Firefest review
- Thread starter Symphony
- Start date
dragonwarrior
Brother of Metal
The second Firefest festival of the year was an even stronger line-
up than the first, boasting many of the dancefloor fillers of the
glory days of melodic rock. Kurt Cobain would have been spinning in
his grave at the thought of a parade of the types of band grunge was
meant to kill off attracting a crowd of around 1000 to Rock City,
which proved an ideal venue.
However the day began with two bands from the heavier end of the
rock spectrum. Power Quest earned a very warm reception for an
opening band and many new to them were pleasantly surprised by the
songs, especially from the latest `Magic never dies' CD. Despite the
power metal tag, they were actually more in a mainstream European
melodic rock tradition, albeit at a much speedier tempo. Balance of
Power (watched by a fan who'd flown over from Canada) had a darker
and heavier sound but their new American singer made for a
substantial improvement on the previous time I saw them, some of the
more impressive songs reminding me of Queensryche in places.
Andy Nathan
up than the first, boasting many of the dancefloor fillers of the
glory days of melodic rock. Kurt Cobain would have been spinning in
his grave at the thought of a parade of the types of band grunge was
meant to kill off attracting a crowd of around 1000 to Rock City,
which proved an ideal venue.
However the day began with two bands from the heavier end of the
rock spectrum. Power Quest earned a very warm reception for an
opening band and many new to them were pleasantly surprised by the
songs, especially from the latest `Magic never dies' CD. Despite the
power metal tag, they were actually more in a mainstream European
melodic rock tradition, albeit at a much speedier tempo. Balance of
Power (watched by a fan who'd flown over from Canada) had a darker
and heavier sound but their new American singer made for a
substantial improvement on the previous time I saw them, some of the
more impressive songs reminding me of Queensryche in places.
Andy Nathan
Firefest 2 has of course just taken place last weekend in Nottingham UK. On location was Powerplay Magazine's Rob Evans, who was kind enough to get this review back to me in speedy time. Thanks Rob! A few pix are also featured - click on them for full size shots. Thanks to Bruce Mee and Fran from Nexx for the pix.
Over to Rob for the report -
"I must admit that when I saw the final, confirmed, bill for Firefest Two I wasn't exactly enamored by the line-up. Balance Of Power, Shy and Vaughn aside, the rest, and this is just my opinion, I could certainly live without. But that's the beauty of festivals.......something for everyone! And this festival was just that, and then some!
The Friday night warm-up was at a delightfully intimate little venue called Via Fosse. Compact and bijou, but if you weren't in the front row then you had a hard job to see much. Tonight's opening band were called Crimes Of Passion. This is basically Deadline with a new singer. I must say that the new look and sound...impressed me. Songs like "Exit Wound", "Pretty In Blood" and the impressive "Die Alone" were solid slabs of Skid Row meets Skin style rock. Chuck in a couple of covers by Skin and Warrant, and they left you impressed.
Nexx, on the other hand, will do nothing but impress you. Having just secured a record deal only days before this gig, they were certainly in the mood to party. Patricia Tapas is a bona-fide star. Whether she's in the small confines of a club, or on the big stage, she shines brightly. A healthy balance of old ("A Good Time Comes") and new ("Hey Dad") material, plus some choice covers ("Sentimental Boulevard"), left you in no doubt of this bands pedigree.
Blue Tears finished the evening with some rousing, but very stereotypical AOR. Gregg Fulkerson's Bruce Springsteen fixation was in full flow as the band played a healthy mix from both of their albums [the debut and the new demos release], with an anthemic "Blue Tears" taking top honours.
Saturday's main event was held in Nottingham's Rock City, what is arguably the home of melodic rock. Hell, there were hair casualties all over this place, which made it an inspired choice of venue, if ya ask me!
