MR

Day # 2:
- TALON
- VEGA
- SILENT RAGE
- JEFF PARIS
- W.E.T.
- STRANGEWAYS
- STEVE AUGERI

1 & 2 – TALON & VEGA

To be very, very honest the day before was so exciting that I wasn’t really interested in watching the two first bands of the second day, TALON & VEGA, nothing against them, I’m just not a fan of theirs. I was tired after the night before, and I still needed to get to talk to some of my favorite bands on the bill. Since the first show started at 12:50 p.m., I didn’t really have much time to try to meet the other bands I went there for, and I still needed to get the interviews for you readers. So, early this day, I was back after the bands and I don’t regret it. All I can say about TALON & VEGA is that I got to know later that their shows were more than good, or so I was told, but I can’t really tell. During these shows I was getting the interview with Silent Rage, one of the bands that I really wanted to see. Then I got to know that Unruly Child, Mitch Malloy and Kane Roberts would be arriving at any minute that day… Boy, what an exciting day that one was!!!!!!!!

3 – SILENT RAGE

I was fortunate enough to talk to and hang out with the guys in the band in the morning – Jesse Damon (Vocals & Guitar), Mark Hawkins (Guitar & Vocals), EJ Curse (Bass Guitar & Vocals) and Rodney Pino (Drums). They were as nice as they could be, and that was when Jesse (who I had been in contact with for quite a while) and the other guys were kind enough to give me an interview. Although I longed to meet Unruly Child, Mitch Malloy and Kane Roberts who hadn’t arrived yet by then, there was no chance of my missing the Silent Rage show. As a long time fan and supporter, it was definitely one of the most expected shows.
And I wasn’t wrong. The guys rocked the house down!!!! Most of the set featured songs for their acclaimed “Don’t Touch Me There” album, which is going to re-released at some time next year. It was great seeing Jesse and the guys hitting crowd pleasers like “Don’t Touch Me There”, “Make it or Break It”, “Can't Get Her Out of My Head” and their most popular song to date “Rebel With A Cause”, which was sung along by everyone there. These guys are still good musicians and their performance was awesome. Bass player EJ Curse seems not to have aged at all, and he still has that rock star persona that many of us, fans, just love. Jesse and Mark delivered some great guitar playing and singing, while drummer Rodney Pino showed why he was chosen to replace the great Brian James Fox, who left the band a while ago. Other than the songs off their classic “Don’t Touch Me There” album, they played tunes off all of their four albums – other highlights were “Unchained”, “Make It Or Break It” and “Still Alive”.
Silent Rage was another example of a band who deserved a longer time on stage. They surely had lots of fans there, and many of them (of us, I must say) were expecting a longer set. They, along with Warrant (who cancelled their presentation a little while before the show – everybody still wonders what the real reason for their doing it really was), were the only bands that we could not really classify as AOR, but 80’s Melodic Kicking-ass Hard Rock. Maybe next time they could deliver a long set. I’m sure their fans would just love it!!!!!!!!!

SETLIST:
- I’M ON FIRE
- DON’T TOUCH ME THERE
- UNCHAINED
- REMEMBER ME
- MAKE IT OR BREAK IT
- SARINA
- RICH, YOUNG AND PRETTY
- WHISKEY WOMAN
- CAN’T GET HER OUT OF MY HEAD
- FOUR LETTER WORD
- RUNNING ON LOVE
- I WANNA FEEL IT
- STILL ALIVE
- REBEL WITH A CAUSE

