A new venue, a new city, and another FIREFEST.  The venue Nottingham Rock City has always been the Mecca for rock fans since its early beginnings, and it's only appropriate that the second FIREFEST is brought to Nottingham.

The city itself is easier accessible and has a larger variety of hotels to suit most budgets. The venue itself was purpose built for such an event, there were only a few flaws with the day but more of that later, it's time for the show.

With each band on the day limited time wise because of the 10.30 pm curfew imposed by Rock City due to its highly popular rock & metal nights. The whole day had to be timed to perfection if the organizers were going to pull it off successfully. And by god they did just that. At times it was like a military manoeuvre, everyone knew what had to be done and they stuck to their task and credit goes to all involved backstage to making it run with only the minute of problems.

Power Quest

Opening up the day were the mighty Power Quest, who got the day off to one hell of a start.  With barely a chance to blow the froth of my beer their intro was starting.

Opening up with 'Find My Heaven', a track that had a few of the more sedate melodic rock crowd agog. The sheer tempo of the track had them stunned for a few moments, but as the band went into the more melodic 'Children of the Dream', they soon started to warm to the band.  The band themselves were up for the gig from the off and didn’t seem overwhelmed by the fact that they were opening up for some of the biggest names in Melodic Rock business, both past and present, and actually seemed to feed off each others enthusiasm.  The band looked like they were having a great time and by the looks on the faces of those crammed down the front against the barriers, they weren't the only ones.

'Children of the Dream' also saw Steve Williams don the infamous Key-Tar for the first time in the set. Fans of the band will know what I'm on about.  The introduction of this new instrument to the bands set allowed fans to see a lot more of Mr Williams then just his bobbing head, which is so often the case at their gigs.

The set continued at lightening pace with 'Sacred Land' off the bands Neverworld album.  By this time they had more than a few heads nodding along to the song, and they were definitely winning the crowd over. 

Then it was back to the bands latest album 'Magic Never Dies' and the thunderous 'Edge of Time'.  Latest addition to the band, drummer Francesco Tresca, provided some pulse racing rhythms to the song while looking as cool as a cucumber behind his drumkit.  How anyone can provide such an impressive wall of sound without so much as breaking into a sweat is beyond me. 

This was quickly followed by the title track 'Magic Never Dies', which blended well with the previous offering.  'Hold on to Love' once again saw Steve Williams step out from behind the keyboards with the Key-Tar and together with bassist Steve Scott and guitarist Andrea Martongelli they indulged in their own version of the Quo guitar sway.

The bands final track of their 45 minute slot was 'Neverworld', the title track off the bands second album.  By now the crowd was well and truly hooked and when the band took a bow at the end of the performance they received a rousing and much deserved cheer from the crowd.

I've been to quite a few of these types of festivals and Power Quest have got to be the best opening act I've ever seen.  I hope this festival gets the band all the good publicity they deserve and sees them go on to bigger things.  Definitely one of my favourite performances of the day.

Balance of Power

Second up on the bill were Balance of Power, a band that I knew little about before today, but a band that I will most definitely be checking out after today's performance.

Apart from a few technical problems new vocalist Corey Brown was having with his front monitors, something a few of the bands seemed to experience throughout the day, the band gave it their all.

Starting the set with 'Heathen Machine' they continued where Power Quest left off with a more metal orientated rock.  Where PQ are a fast drum beat band, BOP are a more keyboard based band along the lines of Dream Theatre, but maybe not as epic.

While the problems persisted for Corey, the band soldiered on with 'Chemical Imbalance' and the storming 'Shelter'.  It might have been Corey's first time in the UK, but he showed what a quality vocalist he is, and never let the sound problems deter from the bands performance.

Corey explained the band were trying to include as many songs in as possible into the short time slot they had been allocated, and continued with 'Blind Man' and 'Day Breaker', before finishing off with 'Beneath The Low'.  A simply stunning track that rounded off a far too short set, but hopefully we will see more of this band very soon.

Shy

Next up were Shy who were a late addition to the bill after Saracen had to drop out.  I must admit that I have never been a great fan of the band, but I was willing to persevere and stay to watch their set.

The first thing you noticed as the band hit the stage was the transformation of Tony Mill.  Long gone is that bouffant hair, he has gone completely for the Zack Wilde look, and wouldn’t be out of place in some greasy biker gang.  But looks aside Tony does have one of the most distinctive voices on the AOR scene.

The band opened up with 'Breakaway' and from this it was plain to see the band were totally focused.  Tony's stern face was there for all to see as he made the centre stage his own domain.

