Firefest 2011 lineup

[StevePerryHair]

]Well, you already had Dan's boobs covered

Am I detecting jealousy???

Jealous, uh, no! I would never have wanted to deny you your happy time My only regret was not getting the first time he felt you up on video!

[Saint John]

]Well, you already had Dan's boobs covered

Am I detecting jealousy???

Jealous, uh, no! I would never have wanted to deny you your happy time My only regret was not getting the first time he felt you up on video!

I'm still pissed that you guys unplugged the radio's power cord and it took me 20 minutes to figure out why it wouldn't work.

[StevePerryHair]

]Well, you already had Dan's boobs covered

Am I detecting jealousy???

Jealous, uh, no! I would never have wanted to deny you your happy time My only regret was not getting the first time he felt you up on video!

I'm still pissed that you guys unplugged the radio's power cord and it took me 20 minutes to figure out why it wouldn't work.

I'm not even sure you noticed right away the music actually STOPPED!!

[Saint John]

]Well, you already had Dan's boobs covered

Am I detecting jealousy???

Jealous, uh, no! I would never have wanted to deny you your happy time My only regret was not getting the first time he felt you up on video!

I'm still pissed that you guys unplugged the radio's power cord and it took me 20 minutes to figure out why it wouldn't work.

I'm not even sure you noticed right away the music actually STOPPED!!

I figured it when people started grimacing and covering their ears.

[StevePerryHair]

]Well, you already had Dan's boobs covered

Am I detecting jealousy???

Jealous, uh, no! I would never have wanted to deny you your happy time My only regret was not getting the first time he felt you up on video!

I'm still pissed that you guys unplugged the radio's power cord and it took me 20 minutes to figure out why it wouldn't work.

I'm not even sure you noticed right away the music actually STOPPED!!

I figured it when people started grimacing and covering their ears.

[MartyMoffatt]

This lineup is atrocious. Dan is right. Who in the Hell is paying these bands to come to this event? It must be someone with deep pockets, because there is NO way admission is covering band's expense to this. There isn't ONE notable band here, even Jamison. Would it be too much to put ONE fucking band on the entire three day bill that someone has heard of?

That is my rant. Now let me ask, what is the admission price for this? What is the attendance(real numbers, not made up shit either), and where is this held? I cannot believe people actually fly out to this "event." Sorry Sean, I know you like this stuff, but the AVERAGE music follower isn't doing handstands and jumping jacks about this lineup.

Behshad was correct, the MR Fest was much better than this and they had lip synchers on their bill!

My word, what a bunch of whingers there are in this forum!! You know, this place should be renamed ‘Home for Grumpy Old Men, Bigots and Dysfunctional Personalities’ as that seems to make up the bulk of its occupants lately.

OK, some facts about attendance at Firefest. The festival is split between two venues and is limited by the capacity of them. The maximum capacity at the Friday night’s venue is 600, and that for the Saturday and Sunday is about 1500 for each day. All three days WILL be full to capacity. As has already been mentioned, the prices are £25 for the Friday and £55 each for the Saturday and Sunday.

Now these are not big numbers (although I understand it’s more than MRF2 attracted when it had the whole of the US to draw on for an audience), and that does limit the budget available for bands. You won’t find the likes of Journey or Foreigner playing, for obvious financial reasons. Even Nightranger priced themselves out of the reckoning by asking for a ridiculous amount of money to play. Andrew made substantial losses at MRF2 and much as I applaud him for his efforts that is not a sustainable business model. Firefest doesn’t make a profit but neither does it make a loss. What it does do is provide a showcase for 17 bands, some of whom are very well known (at least in Europe and the UK) and some of whom are less well known. But all of them put on a great show.

Also, part of the charm of Firefest is its intimacy. I would much rather watch a band indoors from 20 yards away than in a field 200 yards away. And be able to mix with the artists at the festival – many of them stay for the whole duration, because they love the atmosphere so much. From what I gather, MRF2 recreated some of that atmosphere and kudos to Andrew for that. Incidentally most of the bands at MRF2 have played at Firefest in the past couple of years or are playing this year. The two festivals are very similar in composition.

