Firefest 2012 - October 2012 - Nottingham Rock City

[Rockingbear]

Firefest 2012

As every year I was really looking forward to this year’s Firefest. Having only seen 8 out of the 18 bands previously, my initial thoughts were that this line-up was not as strong as previous years. How wrong can one be?

The main reason for attending Firefest is the music, however, there is so much more to this festival, the camaraderie between fans being a major factor. Being around like-minded people, from all around the World, is not the norm, however, for this weekend it is! I think that this year Firefest was even friendlier than ever.

This is by no means a cheap weekend with the cost of travel, accommodation, food & drink as well as ticket prices to take into account. I am, therefore, amazed at the number of fans that travel overseas for this event. Talking to many of them we are truly spoilt here in the UK with the bands that do play and for the most part we do not appreciate the fact.

A special mention must be made to the sound engineer(s) as all eighteen bands had an excellent sound which is no mean feat in Nottingham’s Rock City!

The set-lists are, I would estimate, 90% accurate and most were recorded by me, personally, during the shows but I did require outside help on a couple of songs or two.

Choosing a t-shirt to wear each day at Firefest is an important decision and frequently leads to impromptu conversations with total strangers. In remembrance of Rick Chadock I chose my White Sister t-shirt for the Friday; Night Ranger, whom I finally got see this year, for the Saturday; and Danger Danger, which seemed to be every other fans’ choice on the Sunday!

Hope that you enjoy the ramblings of an avid Melodic Rock fan? To those that attended to refresh your memories and to those, less fortunate, to give you a flavour of one terrific weekend.

A big thank-you to my friends Mark, Jordi, Pere, Patrick, Troy and Colin, all the other fans that I spoke to over the weekend, the bands and the whole Firefest Crew for yet another amazing weekend. Roll on the 10th Anniversary!


Friday 19th October 2012

Lionville

Fortunately, like many, I had made my way inside Rock City early doors as Lionville hit the stage a few minutes ahead of their scheduled 5.40pm start-time. First song of Firefest 2012 was the brilliant “Here By My Side” and it was clear from the get-go that the Firefest crowd were in fine voice. Talking of fine voices, the superb vocals of Lars Säfsund increased my expectations further for the following day’s set from Swedish AOR stars Work Of Art. Lars velvet vocals effortlessly conveyed the glorious “Power Of My Dreams” and “World Without Your Love”.

As frequently occurs at Firefest the band respond to the tremendous audience reaction. Alessandro Del Vecchio (keyboards and backing vocals) and Anna Portalupi (bass) must have told the rest of the band of the expected reception, however, it was evident that the level of reaction took them by surprise.

New song “All We Need” was introduced by founding member of Lionville, Stefano Lionetti. Lionville may have started off as a project, however, it was clear from tonight’s performance that they are a slick group.

The backing vocals supplied by Alessandro Del Vecchio, Stefano Lionville and second guitarist Mario Percudani were superb.

“With You” brought Lionville’s criminally short set (only five songs) to a triumphant end. I had initially worried that Lionville would be too lightweight to kick off Firefest, however, no fear of the latter with the quality of songs on offer and an amazing group performance to match.

Lionville received a deserved, loud ovation that clearly moved the band especially drummer Pierpaol “Zorro11” Monti who looked close to tears with emotion.

Fantastic start to the weekend. One down, seventeen to go!

Set-list:-

1 Here By My Side
2 Power Of My Dreams
3 World Without Your Love
4 All We Need
5 With You

Source: Notebook

Lionville:-

Stefano Lionetti - Guitars & Vocals
Lars Safsund - Vocals
Mario Percudani - guitar, vocals 
Anna Portalupi - bass 
Alessandro Del Vecchio - keys, vocals 
Alessandro Mori - drums


Sound: 8.5
Set-List: 8
Performance: 9.5
Personal Rating: 9
Favourite Track: “Here By My Side”


Dante Fox

“The Last Goodbye” got things off to a promising start for Dante Fox and, as with all bands appearing at Firefest, the crowd gave them a warm reception. Fortunately, the sound was far better than the previous occasion I had seen Dante Fox, supporting the mighty Night Ranger (an ideal band to headline Firfefest if they did not have such unreasonable financial demands) where they were just too loud!

“Firing My Heart” and “Under The City Lights” showcased Sue Willets’ fine vocals, however, her interaction with the audience was both uncomfortable and minimal. At times Sue looked totally bored and like she wanted to be somewhere else. As a complete contrast, guitarist Tim Manford, was having a whale of a time and took every opportunity to take centre-stage but did have a tendency to overplay his solos.

By the time we reached the fourth song “Lost And Lonely Heart” the Dante Fox had lost half the audience; people at the back of the venue appeared to more interesting in talking to one another as opposed to watching the band.

Dante Fox released their brand new album “Lost Man’s Ground” at this evening’s show and played the new song “Who Stole The Innocence” which was one of the highlights of their set.

“Walking The Line” and cover “Remember My Name” brought the set to a close and the band left to polite applause as opposed to what should have been a hero’s ovation.