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4 – JEFF PARIS

I had also been in contact with Jeff Paris for quite some time, and I really wanted to see him perform live. I met him on the first festival day, and he was just so nice. He was up for an interview, but that never happened. Not because he didn’t want to do it, but because our schedules just weren’t the same. Being away from music for so long, his other fans and I were really anxious to see his performance. He told me, during our first contact, that he would be doing mostly stuff from his first to albums “Race To Paradise” and “Wired Up”, and some more stuff, not to mention a few other surprises. One of them was seeing his new album “Broken Chain” being sold at the merchandise desk.
It was surreal catching this guy live, playing so many hit songs, some that got famous for being on his own albums, and others for being recorded by other great music icons such as Vixen and Mr. Big. Jeff Paris’ back-up band was the same that had backed Jimi Jamison up, so we were quite positive that it would be a great gig. And it was.
The set itself was what he said it would be, mostly songs off his “Race To Paradise” and “Wired Up” and a few other great tracks. Tommy Denander once again proved to be one of the best musicians that were there for the whole festival. Jeff and his band started the set with “Race To Paradise” and “Mystery Girl”, breaking into classics such as “Charmed Life” (also recorded by Vixen) and “Lucky This Time” (also recorded by Mr. Big), then “One Night Alone” (also on a Vixen album) and his MTV hit “Saturday Night”.
All of these were highlights, and the surprising acoustic tribute renditions of Warrant’s “I Saw Red” and Dio’s “Rainbow In The Dark” brought people to tears. Why would an artist with so many hit songs play cover songs? Well, that’s just Jeff Paris, folks!!!!
Another highlight was the song “Cryin’”, also mostly known for being one of Vixen’s biggest charting songs, but also from his great “Wired Up” album.
After so many years, it was time that the great Jeff Paris to come back into the scene. He said there’s new music coming up in the near future and Tommy Denander is involved. So, let’s just wait for what seems to be another classic album on the Jeff Paris catalogue.

SETLIST:
- RACE TO PARADISE
- MYSTERY GIRL
- CHARMED LIFE
- LUCKY THIS TIME
- ONE NIGHT ALONE
- SATURDAY NIGHT
- I SAW RED
- RAINBOW IN THE DARK
- BACK ON MY FEET
- STOP PLAYING WITH MY HEART
- CRYIN’
- I’M BETTER
- I CAN’T LET GO
- WIRED UP

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5 – W.E.T.

In my opinion, it wasn’t really a good decision to put W.E.T. on the bill once Warrant cancelled their presentation at Firefest. I’ve never been a Jeff Scott Soto fan, even though I have to admit he is a great singer. I just think he has never found the right band, not to mention his behavior. He had come to Brazil a few times, and he always had this attitude problem. The only and last time I could see one of his shows was when he had the great Jimi Jamison also on the bill. Can you picture that? Jimi Jamison, a man who has sold millions of albums and has his name carved in music history, a nice, cool, down to earth guy, opening for Jeff Scott Soto? And for this event, Jimi was heaven to deal with and Jeff had this cocky attitude all the time. And he was playing a Queen tribute show. Nothing against Queen, on the contrary. As I said before, Jeff Scott Soto is a great singer, but I just could never swallow him. I was very disappointed in knowing W.E.T. would replace Warrant on the bill… anyway, I was not interested in watching them, for the reasons already mentioned.
I wasn’t there (I took this time to have the chance to meet Marcie Free and Jay Schellen from Unruly Child, Mitch Malloy and Kane Roberts, but I’ll talk about it later…) and it was the wisest decision I have ever made in my whole life!
I do respect Jeff Scott Soto for his singing and those who were there to see him perform with W.E.T. said it was a great show, though I can’t really tell.

SETLIST:
- BROTHERS IN ARMS
- PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS
- INVINCIBLE
- MY EVERYTHING
- TO MEND A BROKEN HEART
- ONE DAY AT A TIME
- IF I FALL
- I’LL BE THERE
- COMES DOWN LIKE RAIN
- THE GREAT FALL
- THE LAST IN LINE
- NEED TO BELIEVE
- FOREVER
- STILL GOT THE BLUES
- HEAVEN
- MYSTERIOUS (THIS TIME IT’S SERIOUS)
- ONE LOVE

