovely champagne bath.

I pray that I’ll be around for a long time here in Boston, but if this were my first and last Rock N’ Roll Rumble, I’ll leave you all with some takeaways. How about one for each night? For those of you who, like me, are bad at math, that means nine.

• The ladies of Boston rock. I mean, they seriously rock. And that’s not just musicians. I was blown away night after night by the female talent of the Northeast. Granted, I have been woefully ignorant of the Boston music scene since I got here three and a half years ago, so damn me for not realizing how much talent was in our fair city across the board. There were too many incredibly female musicians in this year’s Rumble, but I just want to pay tribute to them. From Ruby Rose Fox to Rebecca Frank (The Deep North), to Amelia Gormley (New Highway Hymnal) and Cilla Bonnie (Glenn Yoder & the Western States), to the rest (seriously…way too many to count), not to mention our fantastic organizer Anngelle Wood, the women of Boston music appear to be prepping for a takeover.

• Everybody loves everybody. Some of you will realize that I stole that quote almost directly from Semi-Pro, but it is completely and utterly true. You rarely get to choose your family (almost never), but the family of the Boston music scene is one that you choose. There were no nights of the Rumble where I didn’t see multiple members of many other Rumble bands at TT’s, and on no night of the Rumble did I not hear each band say how great the other bands on display were. This may have just been common courtesy, but I know they all meant it. Case and point: Finals competitors Twin Berlin could be seen rocking out to guest band The Dogmatics while we all eagerly waited for Anngelle to announce the winner. It was awesome.

• Punk is not dead. I grew up and raised myself, musically, at least, on DC-area hardcore punk. I eventually delved into the usual suspects of the punk scene (The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, the list goes on), but until recently, I hadn’t really found any new bands that would restore my faith in that aesthetic. Enter White Dynomite and the Suicide Dolls. These bands have balls. Let’s start with White Dynomite: you have to have some serious balls if you’re going to A, name a song after yourself, and B, open and close your set with it. Now, the Suicide Dolls. I have had their song “Smash” pretty much on repeat on my iPhone for a month. A 7-minute-long, angsty, loud punk song? That shit just doesn’t happen anymore. Not to mention all of these bands are insanely nice.

• Metal also isn’t dead. Several bands proved that this year, two of which were Supermachine and Whitcomb. When I was a kid I dove right into Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, but I always liked more groovy stuff. Enter Supermachine. They brought a hard rock, bluesy class to metal that I’ve always enjoyed, and they songs, while murderous to my already-damaged eardrums, are uber-catchy. Whitcomb, while enjoying the title of “Biggest Badasses of the 2013 Rumble,” due to guitarist Sean Libby’s playing despite barely being out of the hospital, brought their own dark-artsy form of metal to the Rumble. Taking your lyrics from poetry is not a gimmick: it kicks ass when you can back it up, and back it up they did.

• Everyone in the Boston music scene is strange and likes doing weird shit in front of the camera. I had no idea there would be a photo booth at the Rumble (go to Facebook and see the evidence for yourself), but that photo booth was probably the source of several (hundred) drunk gropings, dry humpings, and lickings (looking at you, Michael Marotta). There are also some serious photo booth whores in this community, although I may think that just because I’m the new guy and was too shy to dive in pictures with people I had just met. Oh well, there’s always next year.

• Nobody’s a critic, even if you’re a critic. I talked to a lot of people at the Rumble this year. A lot. Not just about music, either. But in every conversation that had to do with the Rumble or the participating bands, there was never a negative word spoken. I don’t care if one genre of music wasn’t exactly your favorite, there were still nothing but good things said about every band.

• Audiocotton shirts are fucking comfortable. Alright, this one’s kinda dumb, but I invested personal funds (of which I do not have many) in several of these t-shirts, and good GOD are they comfy! Some of you may have seen an odd Facebook post from me regarding this same topic and a new lack of nipple chafing, and I stand by it.

• No band sounds like another band. I have been extremely guilty in the past of making comparisons between Rumble bands/new bands in general, and bands that I’ve listened to throughout the years. This is just because I’m clearly an unoriginal douchebag who’s extremely set in his ways and hates new things (these are my jokes). But seriously, I owe an apology to Twin Berlin. After bonding with bass player Sean O’Neil over owning the same bass (Mark Hoppus signature, yo), I realized I had given them an extremely raw deal in my Rumble Preview for AP by saying they sounded like the Strokes. Every band is influenced by other bands, but no band at the Rumble ripped off other bands. Twin Berlin has a sound that is killer and all their own, and their rollercoaster wildcard ride to the Finals was completely deserved and I loved their sets.

• The Boston music community is STRONG. Thursday night Semifinals was odd. We were five minutes away from Central Square when we all got texts, Twitter updates, and phone calls about slain MIT police officer Sean Collier, and we all stayed at TT’s til around 3 in the morning watching the news. What did Boston’s musical community do after the Marathon bombings? Immediately throw together a benefit show at TT’s in five hours. Immediately begin soliciting bands for song donations for a mixtape that would benefit the One Fund. Immediately design a logo for a shirt, the proceeds of which would go to the One Fund. I am privileged to be in a community of musicians, writers, promoters, DJs, photographers, and many other great people who saw tragedy, saw pain, and immediately stepped up to help, and who are still helping. I am privileged to have this new family who care, and who use music to do some real good in the face of something horrifying. This may be cheesy, but fuck it: We Are Boston.

Alright, well, that’ll do it for me for this year’s Rock N’ Roll Rumble. It has been nothing short of insane. I met some great people, took some shitty pictures on my phone, and heard some great music. Thanks to TT’s, Anngelle, Richard Bouchard, and everyone else involved in making this happen. I will see you all for faithful Rumbling next year. Later, gators!