Albion Born: A Review of Ten's Albion CD

When I made the decision to trek from Toronto, Canada over to Nottingham, UK for Firefest: The Final Fling in October of this year I knew a good portion of the bands on the roster for the three day event.  Some I knew quite well, some I had been waiting all my life to see live, some I had no idea of and some I was only on the fringes with knowing a few tracks.  Ten was one of those fringe bands.  I knew "of" them more than I knew the music.  I searched out and purchased a compilation release to try and familiarize myself with the material prior to the event.  Quite a few of the songs from The Essential Collection that I had purchased became regulars in my listening rotation.  I purchased two more full releases and again the same result for some of those tracks.  I was well on my way, quickly becoming a Ten fan.

Ten on stage at Firefest 2014 - photo by Shawn Irwin

Ten was born out of what was originally intended to be the third solo effort for British singer Gary Hughes.  Hughes, who had written a whopping 28 songs, joined together with guitarist Vinny Burns (Dare/Ultravox/Asia/FM) and the band evolved from there.  The debut, X, dropped in 1996 to rave reviews and sales and by the end of that year, the songs already written, the sophomore effort, The Name of the Rose landed.  Ten have had some differences in membership over the resulting years, the one constant always being Gary Hughes, but have issued a total of eleven albums including the aforementioned as well as the forthcoming Albion.  For Albion the band sees bassist Steve Mckenna, drummer Max Yates, keyboardist Darrel Treece-Birch and guitarists Dann Rosingana, Steve Grocott and John Halliwell alongside Gary Hughes' vocals.  And yes you did read that correctly, there are three guitarists!  Perhaps a bit overkill and I always smile at my stupid little joke of maybe they're trying to get their membership up to the band's name.

The Thursday night in Nottingham, the night before the concert festivities were to begin, there was an exclusive CD listening party for the first to sign up.  Ten's forthcoming album Albion was on the bill after In Faith's Debut release (In Faith CD Review).  Albion contains ten tracks all decent in length and some awesome cover art from Gaetano Di Falco depicting a medieval style, scantily clad woman holding a sword as fires rage in the background.  We begin with the lead single from the album "Alone in the Dark Tonight"'s charging guitar riff.  This track was rather magical during the Firefest performance as vocalist Gary Hughes requested that as many people film it as possible in their attempt at a Guinness Record for the most camera angles, I really have to remember to get mine posted on the Ten Facebook page!  From there the grinding yet melodic "Battlefield" is a showcase for Hughes.  "It's Alive" is an upbeat rocker while the medieval lyrical subjects of "Albion Born" assist in making it nothing short of spectacular.  The

7 of Ten @ the listening party - photo by Shawn Irwin

 keyboard beginnings of "Sometimes Love Takes the Long Way Home" unfold as the track ramps up.  "A Smuggler's Tale" is probably my top of the heap cut, an epic sounding composition with a great chorus.  The longest selection appears next in "Die For Me" at almost seven and a half minutes that pass by like nothing.  "It Ends This Day" has an infectious groove and chorus while the partially Italian language spoken "Gioco D'Amore" seem to drone on a little bit to me and serves as my least favorite on Albion.  The sound of a pumping heartbeat and tinkling of a piano start of "Wild Horses" explodes for the chorus and ends the record on an extremely high note.

Here's just one of the many fan filmed "Alone In the Dark Tonight" videos from Firefest Nottingham October 2014.  Watch for The Meister's videos from Ten and other Firefest performers coming soon to Decibel Geek's YouTube Channel

From knowing "of" them to album purchasing to concert cheering to joining the Ten Army fan page, I guess you could say I've become a full fledged Ten fan.  Now it's your turn and Albion is a great place to start!