Then it was time for 'Skydiving', a track that really impressed me and a personal favourite of our dear editors.  I've seen the band a few times now at one festival or another and this for me has to be their finest performance to date.

They went from strength to strength and rolled back the years as they went into 'Emergency' and 'When Love Is Over'.  Both tracks sounding fresh and new.   At this point Tony nearly broke into a smile, but then suddenly remembered himself before the corners of his lips could curl, and got back to business with 'Cant Fight The Night' and 'Soul Searching'.   The biggest cheer of the day came when 'Break Down The Walls' was announced.  The set was ended in epic style with 'No Other Way', which capped off a great performance and one I'm glad I never missed out on.

With all the bands keeping their sets within their allotted time scales everything was running smoothly.

Blue Tears

Next up were Blue Tears, a band that are a bit of a mystery to me.  All I knew about the band was that they had one album back in 1990 and that they were a firm favourite of Kieran Dargen, who during a recent interview with Steve Price of ARFM, was very excited about bringing the band over to play FIREFEST 2.

The band had played the pre-show party the night before and although I couldn’t see the band from where I was seated, they sounded OK.  Very Bon Jovi meets Bruce Springstein.  I was also told that a certain Paul Hodson was playing keyboards that night, who apparently had only been asked 6 hours beforehand if he could come up and play.  With only an hour's practice before standing in for the band he taken on this mighty task.  So it came as no surprise that he walked out on stage after a short while to join the band for the main event.

They opened up with 'Rock you to Heaven', a track that had a few of their fans down the front jumping about.  It's was a promising start to the set but there was something missing.  The band lacked a physical presence on stage.  Although vocalist Greg Fulkerson did try his best, they just seemed to be lacking that certain spark.

The set continued with 'Life Is For Living' and 'Cant Get Enough', both of which had me hoping for more of the same.  Things started to pick up with 'Fight For The Right' and the band finally started to win me over.  'Let It Rain' followed, but the crowd favourite had to be 'Rocking With The Radio, which was also my favourite track from their set.

The final track 'One Step Over The Line' rounded off an overall OK set.  The only criticism I have was the fact that the band didn’t announce Paul Hodson to the crowd.  Paul did a sterling job on keyboards and it would have been a nice touch to both introduce him and thank him for helping them out at such short notice.

As the day went on the hunger pangs had started, but the lack of food available onsite meant that in between bands there was a mass exodus from the venue as people went searching for something to eat. By the time Blue Tears had finished their set I too was stating to feel hungry so out we went in search of nourishment.

Vaughn

Having nipped out for something to eat meant that I missed the first part of Vaughn's performance, but what I managed to see was another fine set that mixed tracks from Danny's career from Waysted - Tyketto - Vaughn, plus various projects that he has been involved in throughout the years.

The line up that Danny uses now is one that is familiar to most of the crowd and is probably one of the strongest he's had.  With the inclusion of Pat Heath and Tony Marshall on guitars, Steve McKenna on bass, and new boy Lee Morris on drums, the band were as tight as a drumskin, and together with Danny gave us a great show.  Let's hope that the band can get together as a unit and get in the studio to put out an album together.

I've seen Danny perform on numerous occasions and with the exception of the recent Tyketto reunion show at Trillians in Newcastle I've never seen a bad show.  He is a true professional and always gives 110% on stage and is always a crowd puller, today being no exception.

Such is the mans pulling power he could have just sat up their on his own and did an acoustic set and still got the same crowd reaction.  With songs like 'Rescue Me' and 'Heaven Tonight' still firm crowd favourites, what set wouldn’t be complete with the awesome 'Forever Young'.  What can I say about the set but JOB WELL DONE.

Danger Danger

Next up was the much anticipated Danger Danger, who were kindly introduced by the one and only Dave Reynolds.

With Bruno Ravel and the rest of the band taking their places on stage, the crowd were eagerly anticipating the entrance of one Mr. Ted Poley.  Who when he did come on stage to the opener 'Rock America', his mike wasn’t working and promptly threw it too the ground and stomped back off stage.  Not the start he wanted and certainly not the start we wanted either.  But the problem was soon remedied and he continued like the pro he is before continuing on with 'Beat The Bullet'.  

Today's set was more of a best of set from the band and to be honest that what most people had come to hear.  With Poley on top form the whole set just steamed along.

Next up was the outrageous 'Slip Her The Big One' and 'Bang Bang' with more sexual innuendoes flying around the room than a Carry On film, combined with a 1000 screaming melodic rock fans the atmosphere was electric.