Set-list:-

1 The Last Goodbye
2 Firing My Heart
3 Under The City Lights
4 Lost & Lonely Heart
5 I Can't Sleep
6 Who Stole The Innocence
7 Walking The Line
8 Remember

Dante Fox:-

Sue Willetts - vocals
Tim Manford - guitar, vocals
Andy Perfect - drums
Pete Lakin - keyboards
Alan Mills - bass

Sound: 8
Set-List: 7.5
Performance: 7.5
Personal Rating: 7
Favourite Track: “Walking The Line”


Ten

Ten’s appearance at Firesfest had been a long-time coming after previously headlining the fore-runner to this festival, The Gods.

Ten broke a couple of the unwritten rules: opened with a new track and played too many new tracks (three) in a short, eight-track set. “Lights Go Down” from the excellent new album “Heresy & Creed” is a great track but probably not the ideal opening track for this evening’s Firefest debut.

Fan favourite “Spellbound” raised the tempo and then immediately into the second new track of the evening “Gunrunning”.

The heavy “Ten Fathoms Deep” was juxtaposed to the brilliant AOR of “After The Love Is Gone” from the 1996 debut.

The sound was very good as were Gary’s vocals, however, I know to some that they are an acquired taste and he was not quite in the same league as some of the other vocalists on show over the weekend.

The band were obviously having fun though it was difficult to tell with new guitarist Dan Mitchell who has an unusual playing style for a rock guitarist and keeps his head down concentrating on his craft. The boy can certainly shred with the best of them!

Another classic, from Ten’s extensive back-catalogue, would have been better played at this stage rather than average album track “Unbelievable” from “Heresy & Creed”.

Fortunately, Ten finished their set in fine style with the Celtic, Thin Lizzy influenced “Red” and arguably their greatest song “The Name Of The Rose”. I have been a fan ever since hearing this song and have waited fifteen years to see them perform live and then see them twice in six months!

As I said earlier, one too many new songs and also slightly disappointed that there was not enough time for my favourite song and Ten’s finest, in my opinion, “The Robe”. That said, they satisfied all existing fans and convinced a few of those sitting on the fence.

Set-list:-

1 Lights Go Down
2 Spellbound
3 Gunrunning
4 Ten Fathoms Deep
5 After The Love Is Gone
6 Unbelievable
7 Red
8 The Name Of The Rose

Ten:-

Gary Hughes - vocals
Dan Mitchell - guitar
John Halliwell - guitar
Steve McKenna - bass
Darrel Treece-Birch - keyboards
Max Yates - drums

Sound: 8.5
Set-List: 8
Performance: 9
Personal Rating: 9
Favourite Track: “The Name Of The Rose”


Tyketto

An excellent choice for set-opener in “Strength In Numbers” had the crowd in full-voice from the beginning.

Despite a career spanning over twenty years, the original line-up – Danny Vaughn (vocals and guitar). Brooke St. James (guitar), Jimi Kennedy (bass), Michael Clayton (drums) - only have three full studio albums but they chose their set from these perfectly, in my opinion. Ged Rylands on keyboards completed the line-up.

“Faithless”, the standout track from the latest, underrated, album “Dig In Deep” kept up the momentum but it was the first song from the classic debut “Don’t Come Easy” that nearly took the roof off Rock City! Danny Vaughan, in fine-voice as ever, himself, commented that he had never heard such a crowd reaction in Rock City. The latter was to be repeated for the following two evenings, for the respective headlining acts.

I do not think that Tyketto can ever have played in front of such an adoring crowd and they responded with a near-perfect performance.

Danny seemed to be under the impression that he held the record number of appearances at Firefest, however, I would not be surprised if that honour belongs to guitar maestro, Tommy Denander?

The band hit top gear straight away and never took their foot off the gas for the whole show. Indeed, at times they seemed to switch on the afterburners! If there was a slight dip in proceedings, and I only mean slight, then it came during “Lay Your Body Down” and “Here’s Hoping It Hurts”.

The stylish “Catch My Fall” from the equally impressive sophomore album “Strength In Numbers” raised the mercury even higher and the double salvo of “Sail Away” and “Standing Alone” ensured that most of us finished the evening with hoarse voices!

Two more tracks from “Strength In Numbers”, set regular “Rescue Me” and personal favourite “Meet Me In The Night” kept up the impetus and were intersected with a guitar solo from Mr, Cool: Brooke St. James.

The heavy “The Fight Left In Me” preceded main set closer and crowd favourite “Wings”. Danny commented that “Wings” is the song that he has had the most feedback over the years.

A brief exit by the band before they returned for the inevitable, Melodic Rock Anthem, “Forever Young” sending the crowd home delirious and in great anticipation for the main two days. Straight back to the hotel for some much needed liquid lubrication and only four bands down and still another fourteen to go!

Friday night headliners at Firefest are now becoming a bit legendary following this evening’s performance by Tyketto and Jimi Jamison’s perfect set twelve month’s ago. I do not envy next year’s headliner’s task!