BUY: Ten - Albion

Cheers,
The Meister

(The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

PHOTO CREDIT: SHAWN IRWIN 2014

(Ten Website) (Ten Facebook)

Anarchy in the U.K. - The Story of Two Canadians at Firefest: The Final Fling (Photography by Shawn Irwin) Part 3 of 3

On this third and final day of concerts at 2014's Firefest: The Final Fling here in Nottingham, England we were still quite energized and were up and attacking the Hilton buffet once again at a reasonable hour.  Shawn, proudly sporting his newly acquired Black 'N Blue shirt, was ahead of me

Marty/Meister/Shawn ready to rock

 in the line as I noticed the gentleman ahead of him was wearing the same shirt.  He also had similar dark rimmed glasses and a shaved head. My quip of  “Hey, you two must shop at the same store!” served as the opening to meet Marty who pointed out that all three of us must use the same barber!  Turns out that this gentleman is none other than the roommate that Decibel Geek Podcast writer Derik Novak will be partnered with when he embarks on his first Monsters of Rock Cruise in 2015!  When Derik told me that he wanted to set sail I introduced him (via Facebook) to my good cruise friend Tony as I knew Tony was searching for another roommate for his cabin.  It turns out that Marty will be Derik's roomate on the ship, facilitated by Tony, awesome to randomly meet here!  The connections of my rock family never cease to astound me.

With that Shawn and I were off in search of a chocolate store, of which we’d seen many during late night wanderings but had trouble finding this morning, so that he could bring some chocolate home for his wife.  During our chocolate void stroll we happened across Geert from Belgium, a friend met on the MORC cruises.  He joined us as we searched and came across a couple of places that were not 

The scene of our coffee substitute - photo by Geert Fieuw

yet open for business on this Sunday morning.  We decided that a coffee was in order and after more aimless wandering, not finding anywhere that was overly appealing for our coffee we somehow ended up entering The Ned Ludd which was not so much of a coffee shop but a pub.  Strange to find a pub open at this hour for us Canadians.  I substituted my coffee with a beer, a local brew of some sort that was quite delicious and a fitting start to the day.  Geert enjoyed a pricey brew from Belgium while Shawn had tea as we chatted about Firefest, MORC, bands in general and Geert’s band, Beyond the Labyrinth, which I’m anxious to hear.  Parting ways we secured the precious chocolate package and dropped it off at the hotel, not wanting to carry it into Rock City of course. 

Once inside Nottingham Rock City we again made a strict beeline for the merchandise room to see what the wares of the day would include.  While there were several top choices, as there have been each day (no Pretty Maids merchandise yesterday was a disappointment, however), we both quickly settled on the personalized to Firefest Coney Hatch t-shirts.  They depicted the cover art of the 1982 debut Coney Hatch album and on the back had “Firefest 2014: The Final Fling, Rock City-Nottingham, October 26, 2014” with “Sold-Out” stamped across it at an angle.

Shawn was ready to enter the photo pit again and I told him that he would like this first band of the day for sure.  He was unfamiliar with them, but I had several of their releases and had caught a portion of their performance at Sweden Rock 2013.  I took up residence in basically the same spot that we had started every day so far, hey why break tradition?  Axxis from Germany blasted onto 

Bernhard Weiss - photo by Shawn Irwin

the stage and ripped through an awesome opener with “Kingdom of the Night II”.  Vocalist, Bernhard Weiss, immediately captivated the early crowd with his staggeringly powerful voice and the tightness of the band backed him up with vigor.  “Little War” was their next choice and I was astounded at the amazing stage presence of these guys.  Weiss paused ever so quickly to inform us that they were now faced with the challenge of giving us 25 years of Axxis in about 40 minutes, so he had to talk very fast.  This short chat was very humorous and showed the engaging charisma of Bernhard Weiss.  They incited the crowd extremely quickly with a couple of “hey, hey” follow alongs but stayed true to their word and got underway again rapidly with “Heavy Rain” , a new cut for me which sounded awesome.  “Hall of Fame” nipped closely at "Heavy Rain"’s heels and "Heaven in Black" from the 2000 Back to the Kingdom album right behind that presentation.  “Little Look Back”, the incredible “Living in a World” and the original “Kingdom of the Night” served to bring their stage time to an end.  I was fortunate enough to have rather quick reflexes and good hand eye coordination so far this morning as I snatched a guitar pic out of the air as it was poised to fly over my head (well I hadn't been drinking much yet).  Shawn was also impressed by Axxis and I suspect he will be asking me to borrow a few CD’s.
(Axxis Website) (Axxis Facebook)

One thing for certain is that every band brought their "A" game and had a loyal legion of fans cheering them on, but unfortunately not everything appeals to everyone and not every band today personally appealed to me.

