FIREFEST PRESS RELEASE:
Firefest V is only a few short weeks away and it is time to announce a few updates for the UK's premiere melodic rock music festival. From Firefest headquarters [with a little addition from me] comes the following update:
"With FF5 drawing ever closer we felt it was time to bring you up to date with all the happenings behind the scenes.
First off we have been forced into a scheduling change due to logistical problems (don't you just love it when airlines just change their minds and reschedule flights due to logistical reasons?) and only tell you about it 4 MONTHS after flights were booked
Valentine who were originally scheduled to play on Sunday Oct 26 will now play on Saturday Oct 25 whilst Mitch Malloy moves from Sat Oct 25 to Sun Oct 26.
Apologies to those who may be disappointed as a result but ultimately we were left with no choice to switch the acts in question or leave one of them at home, something which was not an option as far as we were concerned. As you know Vinny Burns (Dare/Asia/Ten) was scheduled to play with Mitch, but alas, Vinny has some pressing engagements that he needed to attend to, so he gracefully had to opt out.
However, before you groan, his replacement is none other than guitar virtuoso Tommy Denander. Yes folks ... Tommy D will finally play in the UK.
Everybody has been checking in and rehearsals have been going well for all involved. Gary Brandon from White Sister E-mailed last Tuesday to advise that two police cars pulled up outside their rehearsal space (at Gary's house) and promptly shut down the rehearsal as they had a number of complaints about the noise level from local residents. "Pussies" according to Gary, but he insists White Sister will be on top form for Firefest. He's even dusting down the trusty old Key-tar for April - you're no Fool.
Tickets have been selling very well indeed and now with the summer festival season over we have once again seen an upturn is sales. We now have about 75% of tickets sold for both days, so if you are intending to come along to the show on either day or both days, it would be advisable to get your tickets sooner rather than later.
Tickets can be purchased directly from Firefest through the web site www.thefirefest.com or from any of the official ticketing agencies: Destiny Records, Loud 1, ST Records, ZRoxx.
Tickets can also be purchased using paypal. Paypal payment address: fireworks.mag@ntlworld.com.
Or by personal cheque/postal order (Payable to 'Bruce Mee') or cash (at senders own risk) from the fireworks office:
Fireworks Magazine, 10 Dunnock Close, Offerton, Stockport, SK2 5XD England.
Meet And Greet -
Little did we know that over 600 people would apply for only 100 invites - shows you how much we know. Anyway, as it is YOUR festival we have spoken with Rock City and we are delighted to announce that the meet and greet will now take place in the Rig with a larger capacity of 350 people allowed to attend the meet and greet. Please do not Email again as despite our best efforts to secure a venue large enough to cater for 600 we could not, and invitations will be offered to the next 250 people after the initial 100 successful applications.
We also have a few surprises in store at the meet and greet including some live performances (acoustic-ish), one of whom you would never guess in a million years. Let's just say we are DELIGHTED to have them.
With a three album and 20 year history behind them, including their debut album on a major label, we are really looking forward to having Beggars & Thieves at Firefest.
Ron Mancuso (guitars) and Louie Merlino (vocals) will be making the trek from the US of A. We would like to give a big shout out to Andrew McNeice and Angelmilk Records for making this a reality. Cheers fellas!! Hopefully Angelmilk will get them to record a new album - it's been way too long.
Valentine will also be releasing their brand new album at Firefest and the guys will be on hand to sign copies on the spot. Firefest will be the ONLY place to get your hands on this little GEM initially so be sure to grab a copy on Friday night or at some stage over the weekend. The only thing we can say about the album is it is Classic Valentine: sumptuous choruses, meaty guitars and soaring vocals all wrapped up in a stunning production. One track, Pickin up the Pieces is destined to become a genre classic. Considering there will be more than enough talented musicians in the room a jam wouldn't be out of the question stranger things have been known to happen, and at FF anything is possible
And for those of you who wish to party late into the night, Rock City DJ Dave Herron will be playing the only the best melodic hard rock for the remainder of the night - and you are all invited. Oh, and guess what? If you want to hang out at Rock City until the wee hours, it's FREE (if you attended the meet and greet). Dave may also have a few guest DJs slotting in on the night, so hang around to see how your favourite musicians fare out from behind the DJ console!!
Thank you all for your support once again. Firefest gets harder and harder to do each year and with no plans for another show please do your best to give it a big send off. Wouldn't it be lovely once again to have the House Full signs up outside Rock City? If only to prove that REAL Rock music will forever have a following that other musical genres could only hope for.
Merchandise -
A limited number of Firefest 5 T shirts in ladies and gents will be available to order PRIOR to the show. Last year this method proved very popular (not having to carry a shirt around all day in a bag is obviously a winner!) so we will have the shirts available for purchase on www.thefirefest.com about 10 days before the show. Last Year we SOLD OUT before Saturday, so if you want to grab a shirt please avail of the advance ordering on the web site and wear your shirt to the show. On show days the official merchandise desk can be found inside the main hall entry door immediately to the left. The full range of Firefest DVDs (Harem Scarem, Valentine and FM) will also be available for purchase at the show.
Firefest DVDS -
Harem Scarem: We still have a few PAL Collectors Edition DVDs in stock, and some Standard in both PAL and NTSC.
Valentine is available as a Collectors Edition double digipack (DVD & CD) only, PAL and NTSC.
FM Back in the Saddle out now. If you missed the show then here is the next best thing. Limited to 1500 copies worldwide, grab yours while you can.
All Firefest DVDs are available from www.thefirefest.com. The perfect xmas gift for your melodic rock loving friends!!
That brings us up to date for now. As always we are extremely grateful for your continued support. Hope to see you all in Nottingham in October. Kieran, Bruce and the Firefest team."