A few years ago a British band called FM, who had enjoyed a reasonable amount of success in the 80’s but hadn’t played together since, got together for a one off reunion show at Firefest. Such was the reaction they got that they decided to reform permanently, and they’ve since released a new album called Metropolis. It turned out to be one of the best melodic rock albums of the last couple of decades (if you don’t believe me search it out and have a listen – it really is a good album). That came about directly as a result of their experience at Firefest.

Firefest is not aimed at the AVERAGE music follower. If it was it would be full of R’n’B or Rap bands, or half of them would spend most of the festival at the bar and not listen to a single note. Firefest is aimed at MUSIC LOVERS, people who come to watch and support the bands, and don’t get preoccupied by how famous the band is.

As to your Augeri comments I know how hung up you are about him and I don’t think it even merits a response.

[Deb]

Firefest is not aimed at the AVERAGE music follower. If it was it would be full of R’n’B or Rap bands, or half of them would spend most of the festival at the bar and not listen to a single note. Firefest is aimed at MUSIC LOVERS, people who come to watch and support the bands, and don’t get preoccupied by how famous the band is.

Bingo! Some people will never change or open their ears to new music and pretty much base their musical choices on radio/stats/popularity. For those of you going, enjoy the hell out of it!

[Saint John]

Firefest is not aimed at the AVERAGE music follower.

I think that's pretty obvious. Firefest, like Andrew's fests but to a much larger degree, is set up with watered down, weak imitations of the superbands from the 80's like Journey, Foreigner, Styx, REO, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and the like. I paid very careful attention at both of the MR Fests and was able to hear virtually every single band. They are what they are ... and the overwhelming majority are mediocre bands with mediocre songs. There are rare exceptions like Pride Of Lions and Farcry (aside from the obviously talented bands/artists with chemistry like Jamison, Winger and danger Danger), but the rest all have an old, regurgitated sound or they're simply just not all that good. Are they good musicians? You bet. Can the singers sing well? You bet. But, as a whole, you're often listening to bands that just don't have "it," and the roughly $10 per band just seems like far too high of a premium to pay for mediocrity. I'd much rather take quality over quantity and go see a festival like M3 last year for half that price and 10X the talent (Nelson, Trixter, Jetboy, Cinderella, Mark Slaughter, LA Guns, Winger, Warrant, Vince Neil, Kix and The Scorpions). And I still would have had enough money leftover to hit the Cheap Trick, Heart and Journey shows from a few years ago.

As for the "intimacy" comment, you raise an extremely important point. I think that music fans in general, but especially the types at these fests, are just hard up to meet band members ... any band members. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I've seen firsthand how someone can watch an entire show with a seemingly indifferent attitude, but when that band's singer/guitarist/drummer becomes available and throws a few words the way of that indifferent fan, 5 minutes later they've purchased said band's t-shirt and suddenly have a new favorite band. I find it incredibly cool to brush elbows with some of the people whose music I have listened to and enjoy, but these second and third tier fests and breeding grounds for the obsessive fan types, and the "intimacy" you referred to just allows the nuts a playground to realize their thigh sweats and bromances on. Take away the intimacy and interaction, and make the music itself sell tickets on merit as a stand alone entity, and you wouldn't have enough people to have a tea party. Because the music simply isn't good enough. But you keep telling yourself it is.

[kgdjpubs]

There are rare exceptions like Pride Of Lions and Farcry (aside from the obviously talented bands/artists with chemistry like Jamison, Winger and danger Danger), but the rest all have an old, regurgitated sound or they're simply just not all that good.

See, there's the interesting part of all of this. I'm a huge Survivor fan, and think Jim Peterik is a very underrated songwriter. I also think Pride of Lions is extremely overrated, and quite simply, very average. The heavy theatrical aspect of the songwriting that approaches a Broadway musical that I'm certainly not a fan of doesn't help, but I find absolutely nothing there in the cds that hasn't been done 100 times before and much better.

I'd much rather take quality over quantity and go see a festival like M3 last year for half that price and 10X the talent (Nelson, Trixter, Jetboy, Cinderella, Mark Slaughter, LA Guns, Winger, Warrant, Vince Neil, Kix and The Scorpions).

funny thing...with that lineup, I wouldn't even come close to buying a ticket for that show. Absolutely NOTHING in there that I have any interest in seeing live. It's also a generally different genre than what Firefest is appealing to also.