Guild of Ages - photo by Shawn Irwin

C.I.T.A./Guild of Ages were the next band to grace the Firefest stage on this last day and I was completely in the dark about them.  What I believe was titled “Stand or Fall” was the first selection followed by “From Now On”, some investigating of setlist.fm later educated me.  They struck me as a little modern sounding, which is not usually my taste.  “Say a Prayer” came prior to “Heat of Emotion” which we were told was the title track to their second CD.  I began talking with Mike, a sure sign that the band is having troubles maintaining my attention.  My ears did perk up at what I thought may have been called “Axe” but that doesn't seem to match up.  In any case it was their best sounding yet I thought.  Mike, who was more familiar told me that they were now playing a medley of songs, but it was too late for me.  It was definitely a difficult task to follow what Axxis had just laid down on the Rock City stage, but personally, I couldn't catch the buzz from these guys at all and I completely stopped paying attention, beginning to scope the audience for girls and drinking a few beers. 

(Guild of Ages Facebook)

There were many countries' flags clinging to the railing banister of the upper balcony and after Guild of Ages' set we quickly ran down and set up with Shawn to grab a photo of Mike, Angela and I on the upper balcony hanging over the Canadian Flag.  What a cool (and totally geeky) tourist thing to do, but I love every minute of it!  I headed back down to see Shawn and ran across a surprising sight along the way.  In Toronto it’s, naturally, extremely common to spot people of all ages and walks of life supporting their local baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays, but to see a Blue Jays jersey at Nottingham Rock City?  I hesitated only a few seconds as I blinked the surprise away from my eyes and yep, there was still a Jays jersey.  I descended on the young lady with an outstretched arm, finger pointing, “You’re from Toronto?” almost more of a statement than a question.
“No.” came the response.  “Well definitely Canada then?”.  Again, “No”.  “What?”, I was confused (perhaps the early affects of beverage consumption).  It turns out that this lovely couple from the UK are huge Toronto Blue Jays baseball fans and went to a whopping 10-12 games this past season at the Rogers Centre in Toronto!  Now, I’m a Jays fan as well, I have a friend with season tickets and if I don't accompany him to the game he often passes the tickets along to me at no cost.  I live approximately 45 minutes from the ball park stadium and I didn't go to as many games as that this year, maybe only about 8 total for me!  Awesome to meet David and Suzanne who also are familiar with my local concert haunt, The Rockpile Bar & Nightclub and often try to catch a rock show while they’re here for the ball games.  Keep in touch and we’ll definitely catch up with you next season at a game or show, cheers.

Tommy Denander - by Shawn Irwin

Touch was our next band , again an unknown to me.  Picking up some history on them before, during and after the show, I learned that Touch was original keyboard player Mark Mangold, with the help of four Swedes.  Tommy Denander was the guitarist and always a pleasure to watch, but while he was awesome my interest began to wane after about the fourth track.  A few more songs and I was really fading fast and not just because Touch were failing to entertain me.  I was suddenly so very, very sleepy as I moved back a bit and stood towards the rear of the crowd near the fruit fly infested loos.  I had to fight to keep from falling asleep standing up right then and there, the weekend catching up with me perhaps as the adrenaline wore off or am I just getting old?  Overall I was able to grab titles (with a little help from setlist.fm) like “Listen (Can You Feel It)”, “Take it Back”, “When the Spirit Moves You”, “So High”, “Don't You Know What Love Is” and “The Fire Never Dies”.  Unfortunately Touch became a casualty of my mood and therefore failed to captivate me.  But, there were many on the floor, once again, that disagreed with me as evidenced by way of their cheers and clapping.  That’s one of the beauties of Firefest is that every band has fans and a good number of them!