1 Strength in Numbers
2 Faithless
3 Burning Down Inside
4 Lay Your Body Down
5 Here's Hoping It Hurts
6 Catch My Fall
7 Sail Away
8 Standing Alone
9 Rescue Me
10 Meet Me in the Night
11 The Fight Left In Me
12 Wings

Encore:
13 Forever Young

Tyketto:-

Danny Vaughn - vocals, guitar 
Brooke St. James - guitar
Jimi Kennedy - bass
Michael Clayton - drums
Ged Rylands - keyboards

Sound: 10
Set-List: 10
Performance: 10
Personal Rating: 10
Favourite Track: “Forever Young”

Saturday 20th October 2012

Johnny Lima

Johnny Lima hit the stage just like he had stepped off the sunset strip circa 1989 and aptly played “Made In Caliornia” from the same titled, 2003, album. A very good crowd had made the effort to arrive at Rock City early to catch the very energetic, opening set.

The sound was clear and loud and Johnny played like his life dependend upon it and like he was headlining Saturday night as opposed opening up on early afternoon.

Over half the set was taken from 2009’s “Livin’ Out Loud” album including “Hate To Love You”, “All I Wanna Do”, “Wildflower” and “Caught In The Middle”.

New song “My Revolution” was fittingly dedicated to the fans from Barcelona who are striving for an independent state of Catalonia

Now I had always thought that Johnny Lima sounded like Jon Bon Jovi and he was certainly a deadringer on the ballad “Blame It On Love”, however, for the rest of the set I heard greater similarities to Vince Neil.

“Hard To Say Goodbye” brought a very successful opening set to a close.

Set-list:-

1 Made In California
2 Hate To Love You
3 All I Wanna Do
4 Wildflower
5 My Revolution
6 Blame It On Love
7 Caught In The Middle
8 Hard To Say Goodbye

Johnny Lima band:-

Johnny Lima - vocals, guitar 
Sören Becker - guitar, keys
Alexander Rossov - guitar 
Fabian Ranft - bass
Sven Petersen - drums


Sound: 8.5
Set-List: 8
Performance: 8.5
Personal Rating: 8
Favourite Track: “Blame It On Love”


Work Of Art

Work Of Art is one of the bands that I had been really looking forward to seeing at this year’s Firefest having released two of my favourite albums in the last couple of years: 2008’s “Artwork” and last year’s “In Progress”. The eight-track set could not have been better and it was if the band had allowed me personally to pick the songs!

One of the songs of 2011, “The Rain” opened proceedings and the crowd went wild! Those in attendance on the Friday night already knew how excellent the vocals of Lars Sanfuld were and again they were near perfection throughout the whole set. “Nature Of The Game” showcased this even further.

The three-piece band of guitarist Robert Säll, vocalist Lars Säflund and drummer Herman Furin were joined on stage by Royal Hunt’s bass player Andreas Passmark and keyboard player Jonas Gröning.

My favourite track from the debut “Cover Me” followed before two epic ballads “Camelia” from the debut and “Emelie” from the sophomore release.

There is far more to this band than just being Toto clones, yes you can hear clear similarities at times to the AOR Gods but Work Of Art have their own unique identity as heard on the excellent “Never Love Again”.

The crowd volume raised even further at the beginning of “The Great Fall” which was previously played at last year’s Firefest during W.E.T.’s brilliant inaugural set.

There were no ups and downs during this set, all high quality songs performed perfectly, however, the closing song “Why Do I?” almost brought the house down.

Only the second band of the day and the gauntlet had been already been laid down. Simply awesome!

Set-list:-

1 The Rain
2 Nature Of The Game
3 Cover Me
4 Camelia
5 Emelie
6 Never Love Again
7 The Great Fall
8 Why Do I?

Work Of Art:-

Lars Säflund - vocals
Robert Säll - guitar
Herman Furin - drums 
Jonas Gröning - keyboards 
Andreas Passmark - bass

Sound: 9
Set-List: 10
Performance: 10
Personal Rating: 10
Favourite Track: “Why Do I?”


Robin Beck

This had been a long time coming, the first ever UK performance by Robin Beck. I was fortunate to meet both Robin and Fiona at the morning’s meet & greet and even get a kiss from both beautiful ladies! Unfortunately, there was not time for Robin to sign any CD’s due to the number of people wanting to meet her. My friend Pere later managed to get her latest CD signed on my behalf so I decided to buy a copy from the merchandise store. They had obviously decided to make the Greek fans feel at home and apply their inflationary rate as “The Great Escape” rose from £10 to £15 overnight!!!! Needless to say I did not buy a copy.

There was great anticipation as the band hit the stage and Robin burst into “If You Were A Woman”. The first thing that you notice is how diminutive Robin is on stage followed quickly by what a powerful voice she still possesses, pitch perfect according to guitarist Tommy Denander and it certainly sounded that way on tonight’s evidence.

As well as the aforementioned Tommy Denander on guitars, Robin’s all-star band also included husband and House Of Lord’s vocalist James Christian, keyboard wizard Eric Ragno, B.J. Zampa on drums and Jorge Salan on guitar and vocals.

Robin was extremely confident and lapped up the crowd attention and thoroughly enjoyed the interaction.

“That All Depends” featured Robin’s husband, James, on lead vocals. It was great to see James looking so fit and healthy after his recent health issues and in fine voice.

Back to the classic debut with the brilliant “Tears In The Rain” before the second track from Robin’s last album, 2011’s “The Great Escape”, “The One”.

