The Cammies Music Festival kicked off Thursday, showcasing these local artists and bands. Fans of hard rock and metal enjoyed energetic performances by live local bands Sorin and Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy, as well as music from DJ MattleAxe at Café Coda.

There will be performances of other genres tonight and Saturday night as well.

The music festival will conclude with a day-long concert and awards ceremony April 13 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m at the Chico Women’s Club.

Sorin played the first set and blew the crowd away with their intense flow.

The five-part band has been together for about two years. Their style is characterized by alternating dynamic, flowing riffs contrasting with intense, chest-thumping climaxes and searing vocals.

Sorin impressed the audience with one epic, 15-minute-long song in addition to some other songs from their new EP “New Heights.”

Their performance was engaging and exciting, and the audience had a blast dancing and headbanging along.

The other band members are really hoping to win the metal Cammie, said Alex Light, lead vocalist of Sorin and Chico local.

“The Cammie would be good for booking out of town, so we can say something about ourselves, such as winner of Best Metal Band in Chico,” said Light. “We want to be out of town as much as possible. That journey is just starting.”

“We have an upcoming show in Reno and a three-day tour to Seattle and back,” said guitarist Kevin Bowman said.

They enjoy playing metal music because of its cathartic quality and raw portrayal of human emotion that can’t be reached through other genres of music, said Light and Bowman.

The second band to perform was Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy, a four-member ensemble whose style included some indie, alternative influence to their predominantly metal sound. Tight harmonic vocals added to the intensity of their music.

Their performance was enthusiastic and a great last half of the concert.

The band has only been together for about a year, and is still working on recording their music, said Kirk Williams, guitarist and lead vocalist for Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy.

The show was a great showcase of Chico’s metal and hard rock talent. Fans of other genres will not want to miss out on the other performances going on this week for the Cammies Music Festival.

Fans can vote for their favorite artists online at http://www.newsreview.com/chico/2014_cammies/event.

Sarah Scharf can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.