The band who had the honour of kicking of the whole day were the Anglo/Italian hotshots, Powerquest. Full of galloping rhythms and choreographed headbanging, they delivered a set of tight, well rehearsed metal that, at times, left you spellbound and at others splitting your sides with laughter at their on-stage antics. As opening bands go, this lot were one of the better ones!
www.melodicrock.com
Over to Rob for the report -
"I must admit that when I saw the final, confirmed, bill for Firefest Two I wasn't exactly enamored by the line-up. Balance Of Power, Shy and Vaughn aside, the rest, and this is just my opinion, I could certainly live without. But that's the beauty of festivals.......something for everyone! And this festival was just that, and then some!
The Friday night warm-up was at a delightfully intimate little venue called Via Fosse. Compact and bijou, but if you weren't in the front row then you had a hard job to see much. Tonight's opening band were called Crimes Of Passion. This is basically Deadline with a new singer. I must say that the new look and sound...impressed me. Songs like "Exit Wound", "Pretty In Blood" and the impressive "Die Alone" were solid slabs of Skid Row meets Skin style rock. Chuck in a couple of covers by Skin and Warrant, and they left you impressed.
Nexx, on the other hand, will do nothing but impress you. Having just secured a record deal only days before this gig, they were certainly in the mood to party. Patricia Tapas is a bona-fide star. Whether she's in the small confines of a club, or on the big stage, she shines brightly. A healthy balance of old ("A Good Time Comes") and new ("Hey Dad") material, plus some choice covers ("Sentimental Boulevard"), left you in no doubt of this bands pedigree.
Blue Tears finished the evening with some rousing, but very stereotypical AOR. Gregg Fulkerson's Bruce Springsteen fixation was in full flow as the band played a healthy mix from both of their albums [the debut and the new demos release], with an anthemic "Blue Tears" taking top honours.
Saturday's main event was held in Nottingham's Rock City, what is arguably the home of melodic rock. Hell, there were hair casualties all over this place, which made it an inspired choice of venue, if ya ask me!
The band who had the honour of kicking of the whole day were the Anglo/Italian hotshots, Powerquest. Full of galloping rhythms and choreographed headbanging, they delivered a set of tight, well rehearsed metal that, at times, left you spellbound and at others splitting your sides with laughter at their on-stage antics. As opening bands go, this lot were one of the better ones!
www.melodicrock.com
Little Linda
Member
Here's another one to add to your collection ... piccys will be up once I get over this jet lag ...
http://www.themayfairmallzine.com/gigrev/firefest205.html
Cracking show by the way, can't wait for the 2nd leg of the tour early next year :Spin:
http://www.themayfairmallzine.com/gigrev/firefest205.html
Cracking show by the way, can't wait for the 2nd leg of the tour early next year :Spin:
Here's what Majestic Rock had to say
06-12-2005 | FIREFEST, POWER QUEST, IAN PAICE IN ITALY...OH MY!
Well, what a week that was! From Power Quest ripping it up at Firefest 2 to seeing the mighty Ian Paice & his band - including the awesome Matt Filippini, guitarist from the Moonstone Project, in Milan, Italy. Let`s just say it was emotional...
Power Quest well and truly blew the cob webs away in the opening slot at Firefest 2 at Nottingham Rock City of Nov. 26th, winning many new friends along the way. Burning question of the day seemed to be whether they were Power Metal or AOR. Well duh, they`re a Power Metal band with songs...simple as!
06-12-2005 | FIREFEST, POWER QUEST, IAN PAICE IN ITALY...OH MY!
Well, what a week that was! From Power Quest ripping it up at Firefest 2 to seeing the mighty Ian Paice & his band - including the awesome Matt Filippini, guitarist from the Moonstone Project, in Milan, Italy. Let`s just say it was emotional...
Power Quest well and truly blew the cob webs away in the opening slot at Firefest 2 at Nottingham Rock City of Nov. 26th, winning many new friends along the way. Burning question of the day seemed to be whether they were Power Metal or AOR. Well duh, they`re a Power Metal band with songs...simple as!