Firefest would not be the same without at least one appearance from guitar maestro Tommy Denander and once again he acted as the perfect foil to yet another amazing vocalist.

“Hide Your Heart” written by Desmond Child, Holly Knight and Kiss legend Paul Stanley has been covered by the likes of Bonnie Tyler, Molly Hatchet, Kiss, Ace Frehley, had the Firefest Choir once again in full voice and I thought should have been, in my opinion, the closing song of the set. This, in my opinion, is the best version of this classic song. The multi-platinum selling “First Time” does not have the same oomph as the aforementioned track but is, nonetheless Robin Beck’s most famous song.

Surprise of the set was the superb rendition of Glen Burtnick’s “Follow You” which is set to be included on Robin’s next studio album.

Like Robin herself, this set was simply stunning!

1 If You Were A Woman
2 Don't Lose Any Sleep
3 Hold Back The Night
4 Save Up All Your Tears
5 That All Depends
6 Tears In The Rain
7 The One
8 Hide Your Heart
9 First Time
10 Follow You

Robin Beck band:-

Robin Beck - vocals
Tommy Denander - guitar
Jorge Salan - guitar, vocals 
B.J. Zampa - drums 
Eric Ragno - keyboards 
James Christian - bass, vocals

Sound: 9.5
Set-List: 10
Performance: 10
Personal Rating: 10
Favourite Track: “Hide Your Heart”


Santers

Santers are a band that passed me by when they first hit the scene back in the early eighties. Following the announcement that they would be playing at Firefest I got hold of their albums and was pleasantly surprised at their style of rock, a cross between Triumph and Coney Hatch.

Santers put in an excellent performance of old-school classic rock with the set taken from their first three albums: 1981’s “Shot Down In Flames”; 1982’s “Racing Time”; and 1984’s “Guitar Alley”.

Their very solid performance probably only suffered being on the back of the awesome sets by Work Of Art and Robin Beck.

I personally could have done without the drum solo – another of those “unwritten set-list rules”.

A cover of Free’s “All Right Now” went down well with the Firefest faithful, however, I have to confess that I am not personally enamored with this song.

Long-time Santers fans seemed well impressed and that made four out of four for the Saturday.

Set-list:-

1 Mistreatin' Heart
2 Time After Time
3 Black Magic
4 The Rapper
5 Dreaming
6 Shot Down In Flames
7 Mark Santers' drum solo
8 You Turn Me On
9 All Right Now
10 Can't Shake You
11 Road to Morocco

Santers:-

Mark Santers Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals
Rick Lizaroff Bass, Backing Vocals
Rick Santers Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards

Sound: 9
Set-List: 8
Performance: 9
Personal Rating: 8
Favourite Track: “Dreaming”


XYZ

I had a feeling that this was going to be something special and I was not disappointed. The majority of this evening’s set was taken from the eponymous 1989 album and opened with “Come On n’ Love Me”. My personal highlight was the second song, the incredible “Maggy”, hard melodic rock at its best!

1991’s follow-up album “Hungry” had its high points and next track “Off To The Sun” was one of them.

Terry Illous’ vocals were outstanding and were really emphasised on the brilliant power-ballad “What Keeps Me Loving You”.

After “Follow The Night” a three-song acoustic set followed featuring Terry Illous and lead guitarist Tony Marcus. A heard a few comments that they overdid the acoustic side and I would normally be the first to agree, however, I thought the performances of “After The Rain”, “When I Find Love” and the incredible spine-tingling “Souvenirs” were outstanding.

The electric set was kicked back into full force with “Face Down In The Gutter” and completed with “Inside Out”; I think it would have been prudent to play these in a transposed order.

This was fast becoming when of the best ever days at Firefest.

1 Come on n' Love Me
2 Maggy
3 Off To The Sun
4 What Keeps Me Loving You
5 Follow The Night
6 After the Rain (Acoustic)
7 When I Find Love (Acoustic)
8 Souvenirs (Acoustic)
9 Face Down In The Gutter
10 Inside Out

XYZ:-

Terry Ilous - vocals
Pat Fontaine - bass 
Tony Marcus - guitar 
Joey Shapiro - drums 


Sound: 9
Set-List: 9
Performance: 9.5
Personal Rating: 9.5
Favourite Track: “Maggy”


Mitch Malloy

Having been in attendance since 12.45pm I headed back to the hotel for some much needed sustenance and as a result missed the first couple of songs of Mitch’s set. Fortunately, I made it back in time for my personal favourite track “Stranded In The Middle Of Nowhere” from the colossal 1992 debut.

This evening’s set was divided mainly between Mitch’s debut and last year’s “II” album with a couple of tracks from the re-issued “Shine” thrown in for good measure. It was very similar to the one played at last year’s festival, however, I did not feel like it was quite as polished despite the excellent performances Mitch’s backing band, Lionville members: keyboard player extraordinaire Alessandro Del Vecchio, the beautiful Anna Portalupi on bass, the underrated guitarist and backing vocalist Mario Percudani and the “Cat that got the cream”, drummer Alessandro Mori. (Tommy Denander was no where to be seen – see last year’s review for my personnel error).