Quickly followed by 'Shot of Love' and one of my favourite Danger Danger tracks 'I Still Think About You', this was sharp turning into one hell of a show.  With limited time the band went into 'Don't Blame It On Love' and the show stopper 'Monkey Business' before leaving the stage to rapturous applause.

There was a little mix up as the backing music started to play, there was confusion as to whether the band were coming back on stage or not.  Whether the crowd thought that there wasn’t going to be an encore by the band as none of the other bands had done one earlier or what, they started to leave the front of the stage and meander back to the bar.   Just as they started to do this Bruno Ravel came back on stage and explained that that had been a first, performing to a crowd who didn't call out for more.  But after all the confusion the band came back on and finished off with 'Naughty Naughty'.  Despite the confusion at the end of the set they had been the band of the day so far for many.

Harem Scarem

Next up were Canada's finest export, Harem Scarem, for only their second UK appearance ever.  Their first being at the Gods festival in 2002 and I'm proud of the fact that I have had the privilege of being at both shows.

Having been out of the country for the past week enjoying a well earned rest with my good lady wife soaking up the sun in the Maldives, I was shocked to see some of the reports of the Harem Scarem set, because as far as I'm concerned they put on a hell of a performance with Harry Hess and the rest of the band in fine form.  Rarely do you see a band make a performance look so easy when we all know it's not, and actually look like they are having as much of a blast as the fans who are out there watching them.  Beaming from ear to ear they really seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The band opened up with 'Forgive And Forget' off the new album and from this point on things just got better and better.   'Weight of the World' was next and the flow of the songs was superb with 'Don't Come Easy' off the new album Overloaded and 'Higher' getting rapturous applause.

The awesome 'Outside Your Window' was just monstrous live.  With Kieran bringing on pints of Guinness to the various band members, the atmosphere back stage was obviously relaxed.

The set continued with 'Torn Right Out' and 'Change Comes Around' and one of my favourite Harem Scarem songs 'Honestly'.  The next track 'Candle' was dedicated to Bruce Mee who is the silent partner when it comes to Firefest and who seems to stay mainly in the background.

'Voice of Reason' a personal favourite of the band was next, closely followed by the closing song 'Saviors Never Cry', to which a certain Mr Poley jumped on stage for an impromptu jam.  Mr Poley being a long time fan of the band himself it must have been like a dream come true to get such a golden opportunity to perform alongside them on stage today.

Unlike Danger Danger, the crowd didn’t leave the front of stage and let it be known that they definitely wanted more.  And more what they got with 'Hard To Love' and the classic 'No Justice', which nearly brought the house down and capped off a great show.  No matter what others may think, Harem Scarem are one hell of a live band and up until this point they were the only band to receive such deafening applause after each and every song from their fans.

The bands opener 'Sahara' soon set my heart pumping, as this had been one of the bands I was really looking forward to see today, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed.  Despite all the health problems James Christian was having, he still has one hell of vocal range on him, and he made the years come tumbling back with the old classic House of Lords tracks,  but he also showed that the new album The Power And The Myth sets up to standard of the more newer AOR bands out there.

'Chains of Love' just sounded superb and is a much better live track. The set continued with 'Love Don’t Lie' and 'Pleasure Palace' both of which were immense.

The set may have been restricted because of James's accident, but this didn’t stop the rest of the band giving it all they had.  Especially Lanny Cordola who was just ripping away at the guitar and pulling out riff after monstrous riff, and at times seemed to be totally lost in his own guitar frenzied world.

'Talking About Love' and 'Edge of Your Life' both rocked good style. The next three tracks 'Mind Trip', 'All Is Gone', and 'The Rapture' feature on the band latest release The Power And The Myth and all sounded great live.

The next track is the one I thought would end the show 'Wanna Be Loved' was just great to hear live once more.  But when James Christian slapped on the guitar and the played the Eric Clapton song 'Cant Find My Way Home' my knees nearly buckled.

With a drum solo from Ken Mary just before 'Slip Of The Tongue' which turned out to be the final track it was plain to see that despite James Christians obvious battle with pain, House of Lords were definitely back with a vengeance.

To sum up FIREFEST 2 in a few words  GREAT STUFF and let's hope that the success of the day will prompt a FIREFEST 3 next year.  If so then I'll see you all there without fail.  Excellent bands, excellent day and excellent value for money.  When the only low point of the day is your feet aching from standing up all day that can't be bad.