FIREFEST 2010
Nottingham Rock City (and Trent Uni), UK - 29th, 30th & 31st October 2010
Line-up: H.E.A.T., Lynch Mob and Nelson, + support
Review and poor quality phone pics by Jon Wilde
Last time I went to the annual Firefest at Nottingham's Rock City was back in 2007, a year featuring Harem Scarem, Tyketto, FM and more. That was a great gig, but the line-up for this year's event - now spread over two full days plus a third smaller show on the Friday at Trent Uni - promised to be a whole heap better.
Nottingham Rock City is a superb venue that manages to be both large and intimate at once. Wanna stand back and soak in the atmosphere? No problem. Want to get right up to the stage and be within touching distance of your heroes? Yep, that works too. The Firefest crowd is a polite entity and, no matter who was playing on stage, there was always room to get wherever in the venue you wanted.
October 29th
The show started on the Friday with Reckless Love, Crazy Lixx and H.E.A.T.. Sadly I wasn't able to be there, but to all intents and purposes Reckless Love were good, Crazy Lixx were great, and H.E.A.T. - featuring new vocalist Erik Grönwall - were utterly brilliant. I've seen them with their previous singer, but this guy supposedly moves the game on to a whole new level. Should be worth catching them by the sounds of it.
October 30th
Bit of a disaster for the organisers before the day had even began - the main soundboard died so they had to get another one quickly from elsewhere. Fortunately they managed it, but it did mean the day started a good hour or so late. Still, full marks to everyone involved for pulling a minor miracle. I suspect without their heroic work the day wouldn't have happened at all.
Grand Illusion - I've been waiting a long time to see these guys live. Their 2004 album "Ordinary Just Won't Do" is one of my favourite releases ever. The latest album "Brand New World" isn't quite up to the same standard, but a fine effort nonetheless. The show was as you'd expect for the first band of the day. The crowd wasn't warmed up but the Grand Illusion guys gave it their all anyway. Peter Sundell has a phenomenal voice and can produce sounds most singers can only dream of. The rest of the band were tight and a pleasure to listen to as well. I really wish they had played more songs from their big album, but they were great nonetheless.
Beggars and Thieves - Didn't do a massive amount for me. I'm not that clued up on their songs, but as you'll see later with Shotgun Symphony and Stage Dolls, that doesn't automatically make for an unenjoyable set.
Bangalore Choir - I must confess to having a certain bias towards David Reece and the rest of Bangalore Choir, so the fact I thought they sounded amazing shouldn't come as a surprise. Still, the crowd reaction suggested the feeling was pretty damn mutual throughout. The old 'uns sounded phenomenal, the new ones were a definite match in terms of quality and fun-factor, and the performances from the whole band - Curt Mitchell and Andy Susemihl on guitars, Danny Greenberg on bass, and Hans i’nt Zandt on drums - were superb. Highlight of day one for me.
Shotgun Symphony - Another band I know very little about, but this time that didn't matter. Front man Tracy White had more charisma than you could shake a stick at, and his voice was crazily brilliant. I do love it when you go to gigs like this and come away genuinely impressed and surprised. Crunch did if for me back in 2007. Shotgun Symphony managed it in 2010.
Bonfire - Now, this is a weird one. The band got the crowd going utterly bonkers, but they didn't excite me in the slightest. We'll call it a clash of tastes, and I know I'm in the minority for not being blown away by them. Ah well...
Dare - I love some of the work by this band, but I also (like a lot of people) find the later Dare releases a little too chilled. There is one of their songs I love to death though, and that's 'Abandon'. Unfortunately for the band they played my big song first, meaning there was little else to look forward to as the set progressed. Their 2010 version was suitably excellent and had the crowd singing along in a big way. 'Into The Fire' was great too. In fact the performances from Darren Wharton, Vinny Burns and co. were beyond reproach. For me, though, once the big songs were out of the way, they became more sit-down-and-enjoy, not stand-up-and-rock. They were good, but I'm not sure Firefest is the right environment for them.
Lynch Mob - I only caught the first part of the set from George and friends. They sounded as good as you'd imagine, but I can't say a lot more than that. How much of their set they got to play I don't know. They only came on at 9.30pm, and there was supposedly a 10pm curfew. How they fitted an hour+ of songs in I don't know, but the general consensus seems to be they played something of a blinder.
Overall, not a bad first day, but the second was always going to blow it away. And so it proved...
October 31st
A much more prompt start for the Sunday portion of the weekend. With tired legs and tired eyes already taking hold, Grand Design kicked things off...
Grand Design - ...and very good they were too. Singer Pelle Saether has a hugely unique and enjoyable voice on the band's debut album "Time Elevation", and so it proved live. Just like Grand Illusion the day before, being first on the stage to a cold crowd is hard work, but Grand Design did a fine job. Their Def Leppard-isms worked well and made for an adrenaline-laced start.
Newman - I love this guy's album work, but always wondered how well he'd translate to the live stage. The problem is he's a one man recording machine who generally works on his lonesome, so the chances of him working well as part of a band unit and having any stage presence were remote. And yet...how wrong I was to worry! The guy was sensational, sounding (if anything) even better live than he does on record. The whole band were a well-oiled machine and, for my tastes, they picked the perfect selection of tracks. He even had a cold for goodness sakes! Superb.
Stage Dolls - And then Stage Dolls came onstage and showed how it should be done. This is a band that tours non stop. The reason they can continually sell tickets was obvious from the moment the first note cascaded from the speakers. They were tight, entertaining, picked all the right songs (even though I didn't know most of the tracks they were instantly contagious) and front man Torsten knows exactly how to work a crowd without being over the top or annoying. All in all, Stage Dolls are a text book example of how to perform live. Every other band on the planet could do with watching them, notepad in hand to scribble down every move they make.
Strangeways - I love Terry Brock's voice, and even like the new Strangeways album (even though it has been slated in certain quarters). However, even though he sounded wonderful live, there was little chemistry or interest in the band's performance. Shame, because I was really looking forward to seeing these guys. Ah well, maybe they had an off night, or maybe I was too busy waiting for Jimi Jamison by then. Whatever, they sadly didn't do it for me. I'm still looking forward to Terry's next album though.
Jimi Jamison - Brilliant. There's barely any point saying anything else. Tommy Denander on guitar was a god. H.E.A.T.'s bassist Jimmy Jay and keyboardist Jona Tee were perfect, and the drummer (who's name sadly escapes me) was a blur of spinning sticks and phat rhythms. Backing singer Dave Dalone (also from H.E.A.T.) was unfortunately a waste of space - spending more time drinking beer than performing, but that was the one downer. Jimi's voice was utterly stunning. He acts like a star because he is one. He picked the right songs, and performed them so well it's a wonder he isn't still selling out 10,000 seat arenas across the world.
Pretty Maids - They were supposed to be on earlier but flight issues meant their set was delayed. I departed before they started, so cannot comment.
Nelson - Was never a big fan of Nelson in the old days so didn't see reason to hang around and watch them. However, the new album is proving to be rather good, so perhaps I should have stayed after all...
In summation...
A brilliant Firefest that comfortably whooped the butt of the previous one I saw. Jimi Jamison, Stage Dolls, Newman and Bangalore Choir were the highlights, but I think everyone took home something different from the gig. And isn't that what it's all about with this sort of festival? Give a bit of something for everyone. Firefest did that in spades, and I cannot wait to see what organisers Bruce Mee and Keiran Dargan put together next year!
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