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As a fan of the more harder
edged rock I was in two minds about the line-up for this years Firefest
show. Over the
two-day event I was only
really
interested in two bands, Threshold
on Day 1 and Jorn on the main day, so with this in mind I was even
contemplating not attending the event at all.
But as always I have always
supported this event and couldn’t find it in my heart to let Kieran,
Bruce
& Co.
down
by
not giving my opinion on the days events.
And boy
am I glad I took
the chance and attended what
turned out to be the best Firefest
event to date!
With that I'll go on to
Day 1.
With previous Firefest's the day before has always been
somewhat of
an intimate affair,
however, this year what was once
called the pre-show event was
turned into a full-blooded night of rock with five established bands.
As I we got out of the taxi
in front of Nottingham’s Trent University venue I was amazed at
the crowd that had already congregated outside and as we walked down the
line it was clear that this had turned very much into a multi cultural event if the many different accents I heard as I passed were anything to go
by. Such has been the popularity of Firefest
over the past few years that what
was once a small fry festival has now developed into a great beast that
has already out-grown Rock City. Indeed the tickets for this years
festival were completely sold out well in advance of the weekends events.
As we walked into the venue and into the
main hall it was clear to see that this was a much more suitable location
for an event such as this. The stage was a decent size and at a
height that no matter where you stood you had a good view. There was
an adjoining room to the main hall which not only featured the bars and a
merchandise area, but also a seated area with tables for those folks who
just wanted to catch up with old friends between sets. Another
notable improvement was the washroom facilities which were beyond belief
last year in The Rig at Rock City, but here at this venue were kept clean
and well replenished throughout the night. Top marks to the
University for having such a clean and wonderful venue for these types of
events to be held, and top marks to whoever it was that fond this gem of a
venue.
Stormzone
Opening up the festivities this year were Stormzone led by Harv
Harbinson, who got things going with a set
that
concentrated mainly
on their debut album. Opening
up their set
with ‘Spellbound’,
which
instantly got the seal of approval from the 400 plus crowd.
With
Harbinson is fine voice throughout the set
and
his roots deeply planted
in the classic vocals stylings of Plant and Coverdale,
he and fellow members
were
really going all out to put on a show
to kick start the night in full fettle
as they
continued with ‘Call Of The Wild’ and Falling Out Of Love’.
The tempo
picked up with the excellent Rock On Through The Night’, which
now
seems
particularly apt
for the beginning of what was
rapidly becoming
a great
Friday
night
out.
The guys
finished off with ‘Cry In The Rain’ before raising the roof with ‘New
World’, which ended
off
a great set
all round
and one
that not only showed off Harbinson’s vocals
to perfection,
but also highlighted the fact that Stormzone could
very well
be
the saviours of British Melodic Rock.
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Steve Grimmett Band
Next to tread the boards were the hard rocking Steve Grimmett
Band,
who
like Stormzone were highlighting their latest release
'Personal Crisis'.
With ARFM’s Steve Price introducing the boys and stating it's been 10 long years
since the band last appeared on British shores,
the band of Grimmett,
Newdeck, Nash and Walker were
tonight
boosted by the added input from keyboard
virtuoso Eric Ragno.
It was
then down to the band to show us
all what we'd
been missing for all those years,
as they delivered one of the sets of the night.
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With the massive figure of Grimmett looking rather menacing in a long
black leather coat,
he showed he had the pipes to deliver as they pumped up
the crowd with ‘Wait Forever’,
which prompted a rush of photographers to
the front of the stage. You would have thought Jessops had had a sale with
the
surging
mass
that suddenly accumulated in
around the stage.
The set continued with
'Karma', which is both one of
my favourites
from the 'Personal Crisis' album, but also turned out to be one of the
highlights of the set for me. The band
continued with the thumping metal of
‘Afterglow’ and rampaging
guitar fest that is ‘Freedom’, also from
'Personal
Crisis'
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be complete without a little Grim Reaper?, as they topped the set with the
fantastic ‘See You In Hell’, which rounded off a great set of pure rock.
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Soul Doctor
Next
up were another surprise package of the day Soul Doctor.
I have to admit to being
unfamiliar
with any of their material before tonight’s show,
although I am
very familiar
with front man Tommy Heart from his Fair Warning material.
Tommy was the only
returning visitor from last years Firefest
appearing in a band this year, only
last year he was fronting
Fair Warning.