As for the "intimacy" comment, you raise an extremely important point. I think that music fans in general, but especially the types at these fests, are just hard up to meet band members ... any band members. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I've seen firsthand how someone can watch an entire show with a seemingly indifferent attitude, but when that band's singer/guitarist/drummer becomes available and throws a few words the way of that indifferent fan, 5 minutes later they've purchased said band's t-shirt and suddenly have a new favorite band. I find it incredibly cool to brush elbows with some of the people whose music I have listened to and enjoy, but these second and third tier fests and breeding grounds for the obsessive fan types, and the "intimacy" you referred to just allows the nuts a playground to realize their thigh sweats and bromances on. Take away the intimacy and interaction, and make the music itself sell tickets on merit as a stand alone entity, and you wouldn't have enough people to have a tea party. Because the music simply isn't good enough. But you keep telling yourself it is.

I think you bring up some interesting points here. The celebrity stuff doesn't mean much to me (been on both ends of it from some acting days in school---and it can be REALLY weird on the other side!), but I'm sure it works for others. You are talking about a very niche genre. It's living on borrowed time to be sure, and will die even sooner if you can't expand it to a decent headlining act. I always thought they would be better shelling out the money for one big-time headline act and build the rest around them. Start with a local British band to limit expenses, or time the festival around when your headline band is touring the UK.

My interest is somewhat divided on the lineup. I'd be interested in maybe 2 bands per day. Some of them have very good songs. For what it's worth, I'd rate the Strangeways Walk in the Fire album better than any album Journey has released. A lot of the bickering here comes on popularity--or lack thereof. Put Perry singing on some of those albums however, and you'd have a bunch of people on these forums gushing on how good they are. I'm the first to admit that even Perry can't salvage a poorly-written song....and he's done vocals on several of them.

[Rockindeano]

As to your Augeri comments I know how hung up you are about him and I don’t think it even merits a response.

Doesn't merit a response? You come out and throw down a superlative that just doesn't quite fit, and I call you on it, and your lame response is, it doesn't merit? Listen Cheesedick, if you like Augeri, fine, be proud and say it, but for fucks sake, don't crown the guy the new King, that's Pineda's title Seriously, when you go to see him, watch him closely, and tell me afterwards that were seriously "blown away" by Augeri's showmanship. Marty, this is supposed to be a rare profession, a profession that involves talent that most folks do not possess. Why should Augeri be allowed to skate by and make the money he does, with absolutley zero talent?

[conversationpc]

As to your Augeri comments I know how hung up you are about him and I don’t think it even merits a response.

Doesn't merit a response? You come out and throw down a superlative that just doesn't quite fit, and I call you on it, and your lame response is, it doesn't merit? Listen Cheesedick, if you like Augeri, fine, be proud and say it, but for fucks sake, don't crown the guy the new King, that's Pineda's title Seriously, when you go to see him, watch him closely, and tell me afterwards that were serioyusly "blown away" by Augeri's showmanship. Marty, this is supposed to be a rare profession, a profession that involves talent that most folks do not possess. Why should Augeri be allowed to skate by and make the money he does, with absolutley zero talent?

As much as I love Augeri's contribution to Journey while he was in the band, Deano's right. His voice isn't that good now.

[S2M]

As to your Augeri comments I know how hung up you are about him and I don’t think it even merits a response.

Doesn't merit a response? You come out and throw down a superlative that just doesn't quite fit, and I call you on it, and your lame response is, it doesn't merit? Listen Cheesedick, if you like Augeri, fine, be proud and say it, but for fucks sake, don't crown the guy the new King, that's Pineda's title Seriously, when you go to see him, watch him closely, and tell me afterwards that were seriously "blown away" by Augeri's showmanship. Marty, this is supposed to be a rare profession, a profession that involves talent that most folks do not possess. Why should Augeri be allowed to skate by and make the money he does, with absolutley zero talent?

This coming from a guy who listens to Bruce....unbelievable.