It was a surprise to many, that Dorian Gray, sorry, I mean Mitch Malloy was appearing for the third time at Firefest and also for the second year running. Maybe that was the reason for not quite enjoying it the same: familiarity breeds contempt?

As good as the songs are from “II” they do not have the same impact as the classics from the debut. “Take Me Over The Water” is Mitch’s personal favourite from the aforementioned debut; ironically it is my least favourite song from that album!

“It’s About Love” is one of the highlights from “Shine” and got another airing this evening as did the title track from the same album. The latter featured a guest appearance from Danger Danger bassist Bruno Ravel. It was evident from the crowd reaction that there was great expectation for the following evening’s headline act.

I, personally, would have liked to have heard the bonus tracks from that album “Never Give Up On You” and arguably the best song, not to appear on the debut, “Shadow In The Dark”.

Highlights towards the end of the set were the upbeat “Forever” and the melodic rock classic “Anything At All”. The emotional “All My Friends” brought the set to a close

1 Mission of Love
2 Falling To Pieces
3 Stranded In the Middle of Nowhere
4 I'll Still Love You
5 Take Me Over the Water
6 It's About Love
7 Love Song
8 On & On
9 Our Love Will Never Die
10 Forever
11 Shine
12 Anything At All
13 All My Friends

Mitch Malloy band:-

Mitch Malloy - vocals, guitar
Mario Percudani - guitar, vocals 
Anna Portalupi - bass 
Alessandro Del Vecchio - keys, vocals 
Alessandro Mori - drums

Sound: 9
Set-List: 9
Performance: 9
Personal Rating: 8.5
Favourite Track: “Stranded In The Middle Of Nowhere”


Gotthard

There is no doubt that headliners Gotthard were the main reason for the first ever sell-out of a day at Firefest. To this day I still regret never catching them before with the now legendary Steve Lee; only Firefest that I have missed and also could not be bothered to travel across The Pennines on a cold and wet November evening on the “Domino Effect” tour. Take heed, never put off something today…

The anticipation was palpable as the band hit the stage with the blistering “Dream On”, from my favourite Gotthard album, 2005’s “Lip Service”. The sound was loud, a fraction too loud in my opinion, but clear nonetheless.

The momentum was kept up with “Gone Too Far”; everywhere I looked fans were going crazy with delight! The band and crowd were feeding off each other’s energy in equal measures.

“Starlight” was the first of seven numbers taken from this year’s excellent comeback album “Firebirth”, featuring new singer Nic Maeder. The “nan-nan-nan-nahs” were being sung at full volume by the Firefest Choir.

“Top Of The World” is just one of a plethora of infectious tunes that Gotthard have in their armory. Having ten studio albums, in their twenty year, career to date, it must be an incredibly difficult task picking the set.

The first song written with Nic Maeder, the super ballad “Remember It’s Me”, highlighted how reminiscent Nic’s voice is to Steve’s, however, he is no simple copy-cat. The remaining members of Gotthard chose really well when looking for a replacement for the sadly departed Steve Lee; Nic has his own personality but does real justice to the old Gotthard classics.

“Sister Moon” injected a bit of blues influence into the proceedings.

Another new song “Flight”, as with all the songs from “Firebirth” fitted seamlessly into the set. Gotthard’s version of the classic “Hush” is my personal favourite rendition of this song and obviously many others judging by the crowd reaction.

Half way through and Nic Maeder made short tribute to Steve Lee before singing the pertinent “One Life, One Soul” helped once again by the ever-enthusiastic Firefest Choir.

There are no real ballads, in the typical Gotthard tradition, on the recent album but “Shine” is one of the slower numbers. After that, it was swift gear change and full throttle for the closing eight numbers, starting with the excellent “Story’s Over”.

The aggressive “Fist In Your Face” was probably the heaviest song of their set and preceded “Gimme Real” again from the recent album.

Guitarist Leo Leoni then started playing and using the talkbox which led to my favourite track of the evening (actually I enjoyed the whole set from start to finish) with the marvelous “Mountain Mama”. Try listening to this song without moving to the rhythm. The talkbox effects were utilised further during “Right On”.

A crowd sing-along was inevitable during “Lift U Up” which brought the main set to a celebratory end.

First encore was the contagious and heavy “Master Of Illusion” before the Saturday evening was brought to a fitting climax with “Anytime, Anywhere”. The band left the stage to a massive ovation and then the crowd reprised the sing-a-long to “Lift U Up” which the band themselves had never heard before, even in native country of Switzerland.

Gotthard had just performed one of the best ever headlining sets, on probably the best ever, full day, in Firefest history. The gauntlet had certainly been laid down for the Sunday…

1 Dream On
2 Gone Too Far
3 Starlight
4 Top of the World
5 Remember It's Me
6 Sister Moon
7 Fight
8 Hush (Billy Joe Royal cover)
9 One Life, One Soul
10 Shine
11 The Story's Over
12 Fist in Your Face
13 Gimme Real
14 Mountain Mama
15 Right On
16 Lift U Up

Encore:
17 Master of Illusion
18 Anytime Anywhere

Gotthard:-

Leo Leoni - guitar
Freddy Scherer - guitars
Marc Lynn - bass guitar
Hena Habegger - drums
Nic Maeder - vocals, additional guitars
Ernesto Ghezzi- keyboards

Sound: 9
Set-List: 10
Performance: 10
Personal Rating: 10
Favourite Track: “Mountain Mama”


Sunday 21st October 2012

FarCry

Missed the opening track “She’s Crazy” due to going to the pub for the first of many pints of Guinness to be consumed throughout the day! Purely medicinal I might add as it really helps fighting off back ache!!!!!