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The night
was really set on fire when these guys hit the stage and they were
undoubtedly the band of the day for me
and many others I suspect. They got things going with
‘Blood Runs Cold’ from the bands latest release of the same name, then it
was straight into ‘Under Your Skin’, another fine slice of Hard Rock from
the Germans
who seemed to really whip the masses into a hive of
activity. Keeping the
momentum going the continued with the somewhat
meatier ‘Good Times Slippin’ and
‘Temptation’. |
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At this
point in time I wanted to rush out any buy the
entire back catalogue
by these guys,
such
was
the impact they made on me.
I like the Fair Warning's
material but this Soul Doctor stuff is more my cut of tea.
Hard and heavy and
full of great guitar solo’s.
The crowd
really were giving their all for this band as they sang along to ‘See You
In Heaven’, a more sedate affair but things soon picked up again with
‘Eating On Me’ and ‘Danger’.
The band returned to their debut album
for
the next couple of songs,
‘Goodbye’ and
'Unspoken Words’,
both superb songs that really did it for me.
The set could have finished there and then and I would have
felt I'd
had my moneys
worth, but thankfully they continued to impress with the surprise package of
the set the Led Zeppelin cover ‘Whole Lotta Love’.
Not content at that they put that cherry on the top of the
icing on the cake
with
‘What Do U Want’
before
finishing off
on a high with ‘Soul
Doctor’. A
great set from a band that really surprised me and one I will be
purchasing CD’s from in the days to come.
Demon
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As great
British rock institutions come they don’t come any higher than Demo, who I
caught a couple of years ago at Z Rocks and after that show was really
looking forward to seeing them again on what was to be their
very
last live
show.
Sadly my
expectations were dashed when the band seemed a little lackluster on stage
with front-man Dave Hill not up to his usual mischievous self.
The band seemed
a little somber,
whether this was due to the fact that this was the last show
or not,
they definitely weren’t up to
the same standard
we witnessed back in
2006 at Z
Rocks,
which was a shame with the
highlights of the set for me being ‘Black Heath’,
‘Sign Of The Demon’ and ‘Don’t Break The Circle’.
All classics but I
expected more and
this just
wasn’t the swan song I
had been expecting to see tonight.
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Threshold
Now for a band which was the
major reason for traveling down to Nottingham in the first place,
Threshold. When
this band were
announced I was overjoyed at the news,
although this was
short lived because soon after it was announce that
singer
Andrew ‘Mac’ McDermott had
left the band.
With the band supporting Kamelot in London
a few weeks
earlier I had also been looking forward to that show, but
again without Mac
I wondered
would the band be up to putting on a true Threshold
show? In
London the support show by Threshold was tolerable as it was my first show
with Damian Wilson at the helm and I was willing to give him the benefit
of the doubt at that show.
With Sue Ashcroft so
instrumental in getting the band on today’s bill it was only fitting that
she introduce the band.
Sadly
tonight things didn’t
get off to a fantastic start as the sound was particularly muddy and didn’t
do the band any favours as they opened up with ‘Slipstream’, which wasn’t a
bad effort but I
perhaps
let my feelings about Mac not being on stage cloud my
judgment, or was
more than a few of those
two pint glasses?
The set continued with
‘Pressure’, one of my favourite Threshold tracks,
but again
it
sounded
particularly muddy with Damian's vocals seemingly lost among the fog.
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I was very critical of the
band at London but tonight I was willing to give them the benefit of the
doubt and not compare the two shows, but I couldn’t because the London show
was much better and tonight was at
best
70%
compared to that show.
Things continued with
‘Mission Profile’ and ‘Sanity End’ with Groom at his impeccable best.
The
sound did improve a little as things went along with ‘Hollow’ and
‘Exposed’, but the real disappointment of the set was ‘Pilot In The Sky Of
Dreams’, which I rate as my
"song of the year" from my
"album of the year",
but
which lacked so
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much tonight I could hardly
bring myself to listen to it.
Damian did his best but
it was a choice of
go to the toilet or
breakdown in tears in front of 400 plus punters,
it's really was that bad. |
As I returned the band were
well into ‘Light And Space’ which led into the final song of the night
‘Fragmentation’, a song that lent
itself
much
more to Damian’s vocal
style.
Die hard fans of the band
will give the show rave reviews but for me it has always been Mac and
without a major change in songwriting to bring out the best in Damian's
vocals,
if indeed he is kept within
the band,
or will the band find
another vocalist more similar to McDermott?,
the future will only tell.
I’m afraid until I hear the
fruits of a new Threshold album this may be the last time I see the band
live,
which is such shame
as I love their music so much.
To sum up, on the whole a
great day.
Stormzone
and
the
Steve Grimmett
Band were
great, Soul Doctor
were
band of day
for me by a long stretch. Enough
said!
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