[DrFU]

As for the "intimacy" comment, you raise an extremely important point. I think that music fans in general, but especially the types at these fests, are just hard up to meet band members ... any band members. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I've seen firsthand how someone can watch an entire show with a seemingly indifferent attitude, but when that band's singer/guitarist/drummer becomes available and throws a few words the way of that indifferent fan, 5 minutes later they've purchased said band's t-shirt and suddenly have a new favorite band. I find it incredibly cool to brush elbows with some of the people whose music I have listened to and enjoy, but these second and third tier fests and breeding grounds for the obsessive fan types, and the "intimacy" you referred to just allows the nuts a playground to realize their thigh sweats and bromances on. Take away the intimacy and interaction, and make the music itself sell tickets on merit as a stand alone entity, and you wouldn't have enough people to have a tea party. Because the music simply isn't good enough. But you keep telling yourself it is.

Clearly I need a little Dan-O app for my iPhone so I can take you along and have you screen my music experiences for whether or not the performers are legitimately talented enough for me to be having a blast or not.

When my thighs start to tingle, I can press the app ... it will listen for a little while (like Shazam) ... and if the band doesn't have the proper numer of gold records, or if their attendance figures aren't over a certain threshold without support bands, or if the singer doesn't hit high enough notes without using falsetto, then I should head out to the beer tent and start bitching about how sucky it all is.

[StevePerryHair]

As for the "intimacy" comment, you raise an extremely important point. I think that music fans in general, but especially the types at these fests, are just hard up to meet band members ... any band members. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I've seen firsthand how someone can watch an entire show with a seemingly indifferent attitude, but when that band's singer/guitarist/drummer becomes available and throws a few words the way of that indifferent fan, 5 minutes later they've purchased said band's t-shirt and suddenly have a new favorite band. I find it incredibly cool to brush elbows with some of the people whose music I have listened to and enjoy, but these second and third tier fests and breeding grounds for the obsessive fan types, and the "intimacy" you referred to just allows the nuts a playground to realize their thigh sweats and bromances on. Take away the intimacy and interaction, and make the music itself sell tickets on merit as a stand alone entity, and you wouldn't have enough people to have a tea party. Because the music simply isn't good enough. But you keep telling yourself it is.

Clearly I need a little Dan-O app for my iPhone so I can take you along and have you screen my music experiences for whether or not the performers are legitimately talented enough for me to be having a blast or not.

When my thighs start to tingle, I can press the app ... it will listen for a little while (like Shazam) ... and if the band doesn't have the proper numer of gold records, or if their attendance figures aren't over a certain threshold without support bands, or if the singer doesn't hit high enough notes without using falsetto, then I should head out to the beer tent and start bitching about sucky it all is.

[Rockindeano]

As to your Augeri comments I know how hung up you are about him and I don’t think it even merits a response.

Doesn't merit a response? You come out and throw down a superlative that just doesn't quite fit, and I call you on it, and your lame response is, it doesn't merit? Listen Cheesedick, if you like Augeri, fine, be proud and say it, but for fucks sake, don't crown the guy the new King, that's Pineda's title Seriously, when you go to see him, watch him closely, and tell me afterwards that were seriously "blown away" by Augeri's showmanship. Marty, this is supposed to be a rare profession, a profession that involves talent that most folks do not possess. Why should Augeri be allowed to skate by and make the money he does, with absolutley zero talent?

This coming from a guy who listens to Bruce....unbelievable.

The day I defend the greatest single songwriter ever as well as the best front man to ever grace a stage, against you is the day you make an ounce of fucking sense.

[S2M]

As to your Augeri comments I know how hung up you are about him and I don’t think it even merits a response.

Doesn't merit a response? You come out and throw down a superlative that just doesn't quite fit, and I call you on it, and your lame response is, it doesn't merit? Listen Cheesedick, if you like Augeri, fine, be proud and say it, but for fucks sake, don't crown the guy the new King, that's Pineda's title Seriously, when you go to see him, watch him closely, and tell me afterwards that were seriously "blown away" by Augeri's showmanship. Marty, this is supposed to be a rare profession, a profession that involves talent that most folks do not possess. Why should Augeri be allowed to skate by and make the money he does, with absolutley zero talent?