(Touch Facebook)

The much hyped (to me anyway) Brother Firetribe appeared next, led onto the stage with the assistance of a recorded intro.  I had been hearing the praises of these guys sung to me by Decibel Geek Photographer Brian back home and by Kimmo at RockUnited.com.  I had done some pre-Firefest listening via YouTube to familiarize myself with the Finnish born Brother Firetribe's catalog in preparation for this event.  I have to be honest, nothing that I had heard particularly grabbed me, but often seeing a band live will make me an instant fan, so I wasn't too worried.  “One Single

Pekka Heino - photo by Shawn Irwin

Breath” opened their set, “Runaways” following closely on it’s heels.  By the time of their third song, “Love Is Not Enough”, the crowd was in a frenzy, applauding, cheering and singing along enthusiastically.  What am I missing here?  I just am not catching Brother Firetribe’s buzz at all.  Is there something wrong with me?  To be frank, I find it all to be mostly generic, basically each track sounding indistinguishable from the next.  The False Metal album, also released under the different name of Break Out, supplied "Midnite Queen" next.  “Trail of Tears” (the best yet for me),  and “I’m on Fire” were played as I fought, unsuccessfully, to stay awake once again.  I had a perch in the far corner of the upper balcony and I felt myself going down, catching and snapping awake before I actually stumbled.  The security guard was right next to me patrolling the gated entrance to the VIP and I thought for sure he would kick me out, but thankfully he either didn't notice or perhaps didn't care.  To try and jolt myself alive I videoed the next one, giving myself something tangible to concentrate on, which seemed to help.  A couple of songs later and “For Better or Worse”, "Heart Full of Fire” and “I Am Rock” wrapped things up as I spotted Scott’s friends close by on the railing.  Once again the Firetribe fans were loving the whole set and I may have even been the lone person in Rock City not moved by their presentation.
(Brother Firetribe Website) (Brother Firetribe Facebook)

After passing the seemingly short time between set changes (the crew still standing to the impressive 20 min change arounds) chatting with a couple of friends of Decibel Geek listener and shirt wearer from yesterday, Scott.  Unfortunately Scott was only able to be in attendance for the Saturday's events making it even more remarkable that I came across him proudly displaying his DBG

Carl Dixon - photo by Shawn Irwin

 shirt!  Both these other gents were looking forward to Coney Hatch's set, up next.  As was so eloquently put by one, "No one sounds quite like Coney Hatch".  The Canuck band led off with the first single, "Blown Away", from their latest CD, aptly titled Four.  For any of those that don't know this story, "Blown Away" perhaps almost never came to be.  The band debuted the song at a show in Toronto and while the music had been down for sometime vocalist, Carl Dixon, had just completed the lyrics the night previous to the show.  As a result he hadn't yet committed them to his memory and had three pieces of lined paper taped to a stage monitor to guide him through the song.  The day after the event, Carl sent out a distress signal via Facebook, the lyrics were gone!  He'd forgotten to retrieve them from the stage after the show and they had been the only copy in existence!  Some bonehead fan had pilfered them from the stage while others were grabbing setlists and discarded guitar picks.  Once word of the distress call reached me, the bonehead, I immediately scanned the three sheets and sent them via email back to Carl.  I just thought they were an awesome stage souvenir like a setlist for a fan such as myself!  The Andy Curran (bassist) sung "Stand Up" from Coney Hatch's 1982 debut album was next followed by "Don't Say Make Me" from 1983's Outa Hand.  The 1985 Friction album was represented next with "This Ain't Love" and "She's Gone" before bassist Andy Curran took the mike and led the audience in singing "Happy Birthday" to his daughter, who was in attendance.  The Coney set was heavy on the 2013 Four album with "Marseilles", "Boys Club", "Down and Dirty" and "Connected"