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6 - STRANGEWAYS

I met Terry Brock on my first day in Nottingham. He was kind enough to give me an interview on his last day in Nottingham, telling all about his past, present, future and the upcoming Strangeways album, due in November / December this year. His solo show was awesome, and of course we, the fans, got even more anxious to check him out again, now with Strangeways, the band that made his great voice famous. He had told me that the band would be arriving on Saturday morning, and I was also so fortunate I could meet them. All of the guys were so kind, so respectful to the fans… I was anxious to see them perform live, especially once I knew that they would be playing the whole “Walk In The Fire” classic album in its full. That was only then that I had the chance of finding and buying the brand new “Where Do We Go From Here? – Live At Firefest” CD and DVD, recorded at the festival last year.
The show opened with the killer “Where Are They Now” and burst into classics “Danger In Your Eyes” and “Into The Night”. From the first songs it was unbelievable what you hear and see – Strangeways sounded just like they did in the studio! It was really amazing getting to witness the talent of this band live. Terry Brock, as I said before, is surely one of the top AOR singers out there. He sang powerfully and beautifully, according to the tune the band was playing. Even though his voice was not 100% (as it was on the night before, during his solo gig – hey, those who have the nerve to criticize him for that should only try to sing those high notes for two following nights…). Guitar player Ian J. Stewart showed he was also one of the best guitar players in the festival. The bottom line of drummer Jim Drummond and bass player Dave Stewart was powerful and precise, as it was said before, just like in the studio. If you ask me who had the best drum sound among all of the artists there, I would definitely say it was Jim’s. Keyboard player David "Munch" Moore also showed why he is the only guy who records and plays keyboards for this amazing band.
What followed next was a selection of tracks that was a dream come true for every fan: “Walk In The Fire”, “After The Hurt Is Gone”, “Love Lies Dying” and my personal favorite “Every Time You Cry”, which Terry dedicated to his “baby sister”, Traci Brock Terrell, who had come all the way from America to attend the festival. Needless to say that the encore included the great “Only A Fool” song. Well, no doubt that the Strangeways show was one of the best at this years’ Firefest.

SETLIST:
- WHERE ARE THEY NOW
- DANGER IN YOUR EYES
- INTO THE NIGHT
- EVERY TIME YOU CRY
- LOVE LIES DYING
- TALK TO ME
- LIVING IN THE DANGER ZONE
- MODERN WORLD
- WALK IN THE FIRE
- AFTER THE HURT IS GONE
- ONLY A FOOL
- WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE

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7 – STEVE AUGERI

Steve Augeri was the singer of some great bands: Tall Stories, Tyketto and the incomparable AOR legend Journey. I had the chance of meeting him early this year when he came to Brazil and he was more than a gentleman. His singing back then was amazing, and he brought bass player Gerard Zappa and guitar player Adam Holland with him for the gig. Once I got to know that Steve would be on the bill at Firefest, now as the headliner of one of the days, I was very excited to see him perform again. I met him before the concert at Rock City and he was as nice as he was when in Brazil. Whenever one sees a show of an artist he has already seen, he will compare a second one. It’s inevitable. Just like I did at the Jimi Jamison concert, I paid close attention to Steve Augeri.
Surprisingly, He and his back-up band (once again the ultra talented guys from Valentine) hit the stage and delivered a set full of classic music by Steve Augeri.
The biggest surprise was, without a doubt, the opener “Jamie”, off the Tyketto “Shine” album. Those who were expecting the same old great Journey songs were very, very impressed. Of course the Journey classics would come, as they did “Separate Ways” and “Ask The Lonely”. The biggest Journey hits were also there, and it seemed that Steve Augeri improves vocally each and every single day. OK, Steve Perry and Arnel Pineda are great singers, but there’s something really special about Steve Augeri.
It’s really wonderful listening to songs off the “Arrival” album, such as “Higher Place” and “Kiss Me Softly”, and to all of the Journey oldies with him singing them, especially my Steve Perry Journey-era favorite track ever “Stone In Love”.
I have to confess that, by this time, I was already so tired that I could barely stand. I’m really sorry I couldn’t enjoy Steve Augeri’s show as much as I should have, but I’m human after all. Seeing all these great artists, going after them, getting interviews… too much emotion, and sometimes a whole lot of stress (not cause by any of the artists or the Firefest crew – I’ll talk about them later as well). So I did my best to be there up to “Don’t Stop Believing”, and then there was no way I could still stand there. Just had to take a taxi and head for the hotel. The only thing I do regret on this day, that could not be controlled was my being so tired. So tired I couldn’t stay till the end of the Steve Augeri show. Also, I was told that after the set was over, Steve Augeri and his band played three more songs, including “All The Way” (another one of my favorite Journey tracks ever)… Damn it… Anyway, from what I could see, it was also one of the finest moments of the festival.

SETLIST:
- JAMIE
- SEPARATE WAYS
- ASK THE LONELY
- HIGHER PLACE
- LIGHTS
- KISS ME SOFTLY
- STONE IN LOVE
- KISS ME SOFTLY
- STONE IN LOVE
- RIVERSIDE
- SISTER OF MERCY
- WE WILL MEET AGAIN
- WHEEL IN THE SKY
- RICH MAN
- FAITHFULLY
- DON’T STOP BELIEVING
- LOVING, TOUCHING, SQUEEZING
- ANY WAY YOU WANT IT

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