This coming from a guy who listens to Bruce....unbelievable.

The day I defend the greatest single songwriter ever against you is the day you make an ounce of fucking sense. Bruce can sing circles around Augeri.

I can name at least 5 songwriters that would make Bruce a footnote.

[Rockindeano]

As to your Augeri comments I know how hung up you are about him and I don’t think it even merits a response.

Doesn't merit a response? You come out and throw down a superlative that just doesn't quite fit, and I call you on it, and your lame response is, it doesn't merit? Listen Cheesedick, if you like Augeri, fine, be proud and say it, but for fucks sake, don't crown the guy the new King, that's Pineda's title Seriously, when you go to see him, watch him closely, and tell me afterwards that were seriously "blown away" by Augeri's showmanship. Marty, this is supposed to be a rare profession, a profession that involves talent that most folks do not possess. Why should Augeri be allowed to skate by and make the money he does, with absolutley zero talent?

This coming from a guy who listens to Bruce....unbelievable.

The day I defend the greatest single songwriter ever against you is the day you make an ounce of fucking sense. Bruce can sing circles around Augeri.

I can name at least 5 songwriters that would make Bruce a footnote.

LOL, you can name all you want, it won't be true. run along, go listen to Crazy Lixx.

[Deb]

As for the "intimacy" comment, you raise an extremely important point. I think that music fans in general, but especially the types at these fests, are just hard up to meet band members ... any band members. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I've seen firsthand how someone can watch an entire show with a seemingly indifferent attitude, but when that band's singer/guitarist/drummer becomes available and throws a few words the way of that indifferent fan, 5 minutes later they've purchased said band's t-shirt and suddenly have a new favorite band. I find it incredibly cool to brush elbows with some of the people whose music I have listened to and enjoy, but these second and third tier fests and breeding grounds for the obsessive fan types, and the "intimacy" you referred to just allows the nuts a playground to realize their thigh sweats and bromances on. Take away the intimacy and interaction, and make the music itself sell tickets on merit as a stand alone entity, and you wouldn't have enough people to have a tea party. Because the music simply isn't good enough. But you keep telling yourself it is.

Clearly I need a little Dan-O app for my iPhone so I can take you along and have you screen my music experiences for whether or not the performers are legitimately talented enough for me to be having a blast or not.

When my thighs start to tingle, I can press the app ... it will listen for a little while (like Shazam) ... and if the band doesn't have the proper numer of gold records, or if their attendance figures aren't over a certain threshold without support bands, or if the singer doesn't hit high enough notes without using falsetto, then I should head out to the beer tent and start bitching about how sucky it all is.

oh wait, not done.............

I can see Dan-o's point though to a degree, if a fan is basing their fandon on only meeting a member of a band. If you are already a major fan of the band/artist and are lucky enough to meet said band/artist, that's great. But if you are indifferent and are basing your fandon not on the music but on meeting said artist, then ya........it's not about the music. I.e., I think Kip Winger is one of the coolest, nice, down to earth rockers after meeting him, but it didn't bump Winger up any higher on my fave band or vocalist list.

[S2M]

Jagger, Richards
Lennon, McCartney
Neil Peart (my personal favorite)
Kerry Livgren

Dean, you really need to open up your mind, musically. There's no shame in listening to fun, decadent music. I listen to heady stuff like Rush, Kansas, Genesis....then I can switch to fun, rocking, party stuff like Danger Danger, or Crazy lixx....live a little.

[MartyMoffatt]

I think that's pretty obvious. Firefest, like Andrew's fests but to a much larger degree, is set up with watered down, weak imitations of the superbands from the 80's like Journey, Foreigner, Styx, REO, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and the like. I paid very careful attention at both of the MR Fests and was able to hear virtually every single band. They are what they are ... and the overwhelming majority are mediocre bands with mediocre songs. There are rare exceptions like Pride Of Lions and Farcry (aside from the obviously talented bands/artists with chemistry like Jamison, Winger and danger Danger), but the rest all have an old, regurgitated sound or they're simply just not all that good. Are they good musicians? You bet. Can the singers sing well? You bet. But, as a whole, you're often listening to bands that just don't have "it," and the roughly $10 per band just seems like far too high of a premium to pay for mediocrity. I'd much rather take quality over quantity and go see a festival like M3 last year for half that price and 10X the talent (Nelson, Trixter, Jetboy, Cinderella, Mark Slaughter, LA Guns, Winger, Warrant, Vince Neil, Kix and The Scorpions). And I still would have had enough money leftover to hit the Cheap Trick, Heart and Journey shows from a few years ago.