Firefest V is only a few short weeks away and it is time to announce a few updates for the UK's premiere melodic rock music festival. From Firefest headquarters [with a little addition from me] comes the following update:
"With FF5 drawing ever closer we felt it was time to bring you up to date with all the happenings behind the scenes.
First off we have been forced into a scheduling change due to logistical problems (don't you just love it when airlines just change their minds and reschedule flights due to logistical reasons?) and only tell you about it 4 MONTHS after flights were booked
Valentine who were originally scheduled to play on Sunday Oct 26 will now play on Saturday Oct 25 whilst Mitch Malloy moves from Sat Oct 25 to Sun Oct 26.
Apologies to those who may be disappointed as a result but ultimately we were left with no choice to switch the acts in question or leave one of them at home, something which was not an option as far as we were concerned. As you know Vinny Burns (Dare/Asia/Ten) was scheduled to play with Mitch, but alas, Vinny has some pressing engagements that he needed to attend to, so he gracefully had to opt out.
However, before you groan, his replacement is none other than guitar virtuoso Tommy Denander. Yes folks ... Tommy D will finally play in the UK.
Everybody has been checking in and rehearsals have been going well for all involved. Gary Brandon from White Sister E-mailed last Tuesday to advise that two police cars pulled up outside their rehearsal space (at Gary's house) and promptly shut down the rehearsal as they had a number of complaints about the noise level from local residents. "Pussies" according to Gary, but he insists White Sister will be on top form for Firefest. He's even dusting down the trusty old Key-tar for April - you're no Fool.
Tickets have been selling very well indeed and now with the summer festival season over we have once again seen an upturn is sales. We now have about 75% of tickets sold for both days, so if you are intending to come along to the show on either day or both days, it would be advisable to get your tickets sooner rather than later.
Tickets can be purchased directly from Firefest through the web site www.thefirefest.com or from any of the official ticketing agencies: Destiny Records, Loud 1, ST Records, ZRoxx.
Tickets can also be purchased using paypal. Paypal payment address: fireworks.mag@ntlworld.com.
Or by personal cheque/postal order (Payable to 'Bruce Mee') or cash (at senders own risk) from the fireworks office:
Fireworks Magazine, 10 Dunnock Close, Offerton, Stockport, SK2 5XD England.
Meet And Greet -
Little did we know that over 600 people would apply for only 100 invites - shows you how much we know. Anyway, as it is YOUR festival we have spoken with Rock City and we are delighted to announce that the meet and greet will now take place in the Rig with a larger capacity of 350 people allowed to attend the meet and greet. Please do not Email again as despite our best efforts to secure a venue large enough to cater for 600 we could not, and invitations will be offered to the next 250 people after the initial 100 successful applications.
We also have a few surprises in store at the meet and greet including some live performances (acoustic-ish), one of whom you would never guess in a million years. Let's just say we are DELIGHTED to have them.
With a three album and 20 year history behind them, including their debut album on a major label, we are really looking forward to having Beggars & Thieves at Firefest.
Ron Mancuso (guitars) and Louie Merlino (vocals) will be making the trek from the US of A. We would like to give a big shout out to Andrew McNeice and Angelmilk Records for making this a reality. Cheers fellas!! Hopefully Angelmilk will get them to record a new album - it's been way too long.
Valentine will also be releasing their brand new album at Firefest and the guys will be on hand to sign copies on the spot. Firefest will be the ONLY place to get your hands on this little GEM initially so be sure to grab a copy on Friday night or at some stage over the weekend. The only thing we can say about the album is it is Classic Valentine: sumptuous choruses, meaty guitars and soaring vocals all wrapped up in a stunning production. One track, Pickin up the Pieces is destined to become a genre classic. Considering there will be more than enough talented musicians in the room a jam wouldn't be out of the question stranger things have been known to happen, and at FF anything is possible
And for those of you who wish to party late into the night, Rock City DJ Dave Herron will be playing the only the best melodic hard rock for the remainder of the night - and you are all invited. Oh, and guess what? If you want to hang out at Rock City until the wee hours, it's FREE (if you attended the meet and greet). Dave may also have a few guest DJs slotting in on the night, so hang around to see how your favourite musicians fare out from behind the DJ console!!
Thank you all for your support once again. Firefest gets harder and harder to do each year and with no plans for another show please do your best to give it a big send off. Wouldn't it be lovely once again to have the House Full signs up outside Rock City? If only to prove that REAL Rock music will forever have a following that other musical genres could only hope for.
Merchandise -
A limited number of Firefest 5 T shirts in ladies and gents will be available to order PRIOR to the show. Last year this method proved very popular (not having to carry a shirt around all day in a bag is obviously a winner!) so we will have the shirts available for purchase on www.thefirefest.com about 10 days before the show. Last Year we SOLD OUT before Saturday, so if you want to grab a shirt please avail of the advance ordering on the web site and wear your shirt to the show. On show days the official merchandise desk can be found inside the main hall entry door immediately to the left. The full range of Firefest DVDs (Harem Scarem, Valentine and FM) will also be available for purchase at the show.
Firefest DVDS -
Harem Scarem: We still have a few PAL Collectors Edition DVDs in stock, and some Standard in both PAL and NTSC.
Valentine is available as a Collectors Edition double digipack (DVD & CD) only, PAL and NTSC.
FM Back in the Saddle out now. If you missed the show then here is the next best thing. Limited to 1500 copies worldwide, grab yours while you can.
All Firefest DVDs are available from www.thefirefest.com. The perfect xmas gift for your melodic rock loving friends!!
That brings us up to date for now. As always we are extremely grateful for your continued support. Hope to see you all in Nottingham in October. Kieran, Bruce and the Firefest team."