Michael Borkosky/Andy Curran - photo by Shawn Irwin

all being served up in succession next.  After "Marseilles" the boys took a moment to thank Kieran Dargan.  The last time that Coney Hatch played at Firefest (in 2011) had been their first time playing in the U.K. and when they got home there were some record deal offers born out of their Firefest performance.  If it hadn't been for Firefest there wouldn't have been a Four record, so once again thanks Firefest!  Back to the debut now for "Hey Operator" as I remarked how much I love Andy Curran's stage manner and his sometimes goofy and aloof moves.  "Fallen Angel" saw a snippet of the Golden Earring classic "Radar Love" sandwiched in the middle of the song, but also saw Carl break a guitar string as roadies scrambled to replace his guitar.  "Girl From Last Night's Dream" containing a lot of emotion and connection, as did their whole performance, came before the "two punch to the gut" closer of "Monkey Bars" and "Devil's Deck".  Great job boys, a sentiment echoed by my balcony partners.
(Coney Hatch Website) (Coney Hatch Facebook)

In a similar experience as Babylon A.D. had shown yesterday, Autograph blasted onto the stage, hard and heavy with "Deep End".  Prior to departing Canada I had been singing the praises of the 2014 Autograph over Facebook to some friends that would be in attendance at Firefest.  They

Steve Lynch/Randy Rand - photo by Shawn Irwin

 were concerned with the absence of original vocalist Steve Plunkett and the lack of keyboards.  Having seen these guys four times already this year I knew that there was nothing to worry about.  Originals, bassist Randy Rand and guitarist Steve Lynch (read my Lynch interview here) have been joined by drummer Marc Wieland and vocalist/guitarist Simon Daniels.  Wieland is an animal pounding the skins behind the kit and Daniels handles the material with ease and charisma while thickening up the mix with the addition of his rhythm guitar.  All this fits incredibly well with the talents of criminally underrated guitarist Steve Lynch and super cool bassist Randy Rand.  I knew they would be turning some heads here in Nottingham.  A triple shot off their third release, Loud and Clear was expertly delivered in "Dance All Night", "Loud and Clear" and "Bad Boy".  Autograph was effectively winning over the crowd from what I could see and judging by the remark I heard uttered nearby me of "Punkett who?".  "Blondes in Black Cars" led us into "When the Sun Goes Down" which included a short display of Lynch's guitar talents.  The 1984 Sign in Please

Simon Daniels - photo by Shawn Irwin

debut album (the first record I ever bought with my own money) was well represented next with "All I'm Gonna Take" (can't help singing along for this one, apologies on my tone deafness to those within earshot), "Send Her To Me" and "Cloud 10".  Mr. Lynch took a few moments next to showcase his talents for a short, tasteful guitar solo.  I'm normally not too much of a solo fan especially if they drone on, but this one worked well for me before the song about a loser, "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend Isn't Me".  Such a classic line that one and as Daniels often quips, the following song, "She Never Looked That Good For Me", must also be about the same dude.  "Crazy World" was next in line, but the smash hit and signature song of "Turn Up the Radio" closed the set with every attendee singing right along with the band.  Autograph turned it up and brought the house down!  Are you ready to turn it up?  Hell Yeah!
(Autograph Website) (Autograph Facebook)

Ted Poley - photo by Shawn Irwin

I have to be totally honest, I've never been a huge Danger Danger fan aside from "Naughty Naughty" of course.  Yes, I have all the albums, but I just find that the fare contained is a little light and poppy for me.  That being said over the last three years between Monsters of Rock Cruises, a Toronto performance and Sweden Rock Festival I've seen Ted Poley either acoustic, electric or with Danger Danger a total of nine times!  The first time I saw Poley was on 2013's Monsters of Rock Cruise, during which I was in a terribly hungover daze and fog.  That show made me a fan, such a charismatic performer, and I even knew the material better than I thought and found myself singing along.  Feeling that I knew what to expect, or so I thought, from this closing performance on the last ever Firefest: The Final Fling I was looking forward to Danger Danger.  The whole original band reunited for this special event, Danger Danger featured Ted Poley on vocals, Bruno Ravel on bass, Steve West on drums, Andy Timmons on guitar and Kasey Smith on keys.

