Sound farfetched? Not to the organizers of the Buffalo Original Music Blast (BOMB).

Saturday night in Nietzsche's, the public got a preview of what the first BOMB national conference, to be held in September in the Theater District, will look like. Some of Buffalo's best musical acts took the stage at eight o'clock and played well into the night, some of them coming from other gigs or on their way to the next show.

The Hanging Mums would head out to Broadway Joe's after their set. The Need came to the show from their performance at the Bijou Grill. They joined 50 Diamond Rocks, Cabalyst, the Electric Bushmen, N.S.S., Riley, The Last Lemming and Leah Zicari in providing proof of the region's diverse collection of acts. The evening featured everything from mean looking metal to laid back acoustic sets.

The Hanging Mums opened up the show with what guitarist/vocalist Joe Mum would call "Kinks meets Stravinsky," showing a retro influence and a flair for angular, atonal instrumental breaks. The fact that they opened with Syd Barret-era Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play" says a lot about the band.

Mudtown Rudy singer and conference organizer Jeff Jackson emceed the evening, taking care of the giveaways and announcing the bands on both stages -- up front and in the back of Nietszche's.

The Last Lemming played two tight sets of music, moving back and forth between funk and mellow jazz and soul, entertaining the crowd out front while the back stage was being set. They got the growing crowd dancing and the place began to fill up.

Leah Zicari played minus her bass player, leaving just her voice, an acoustic guitar, and drums. This didn't, however, detract one bit from her beautiful and airy set. And anyone who enjoys folk music in Buffalo knows just two people in this type of setup can make great music together. Zicari's voice was the definite centerpiece of the music, reminiscent of some of Tori Amos' material on "Little Earthquakes."

The Electric Bushmen hit the stage later. They were another trio with a big sound, but much different from the Hanging Mums. More bluesy and straight ahead, they attacked with sharp guitar bursts and a dead-on rhythm section. They were recently written up in Billboard, and have been drawing interest nationally.

Mudtown Rudy turned in a set that drew heavily on their latest album, "Make Out Music for the Socially Impaired." The Need, N.S.S., Cabalyst, 50 Diamond Rocks, and Riley each turned in 45-minute sets, keeping the music going until well after midnight.

Jackson says he organized the conference with other local bands after the Western New York Music Festival folded. They wanted an outlet to draw attention to the region and its music, as well as to feature up-and-coming acts from around the country. Organizers solicited responses from magazines all over the county and waded through hundreds of submissions from all over the United States and Canada to chose the 70 bands that will appear at the conference.

From September 10-12, downtown will be hopping with music. The first day of the conference will center on a media and industry show in the lobby of Shea's Performing Arts Center. For the next two days, 40 local acts and 30 national acts will play such venues as the Tralfamadore Cafe, 454 Pearl (the old Buffalo Nickel), the Bijou Grill and Breckenridge Brewery.

The national acts playing the conference include You Are Here, a Toronto-based band who was scratched from the preview show, the Jelly Bricks, 50 Diamond Rocks, Foonspeeders, and the Rain Kings.