MR

Did anyone here make it to Firefest to give us the scoop? Matt? Dennis? Anyone? I'm supremely bummed not to be able to be there.

Firefest VI this year was just fabulous. The best show yet. I'll post a review of the Friday night and the all day Saturday shortly, once I've cleared my head from last night's party and looked through the 3,000 photos I took.

Marty

Just curious....How many people go to these shows every year?

the name "Firefest" makes it sound like it's a big festival.

MartyMoffatt wrote:Firefest VI this year was just fabulous. The best show yet. I'll post a review of the Friday night and the all day Saturday shortly, once I've cleared my head from last night's party and looked through the 3,000 photos I took.

Marty

Can't wait to see them, Marty!!

DrFU wrote:Did anyone here make it to Firefest to give us the scoop? Matt? Dennis? Anyone? I'm supremely bummed not to be able to be there.

Well….it sucked cos you weren’t there…just ruined …no one to help hold my place up front, no one to start a game of find the missing shoe among a mass of 200 rock fans in the dim light of a rock bar. Ha! Seriously… some great people there yesterday, but we missed all of you. ..


My head hurts (I usually only have one or two beers at a time but I let myself go last night ) so what follows aint perfect prose but heres a mini review. Also I only made the Satuday so no Friday review.

On the whole a great show. The firefest crew are really well organised and they get better every year. And its just a tremendous atmosphere.

Airrace - In past years the first band of the day has sometimes been a little weak. Not so today. A great performance to kick off. I just wonder what would have happened if these guys hadn’t quit after one album and hadn’t just been getting together again now.
The Poodles- You are missing something if you haven’t listened into these guys. Great guitar work, great choruses, and a front man that sounds a bit like Vince Neil (and is as colourful on stage, though in a different way) The poodles are half ex-Talisman, and exude that type of quality. I walked away thinking : “Thank you god for Sweden”

Drive She Said- Heard a lot of good comments about this set. A lot of people liked it . Whilst I thought they were solid, I personally didn’t connect with it , but that just might be me.

Romeo’s Daughter- Might be the classiest and most polished set ive seen ever at firefest. Leigh Matty led off with Wild Child, a song written for RD but made famous by Heart. I thought that was a ballsy move- most people say that Ann Wilson sounded better on that song than RD. Leighs opening vocals proved that to be complete and utter nonsense and she had the backing of the whole crown the rest of the set. Every year theres a band that we all forgot that suprises and impresses us. This was this years, and I hope they get invited back next year.

White Sister- this was last years big pleasant surprise. This yeaar we expected a big things- we expected to be entertained , involved, to feel like we were the sixth man in the band. Simply put- Delivered 100%.

Crown of Thorns – set comprised mostly of songs from the first crown of thorms album and the new album Faith- Two great albums. Jean Paul Beauvoir might have been be most talented musician that was in the building Saturday. Hearing “Standing on the Corner” live for the first time ever was the highlight of my weekend . By the way Jean sounds a hell of a lot like Steve Augeri- it amazes me.

Honeymoon Suite - Great blast down memory lane. The first Honeymoon Suite albums comprise the soundtrack to my early life, and I swear to God just for as minute I wasn’t in Nottingham but was - standing back on Pensacola beach in Florida, playing the big prize making out with the southern belle, I was dating that year. (yes for a second I wasn’t fat ugly and middle aged too : - ) ) Certainly my favourite of the day.

FM – unpretentious, brilliant classic sounding melodic rock ala Bon Jovi. The crowd loved it.

I had asked someone to pick up something for me at the show....but I guess my query fell through the cracks....

My Loud N' Clear DVD will have to wait....

StocktontoMalone wrote:I had asked someone to pick up something for me at the show....but I guess my query fell through the cracks....

My Loud N' Clear DVD will have to wait....

The Loud N Clear DVD wasnt available there. I think it has been delayed - lots of extra material added and edits,

Gin and Tonic Sky wrote:

DrFU wrote:Did anyone here make it to Firefest to give us the scoop? Matt? Dennis? Anyone? I'm supremely bummed not to be able to be there.