Andy Timmons/Ted Poley - photo by Shawn Irwin

"Crazy Nites" led the set and immediately Ted Poley was all over the stage, on fire with presence and energy.  "Rock America" had me singing away and "Turn It On" saw a red plastic construction streamer reading "Danger" threading it's way, unwinding from it's origin on the right side of the venue, throughout the crowd as it was passed along from hand to hand.  The red streamer even made it's way around and up to the upper balcony.  After "Beat the Bullet" Ted announced that it was tradition for him to take a walk even on the world's stickiest floors!  So, during "Don't Walk Away" he toured the crowd, singing away all the while.  Ted circled around a good portion of the packed lower floor, sometimes pausing to sing to a young lady in front of him.  The momentum was running high, but was quickly brought down a notch with another yawner solo that went on just a little too long, this time keyboards.  Ted and Kasey performed "One Step From Paradise" by them selves and the rest of the band rejoined the stage for "Boys Will Be Boys".  "Feels Like Love" was

Bruno Ravel - photo by Shawn Irwin

 next but I started to lose interest fast after that.  What setlist.fm shows as "Theme For An Imaginary Western" (an instrumental Mountain cover) followed by "Groove or Die" seemed little more than another noodling solo snoozefest to me.  You guys see the Firehouse show yesterday by chance?  Thankfully from there on out it was a firecracker of a performance starting with "Goin', Goin' Gone" a song originally showing up on the Cockroach album.  This would be the first time this song was played live with this roster we were informed as now a yellow plastic construction streamer began to thread through the crowd prompting the statement "We are Caution Caution" from the stage.  The conclusion of "Don't Blame It On Love" brought some lighthearted banter from Bruno Ravel as he thanked the crew, every band in the world and also Whitesnake for not playing Firefest as a lead in for "Bang Bang".  "I Still Think About You" brought Mr. Poley out into the crowd again, this time making it up the stairs to the upper level, but not actually onto the balcony.  I'm pretty sure he didn't miss a note during this foray, what a consummate frontman!

Ted Poley - photo by Shawn Irwin

"Monkey Business" took us to the sleaze rock national anthem and official end of the show with the signature song, "Naughty Naughty".  Every single person in the crowd was singing along on "Naughty Naughty" and even though it was officially the end they wanted to play one more.  They chose "the biggest melodic rock song in history, something that everyone would know the words to.  We have never rehearsed this song or played it before so let's see how it goes."  Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" definitely had everyone singing along and I could see many of the crew hugging each other at the side of the stage, bringing a tear to my eye, something happening again now as I write this.  Members of some of the other bands flooded the stage along side members of the Firefest crew and just kept coming until the entire stage was totally packed, everyone singing.  It was hard to fight back a tear, a fight that much of the assemblage was losing, as the crowd chanting of "Kieran" prompted a heartfelt speech.  The presentation of a book with the signatures of many fans presented to Kieran Dargan pretty much dissolved the last stand of those not yet shedding tears.  As the stage began to empty out the crowd continued to sing in a little a cappella led by Denander and crew member/In Faith guitarist Tony Marshall.