“Over & Over (Again)” was played for the second successive Firefest, Pete Fry having made a guest appearance with Newman.

Two further tracks from last year’s “Optimism” album, “Nothing You Can Do” and “Better Than This” continued the show, however, the real standouts were from the great debut album “High Gear”: the brilliant “Have It All” and my personal favourite “Fine Line”.

Kieran & Tony Marshall mocked guitarist Pete Fry from the side of the stage, teasing him with various fruits and hand-written posters but Pete remained professional throughout! They must have liked him as Farcry were the only band over the weekend that exceeded their finish time!

“Love Won’t Wait” brought a very enjoyable set to a close and a solid start to the day’s proceedings.

1 She's Crazy
2 Over & Over (Again)
3 Nothing You Can Do
4 Better Than This
5 Have It All
6 Too Hot To Hold
7 Fine Line
8 Love Won't Wait

Farcry:-

Pete Fry -guitar
Mike Ledesma - vocals 
Angelo Mazza - guitar 
Ronnie Parkes- bass
Tommy John - drums

Sound: 8.5
Set-List: 8.5
Performance: 8.5
Personal Rating: 8.5
Favourite Track: “Fine Line”


Fiona

Fiona had the unenviable task of trying to match the performance of her friend Robin Beck from the previous day. Although backed with the same band as Robin, she was never going to be able to reach those same heights, however, she still put on a very enjoyable set.

Kicking off with two tracks from her 2011 album “Unbroken”: “Love Along The Way” and “Unbroken” Fiona looked a little nervous and kept looking up to the balcony for reassurance from her friend Robin. Although not quite as pitch perfect as Robin, Fiona certainly had some power in them lungs for such a petite lady.

A couple of songs from her 1992 “Squeeze” album and Fiona was beginning to feel more comfortable; “Ain’t The Just Like Love” and “Treat Me Right”.

Highlight of the set for me was the brilliant “Keeper Of The Flame”, the only track played from 1986’s “Beyond The Pale” album.

Fiona was very self-deprecating when introducing “Hearts OF Fire”, the soundtrack to a film that no one saw!

The set was completed with a cover of “Shadows Of The Night” featuring the original, darker lyrics.

Not the polished performance of her ally Robin Beck but still a very enjoyable set nonetheless.

1 Love Along The Way
2 Broken
3 Ain't That Just Like Love
4 Treat Me Right
5 Keeper Of The Flame
6 Hang Your Heart On Me
7 Hearts Of Fire
8 Talk To Me
9 Shadows Of The Night

Fiona, the band:-

Fiona - vocals
Tommy Denander - guitar
Jorge Salan- guitar, vocals 
B.J. Zampa - drums 
Eric Ragno - keyboards 
James Christian - bass, vocals 
Garret Wall - backing vocals

Sound: 8.5
Set-List: 8.5
Performance: 8.5
Personal Rating: 8.5
Favourite Track: “Keeper Of The Flame”


Royal Hunt

Set organizer Kieran Dargan made no effort to hide his love for this band and even sported a t-shirt of theirs on the Sunday. Royal Hunt might not fit the archetypical genre for Firefest, however, they proved, with this virtually faultless performance, they were well deserved of their position at the festival.

The set was delayed that meant I was fortunate not to miss the start. I am only familiar with the latest studio album “Show Me How To Live” from which opening track “One More Day” was taken.

Royal Hunt had the best sound of the whole weekend and the greatest audio mix that I have heard, from any band, at Rock City, being absolutely crystal. The vocals of DC Cooper were impeccable and the musicianship of the remaining band members was first-class. The female backing vocalists were not just eye-candy and really added to the overall sound effect.

The band appeared to be having real fun on stage and really enjoying the opportunity to play in front of such an enthusiastic crowd.

Title track from 2001’s “The Mission” was second track up followed by “Tearing Down The World” from, what I am led to believe, by many, is Royal Hunt’s standout album, 1997’s “Paradox”.

“Flight” from 1992’s debut “Land Of Broken Hearts” preceded my personal highlight of the set “Half Past Loneliness”. This song certainly had the “Wow factor”.

Penultimate track of their shortened set came by way of “Stranded” also from the debut album.

What was interesting about this set was the fact that when Royal Hunt first hit the stage half the audience was going wild but by the time that they concluded with the classic “Message To God” the whole audience was in absolute raptures! Certainly the surprise of the weekend; why would one ever doubt Keiran?