As for the "intimacy" comment, you raise an extremely important point. I think that music fans in general, but especially the types at these fests, are just hard up to meet band members ... any band members. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I've seen firsthand how someone can watch an entire show with a seemingly indifferent attitude, but when that band's singer/guitarist/drummer becomes available and throws a few words the way of that indifferent fan, 5 minutes later they've purchased said band's t-shirt and suddenly have a new favorite band. I find it incredibly cool to brush elbows with some of the people whose music I have listened to and enjoy, but these second and third tier fests and breeding grounds for the obsessive fan types, and the "intimacy" you referred to just allows the nuts a playground to realize their thigh sweats and bromances on. Take away the intimacy and interaction, and make the music itself sell tickets on merit as a stand alone entity, and you wouldn't have enough people to have a tea party. Because the music simply isn't good enough. But you keep telling yourself it is.

Wow, that’s more than I was expecting. Considered points, well argued. However, I do disagree. As the official photographer for the past two years I have watched the entire set of every band from the photo pit right at the front of the stage and have been consistently surprised at the quality of the bands’ performances. Some bands I’d never heard of before impressed me sufficiently to want to search out more of their music.

I see probably 100-150 concerts a year, from local bar bands through to huge stadium fillers with multi million dollar stage sets. The bands I’ve seen at Firefest have shown a quality of performance equal to or better than many of those huge ‘name’ bands. I’m not saying they are all like that or to everybody’s taste, but they are very good, and it has never felt like a second rate festival to me.

Over one third of attendees at Firefest come from overseas, mainly Europe, but also some from the US and even South America. I can’t see anybody making that kind of financial commitment to attend a festival if they didn’t think it was worth it. These are mainly fans of one band or another irrespective of whether they have or will ever meet the band.

You infer that someone’s perception of how good a band sounds is distorted by whether or not they’ve been in close proximity to a particular band member. I don’t necessarily think that is the case, but even if it was I could also argue that more often someone’s perception of how good a band sounds is dictated by how famous they think that band is – ‘wow, they’ve got a platinum album or a top ten single, therefore they must be brilliant’. At the end of the day, perception is personal and quality (beyond a certain level) is subjective. And popularity is often a matter of timing. There are many truly great bands that never made it big through circumstances beyond their control, and many extremely average bands who did make it big simply because they were in the right place at the right time.

Obsessive fan types may be the prevalent in the US (I couldn’t say) but in my experience the majority of fans here are music fans first and foremost. If they get to meet someone from the band that’s an added bonus, but most likely even then the conversation would be confined to the music, gear etc rather than anything intrusive.

Incidentally you quote Nelson and Mark Slaughter as examples of artists with 10x the talent as that at Firefest. Both WERE on stage at the last Firefest. They were excellent but nowhere near the best performances on display last year.

[Rockindeano]

Jagger, Richards
Lennon, McCartney
Neil Peart (my personal favorite)
Kerry Livgren

Dean, you really need to open up your mind, musically. There's no shame in listening to fun, decadent music. I listen to heady stuff like Rush, Kansas, Genesis....then I can switch to fun, rocking, party stuff like Danger Danger, or Crazy lixx....live a little.

Are you fucking high, or joking?

As much as I love the Beatles, their songwriting is hardly poetic...it is the simplest of simple. Neil Peart, a songwriter? LOL. Who the fuck is Kerry Livgren? haha.

Jagger/Richards is a good team, no doubt. I would put Perry/Schon and Cain above the Beatles(for songwriting)......

Had you said Dylan, you might not have half the Board laughing at you right now. You're a joke, dude.

Open my mind? I listen to all kinds of GOOD music...I don't even look at a Crazy Lixx disc, or some fuckin Winger album....Are you being serious here?