Well….it sucked cos you weren’t there…just ruined …no one to help hold my place up front, no one to start a game of find the missing shoe among a mass of 200 rock fans in the dim light of a rock bar. Ha! Seriously… some great people there yesterday, but we missed all of you. ..

I need to dig out those shoes and wear them as a reminder of great times!

Thanks for the terrific review, Matt; I would have been there but for a work commitment that meant a trip to China; next year for sure. I'm glad you had a wonderful time, headache and all. I'll have to check out some of the bands on I-tunes.

Looking forward to seeing your pictures, Marty.

And Glenn, I think Rock City holds around 1,800 people.

Gin and Tonic Sky wrote:Honeymoon Suite - Great blast down memory lane. The first Honeymoon Suite albums comprise the soundtrack to my early life, and I swear to God just for as minute I wasn’t in Nottingham but was - standing back on Pensacola beach in Florida, playing the big prize making out with the southern belle, I was dating that year. (yes for a second I wasn’t fat ugly and middle aged too : - ) ) Certainly my favourite of the day.

Great to hear! They rocked my socks off when I saw them last year. They still got it! Derry and Johnny look like they've barely aged in 20 years. Glad you had a great time, Matt! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuucaviLYgU

Looking forward to seeing your pics, Marty.

I'm gradually working my way through the thousands of photos I took over the course of Friday and Saturday, covering the whole set of all thirteen bands who played. It may take me a while, but I'll post slideshows of each band as and when I complete them. I'll keep them all in this one thread rather than create lots of new threads.

First up is Lost Weekend - first band on Friday night. here's the slideshow.... http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-lostweekend

Apologies if anyone is trying to get to my main website. Apparently there is a problem with the server it is hosted on and my hosting company are migrating my site to a new server but it may take a few more days. meanwhile, these links should work.

Marty

Next up is Eclipse - second band on Friday night and the first of several Swedish bands. Here's the slideshow.... http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-eclipse

Marty

Two more bands from the Friday night....

Bad Habit - http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-badhabit

HEAT - http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-heat

Both Swedish bands. HEAT in particular put on a spectacular show which proved there is still life in melodic rock. They are all in their early twenties and have a bright future ahead.

Marty

Bands of the day were White Sister (again) and Honeymoon Suite who absolutely blew the roof off. What a band.
Disappointments of the day were Drive, She Said (what the heck was going on there), and FM, who i felt were just going through the motions, and are nothing like the band they once were.

hold that thought, chica.

Eric posted a few vids at facebook--I'll go get them.

and Marty beat me to the punch. his links were posted in the noticeboard.

There are some firefest stories there as well.

brb

White Sister

Can't Say No

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poEYt6FwKJQ


Save Me Tonight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDyRYR8se8k

FM

Frozen Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jvbp03GEBk

Bad Luck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioBlXT5xDic

jebber has a bunch

(Crazy)Dulce Lady wrote:White Sister

Can't Say No

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poEYt6FwKJQ


Save Me Tonight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDyRYR8se8k

FM

Frozen Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jvbp03GEBk

Bad Luck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioBlXT5xDic

jebber has a bunch

thanks, Sis ... can't believe we missed this ... damn, damn, damn

(Crazy)Dulce Lady wrote:White Sister

Can't Say No

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poEYt6FwKJQ


Save Me Tonight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDyRYR8se8k

FM

Frozen Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jvbp03GEBk

Bad Luck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioBlXT5xDic

jebber has a bunch

Some Honeymoon Suite too, my fave. Not the greatest vids, but.......

Love Changes Everything http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB4iG5EoN1c One of my favorites of theirs, lol shorter hair but otherwise barely aged a bit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3kSdg5k__8
Bad Attitude http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjWbc6wO4iI
Burning In Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRV65pLokFQ

Hey Andrew, unlike Harem Scarem............these Canadians obviously have their passports/visas. MRFest 2?!

Photo slideshows of two more bands from Firefest...

Accept, who headlined on the Friday night http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-accept

Airrace, first band on the Saturday http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-airrace

Marty

MartyMoffatt wrote:Photo slideshows of two more bands from Firefest...