Set-list:-

1 One More Day
2 The Mission
3 Tearing Down The World
4 Flight
5 Half Past Lonliness
6 Stranded
7 Message To God

Royal Hunt:-

DC Cooper- vocals
Andre Anderson - keyboards 
Allan Sorensen - drums 
Andreas Passmark - bass 
Jonas Larsen - guitars 
Maria McTurk - backing vocals 
Alexandra Popova - backing vocals

Sound: 10
Set-List: 9
Performance: 10
Personal Rating: 9
Favourite Track: “Half Past Loneliness”


Brighton Rock

Unfortunately, I did not down my pint of Guinness quick enough to catch set-opener “Unleash The Rage” but was back in Rock City as the Canadian’s belted out the title track of their 1986 album “Young, Wild & Free”.

Other than top of the bill D2, Brighton Rock were the band that I was most looking forward to seeing on the Sunday and they did not fail to live up to expectations.

Vocalist may have put on a few pounds over the years, however, his vocals were still as impressive as back in the day. The rest of the band: were as tight as a drum and really enjoyed playing to the partisan crowd.

Three tracks from my favorite Brighton Rock album “Take A Deep Breath” followed: “Hangin’ High ‘n’ Dry”, “Outlaw” and the classy “Rebels With A Cause”.

“Hollywood Shuffle” from 1991’s “Love Machine was probably the low-point of the set, however, things soon kicked back into gear with “We Came To Rock”.

Vocalists favourite “Nightstalker” was intense.

The feelgood factor of “Power Overload” was only bettered by the ultra-heavy “Bulletproof” that concluded the Canuk’s magnificent set.

A friend of mine commented that he did not remember Brighton Rock being quite so heavy but they were really ripping it up this evening. Once again, a Canadian act had taken Firefest by storm!

Brighton Rock came out afterwards for a Meet & Greet, however, by the time that I had trekked back to the hotel to get my CD covers the band had left! I still managed to get the covers signed by most of the band as they returned again to watch Danger Danger’s headlining set. They were more than happy to char and were thrilled to discover that I had seen them before, back in 1989, in Manchester on their debut UK tour.

1 Unleash The Rage
2 Young, Wild & Free
3 Barricade
4 Hangin' High 'n' Dry
5 Outlaw
6 Rebels With A Cause
7 Hollywood Shuffle
8 We Came To Rock
9 One More Try
10 Nightstalker
11 Power Overload
12 Bulletproof

Brighton Rock:-

Gerry McGhee - vocals
Greg Fraser -guitar
Johnny Rogers - guitar, keyboards 
Stevie Skreebs - bass 
Mark Cavarzan - drums

Sound: 9
Set-List: 9
Performance: 9
Personal Rating: 9
Favourite Track: “Bulletproof”


Lillian Axe

I missed the first half of New Orlean’s band Lillian Axe’s set being back at the hotel for a food break.

I have had a copy of Lillian Axe’s sophomore, “Love And War”, album for over twenty years but have to say that I have never been a really big fan.

I arrived back inside Rock City during “The World Stopped Turning” from the aforementioned “Love And War” album and the band were going down a storm.

Paradoxically for most Firefest acts, Lillian Axe, were performing with only one original member, guitarist Steve Blaze. The latter did not seem to affect the crowd response.

My personal favourite track was the epic “Ghost Of Winter” from 1989’s “Love And War” album. The set-list was made up of songs from five albums spanning the whole of their 24 year career.

The band left to a rapturous ovation and yet another success at this year’s Firefest.

1 Deepfreeze
2 Misery Loves Company
3 All's Fair In Love And War
4 True Believer
5 The World Stopped Turning
6 Babylon
7 Crucified
8 Ghost Of Winter
9 Death Comes Tomorrow
10 Show A Little Love
11 No Matter What

Lillian Axe:-

Steve Blaze - guitar, vocals
Sam Pointevent - guitar
Eric Morris - bass 
Ken Koudelka - drums 
Derrick LeFevre - vocals 


Sound: 9
Set-List: 9
Performance: 9
Personal Rating: 8
Favourite Track: “Ghost Of Winter”


Stage Dolls

Two years ago Norwegians Stage Dolls took Firefest by storm and produced an outstanding set that was only bettered, in my opinion, by Jimi Jamison. It would have been simple for them to simply reproduce that set from two years ago, however, they decided to mix it up a little.

As far as I can remember, Stage Dolls were the only band of the weekend to start with a long pre-recorded intro leading into “Always”.

“Love Cries” had the crowd in full voice as they were for most of the Scandinavian’s excellent set.

Stage Dolls’ material is very simplistic, just very catchy tunes with very little fuss and a nice change of pace following three relatively heavy bands.

The trio have had over thirty years to hone their craft and they effortlessly play through tracks spanning their whole career.

The rock ‘n’ roll of “Left Foot Boogie” preceded the ballad “Hard To Say Goodbye”.

I have always felt that Stage Dolls and in particular, guitarist and vocalist Torstein Falkne, were Norway’s answer to Bryan Adams and the two tracks from “Get A Life” really highlighted this: “You’re The One” and “24/7”.

The emotive “Sorry (Is All I Can Say)” had Torksten Flanke pouring his heart out. Yet another band that was feeding off the energy being fed back by the devoted fans.

The great “Taillights” picked the pace back up as did “Commandos” which, surprisingly, was the only song taken from the awesome1986 album of the same title.

Torstein Flakne’s favouite song “Love Don’t Bother Me” was yet another highlight of a set full of highlights.