[Gin and Tonic Sky]

Why should Augeri be allowed to skate by and make the money he does, with absolutley zero talent

no one is allowing him to skate by. After all no has ever held a gun to anyone's head telling them they have to buy what he music he records or go and see his live performances. If people pay to listen to it and go see it, he deserves the money / attention he gets from it.

Same goes for any of those other acts who are playing at Firefest. More or less, all of them have talents to the level and/or made career choices that got them to the level that they ended up. If someone wants to book them, and someone wants to pay to watch it (which I do) there's nothing wrong with that .

[MartyMoffatt]

Neil Peart, a songwriter?

Neil Peart may not write melodies but he is very probably the best lyricist in the business. Way better than Springsteen in my opinion. Bruce is good but not exceptional.

[S2M]

Neil Peart, a songwriter?

Neil Peart may not write melodies but he is very probably the best lyricist in the business. Way better than Springsteen in my opinion. Bruce is good but not exceptional.

Agreed. Peart has perhaps the best grip of the english language that I've ever heard in music. Livgren a close 2nd.

The Pass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbBf0c-NaN4

Half the World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe8r1o7roto&NR=1

Resist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkIryrQZmEA

[Rockindeano]

Neil Peart, a songwriter?

Neil Peart may not write melodies but he is very probably the best lyricist in the business. Way better than Springsteen in my opinion. Bruce is good but not exceptional.

Really now? Oh please name me Mr Pearts top 5 songs. If you can name one song as good as Thunder Road, Badlands, The Rising, Backstreets or Jungleland, I'd be happy to hear them.

Not exceptional? tell you what MM, go find another artist who not only writes lyrics and melodies, but also the entire music, including piano, guitars, keys and drums. I defy you to.

Oh and PS Marty, if one can't write melodies, what good is he as a songwriter?

[S2M]

Neil Peart, a songwriter?

Neil Peart may not write melodies but he is very probably the best lyricist in the business. Way better than Springsteen in my opinion. Bruce is good but not exceptional.

Really now? Oh please name me Mr Pearts top 5 songs. If you can name one song as good as Thunder Road, Badlands, The Rising, Backstreets or Jungleland, I'd be happy to hear them.

Not exceptional? tell you what MM, go find another artist who not only writes lyrics and melodies, but also the entire music, including piano, guitars, keys and drums. I defy you to.Oh and PS Marty, if one can't write melodies, what good is he as a songwriter?

Prince Rogers Nelson

Writes everything on his albums...and plays ALL the instruments as well. Nice try. Insert another quarter.

[Rockindeano]

Hey Marty, I just heard through Twitter, that Augeri is in the studio cutting tracks for his Firefest performance.

[Behshad]

Why should Augeri be allowed to skate by and make the money he does, with absolutley zero talent

Because he is a super nice guy. He may not be a good singer, he may not have that stage presence, but he is a bloody nice bloke.

[conversationpc]

Neil Peart, a songwriter?

Neil Peart may not write melodies but he is very probably the best lyricist in the business. Way better than Springsteen in my opinion. Bruce is good but not exceptional.

Really now? Oh please name me Mr Pearts top 5 songs. If you can name one song as good as Thunder Road, Badlands, The Rising, Backstreets or Jungleland, I'd be happy to hear them.

Not exceptional? tell you what MM, go find another artist who not only writes lyrics and melodies, but also the entire music, including piano, guitars, keys and drums. I defy you to.Oh and PS Marty, if one can't write melodies, what good is he as a songwriter?

Prince Rogers Nelson

Writes everything on his albums...and plays ALL the instruments as well. Nice try. Insert another quarter.

Peart has written the lyrics to nearly every rush song since he joined the band in 1974. Just because they haven't had as much success on the charts as Springsteen has, doesn't mean he isn't a better songwriter.

S2M...Good call on Prince. I'm not a fan of the guy but the dude plays several instruments well and is certainly talented.

[Behshad]

Hey Marty, I just heard through Twitter, that Augeri is in the studio cutting tracks for his Firefest performance.

I know Marty is in going to provide us with some fantastic photos form this event, but is anyone gonna tape Augeri's performance ?