Accept, who headlined on the Friday night http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-accept

Airrace, first band on the Saturday http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-airrace

Marty

Awesome, Marty ... thanks! Did they dial down the annoying smoke machine this year?

Sorry, the headliner on Friday night should have been Treat. I knew it was Treat, I edited the photos as Treat but, somehow, when I created the slideshow I created it as Accept My only excuse is that I'm feeling brain dead after wading through many thousands of images over the past couple of weeks.

I'll fix the slideshow, and the link, this evening.

Marty

DrFU wrote:Awesome, Marty ... thanks! Did they dial down the annoying smoke machine this year?

On Friday it was worse than ever. In fact I could barely see half the bands because there was so much dry ice pumping out.

On Saturday it was much better and the lighting was better too (although not much - it is never great at Rock City). As a result my pics of the bands later in the day on Saturday are much clearer, as you'll see when I get a chance to publish them.

Marty

Gin and Tonic Sky wrote:The Poodles- You are missing something if you haven’t listened into these guys. Great guitar work, great choruses, and a front man that sounds a bit like Vince Neil (and is as colourful on stage, though in a different way) The poodles are half ex-Talisman, and exude that type of quality. I walked away thinking : “Thank you god for Sweden”

Poodles are one of the greatest new melodic rock bands out there. A project that started as a parody to glamrock (called Poodle Rock in Sweden), suddenly took off and gave these guys a chance to get serious about this band and really some great songwritting and guitar work. They used to be hald Ex-Talisman, but since Pontus Norgren left the band, the only Ex-Talisman member in the band is singer Jake Samuel, who used to play drums for Talisman on their 1st tour and 2nd album "Genesis".

Three more bands edited last night....

The Poodles
http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-thepoodles

Drive She Said
http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-driveshesaid

Romeo's Daughter
http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-romeosdaughter


Marty

MartyMoffatt wrote:Three more bands edited last night....

The Poodles
http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-thepoodles

Drive She Said
http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-driveshesaid

Romeo's Daughter
http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-romeosdaughter


Marty

Thanks for sharing Marty, looking forward to seeing some Honeymoon Suite.

Behshad wrote:

Gin and Tonic Sky wrote:The Poodles- You are missing something if you haven’t listened into these guys. Great guitar work, great choruses, and a front man that sounds a bit like Vince Neil (and is as colourful on stage, though in a different way) The poodles are half ex-Talisman, and exude that type of quality. I walked away thinking : “Thank you god for Sweden”

Poodles are one of the greatest new melodic rock bands out there. A project that started as a parody to glamrock (called Poodle Rock in Sweden), suddenly took off and gave these guys a chance to get serious about this band and really some great songwritting and guitar work. They used to be hald Ex-Talisman, but since Pontus Norgren left the band, the only Ex-Talisman member in the band is singer Jake Samuel, who used to play drums for Talisman on their 1st tour and 2nd album "Genesis".

That's not the same colorful character in some of the early footage on the Talisman dvd is it? Was just looking at Marty's Poodle pics and it doesn't look like the same guy to me. Is that the same blonde guy that was the drummer before Jamie, i.e., on the Mysterious video?

Sad state of affairs, indeed....when the states can't host something like this. And we call ourselves an industrialized nation?

We are currently in the Age of Unenlightenment...

More photos from Firefest. For me the band of the weekend and, I think, my favourite set of photos from the festival.

http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-whitesister

Marty

MartyMoffatt wrote:More photos from Firefest. For me the band of the weekend and, I think, my favourite set of photos from the festival.

http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-whitesister

Marty

Love, love, love these guys; great pics, Marty.

Anxiously waiting on my DVD from last year's Firefest ...

MRFest II ... PLEASE?

They had a tough act to follow, coming after White Sister, but Crown of Thorns put on a great show.

http://www.martymoffatt.co.uk/images/ff6-crownofthorns

Marty

Great pics Marty!!!! Thanks for sharing. I'm such a 'shooting pictures in a dark club setting' reject.....

Can it be done with a midrange digital camera, or cellphone camera....or do you really need a highend camera?