“Wings Of Steel” and “Still In Love” brought the crowd to fever-pitch before their fantastic set was brought to an epic closure with the superb “Soldiers Gun”.

1 Always
2 Love Cries
3 Left Foot Boogie
4 Hard To Say Goodbye
5 You're The One
6 24/7
7 Sorry (Is All I Can Say)
8 Taillights
9 Commandos
10 Love Don't Bother Me
11 Wings Of Steel
12 Still In Love
13 Soldiers Gun

Stage Dolls:-

Torstein Flakne - guitar, vocals
Terje Storli - bass 
Morten Skogstad - drums

Sound: 10
Set-List: 9.5
Performance: 10
Personal Rating: 10
Favourite Track: “Love Cries”


Danger Danger

No one band encompasses the spirit of Melodic Rock as much as New York’s Danger Danger and there could be, in my opinion, no better act to close, arguably, the best ever Firefest.

I have never felt an atmosphere for a closing act as there was as Danger Danger hit the stage with the anthemic “Rock America”. Everything was set up for a fitting finale to a glorious weekend and Danger Danger did not disappoint.

The magnificent “Beat The Bullet” was my personal highlight. Surprisingly we were only got one song from the excellent “Cockroach” album by way of “Shot o’ Love”.

The first of two songs from the exceptional “Revolve” album was “Killin’ Love”.

During “Don’t Walk Away” Ted Poley decided to go walkabout through the fans chaperoned by Kieran Dargan and Tony Marshall. What was most amazing about this song was that Ted managed to keep in tune throughout.

All the band except guitarist Rob Marcello took their turn talking to the crowd but despite being an exceptional frontman, Ted Poley, leaves most of the talking to founder-member and chief songwriter Bruno Ravel.

“Don’t Blame It On Love” had the Firefest Choir is full voice once again .

Kieran had threatened not to pay for the band’s flight home to the US had they not played his, and, ironically, my favourite track from the exceptional “Revolve” album, the stupendous “Hearts On The Highway”. This came across live every bit as good as it does on the CD.

“Feels Like Love” and “Bang Bang” from the debut.

The power ballad “I Still Think About You” was immense; I have never heard Ted in such fine voice.

“Crazy Nites” brought the main set to a premature close.

The band were summoned back by the much appreciative crowd and party-time commenced. Firstly, with “Monkey Business” featuring two of the Firefest crew in monkey costumes lobbing bananas into the audience! The band were also joined by Mitch Malloy who almost had his eye taken out by a flying banana thrown back by an over-enthusiastic fan! The latter could have been very serious, however, fortunately, it turned out to be simply a highly amusing moment!

The band had planned on only playing one more song, however, had miscalculated their timings. At any other time, on any other stage this would have been a bit of a disaster, however, Danger Danger turned it to their advantage without actually playing a whole song.

For a band that only play a handful of gigs per year and drink throughout the show they are amazingly tight and polished.

Rob Marcello started playing the intro to “Black Sabbath” followed by the intro to Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” to which Bruno retorted, “Where the fuck did that come from?”

Bruno then treated us to the first verse of Kiss’ “God Of Thunder” before asking the fans what they wanted them to play. He seemed impressed that one fan had the words “Afraid Of Love” scrolling across his camera display and Ted taunted us with the first verse only!

The real surprise of the set had to be the impromptu rendition of the rap track “Yeah, You Want It” from 1992’s “Screw It”. Probably the one and only time that I have enjoyed this particular throwaway track!

Final track of Firefest 2012 was a stonking version of the party anthem “Naughty Naughty” which featured a multitude of guests on backing vocals including Robin Beck, James Christian, Terry Illous, Tommy Denander, Tony Marshall and the soon to be knighted Sir Kieran Dargan.

Danger Danger had just produced a near perfect set to conclude Firefest 2012 and can be even forgiven for excluding my personal favourite D2 track “Under The Gun”. I doubt if there were many in attendance at Firefest 2012 that were not already huge fans of the band and after this performance everybody would have been converted.

1 Rock America
2 Beat The Bullet
3 Shot o' Love
4 Killin' Love
5 Don't Walk Away
6 Don't Blame It on Love
7 Hearts on the Highway
8 Feels Like Love
9 Bang Bang
10 I Still Think About You
11 Crazy Nites

Encore:
12 Monkey Business
13 Medley "Mess-Up": Black Sabbath intro / Rebel Yell intro / God Of Thunder )1st verse) / Afraid Of Love (1st verse) / Yeah, You Want It
14 Naughty Naughty

Danger Danger:-

Ted Poley - vocals
Bruno Ravel - bass
Steve West - drums
Rob Marcello - guitar


Sound: 10
Set-List: 9
Performance: 10
Personal Rating: 10
Favourite Track: “Beat The Bullet”


A few goodbyes and photographs outside Rock City and then a return to The Premier Inn for several hours of drinking and reminiscing over another spectacular weekend.

The hotel is already booked for next October and we now have the agonising wait to find out the 18 bands that will have the honour of playing the 10th Anniversary Show. We all have our wish-lists and the Firefest Weekend would need to be turned into the Firefest Fortnight if everyones’ list were to be fulfilled!