Firefest: The Final Fling- the final moments on stage "Don't Stop Believin'" - photo by Shawn Irwin

(Danger Danger Website) (Danger Danger Facebook)

And so closed Firefest: The Final Fling.  After ten years and eleven events the crew has decided to retire.  While I'm thankful to have been able to be a part of this momentous occasion, I'm tinged with regrets and self ass kickings for not venturing over here sooner to partake in some of the previous events.  I met many new friends and right from the get go at the CD listening party knew that I was becoming part of something very special.  The family atmosphere was thick throughout the entire weekend from the fans to the crew to the bands, something that I felt included in immediately even though we were new to the game.  Certainly one of the best festivals that I have ever attended in all respects, my hats off to absolutely everyone in the crew, the bands and the attendees.  Thank you so very much for an awesome weekend packed with great music and new friends.  Please don't let this be the end.

Top bands of the day-Shawn:                      Top bands of the day-Meister:
#3-Coney Hatch                                              #3-Axxis/Danger Danger
#2-Autograph                                                   #2-Coney Hatch
#1-Danger Danger                                           #1-Autograph

Gallery of Shawn Irwin's Photography: Firefest, October 26, 2014 (Arranged by order of play)



Look for videos from the whole event coming soon to Decibel Geek's YouTube Channel

Cheers,
The Meister

(The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

PHOTO CREDIT: SHAWN IRWIN 2014

(Firefest Website) (Firefest Facebook)

(Fireworks/Rocktopia Website) (Fireworks Magazine Facebook)

(Blackstar Amps Website) (Blackstar Amps Facebook)

Anarchy in the U.K. - The Story of Two Canadians at Firefest (Photo Galleries by Shawn Irwin) Part 2 of 3

Still reeling from Friday's concert events at Firefest we arose on Saturday morning and again raided the Hilton’s breakfast buffet.  We greeted several folks that we had already met and even a few new ones as we ate or passed through the hotel lobby.  As we were looking to take up residence at a

Meister & Scott

lobby lounge couch to make as much use as possible of the lobby provided free wi-fi services, Shawn, his eye ever scoping out concert shirts excitedly pointed to a gentleman.  "Hey Rich look at that one!", he excitedly called out, gesturing towards the gentleman.  I followed his pointing finger and boldly approached the fellow as I exclaimed "That's a great shirt!".  Perhaps a little shocked or apprehensive at the way I descended on him, he looked up from his seated position at a little table as I passed him my Decibel Geek business card.  The dawn of shock waved over his features as he exclaimed, "No way!".  Yes, Scott from Scotland, it turns out is a faithful listener of the podcast and was sporting the newest version of the Decibel Geek t-shirt (one of which I even still do not own).  *Disclaimer*-Your eyes are playing tricks on you, there is no height difference in the photo of Scott & I and no the Decibel Geek t-shirt has not been proven to make you taller!  If you want to look as cool as Scott, you can get your own Decibel Geek Swag here.

 It wasn’t long before we were out to wander the streets again, this time in search of a used record store that we had heard about in hopes of uncovering some European gems not readily available on the North American side of the pond.  This venture awarded us nothing other than a nice morning walk for our troubles.  Well now what?  We have time to scout out England’s oldest pub, Ye Olde

Meister's classic tourist photo

 Jerusalem?  Of course we do it’s Ye Olde afterall, so we have to see it….lol.  A couple of classic English red call box tourist photos along the way seemed in order as once again our spirits were high.  Always making friends we had a nice music chat with some Swedish fellows over a pint before it was time to snap some photos in the pub and mosey back to the hotel and prepare for the day.  Along the way we passed through the Crowne Plaza lobby and spotted a rather tired looking Ted Poley (turns out he had just got off the airplane).  We approached and struck up a short conversation with the charismatic performer.  As we thanked him and backed away not wanting to take up too much of his time we turned and ran into someone else waiting for an elevator.  Shawn said hello and asked, “Black 'n Blue right?”  To which the gentleman responded, “No, I'm Bruno.”  Good job Shawn, you just messed up with Danger Danger’s Bruno Ravel….lol.  To Shawn’s credit he covered it well with “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.  You look different than your pictures in twenty year old albums, I haven’t seen you in years!”  I should also admit that I didn’t know it was Bruno Ravel either, but I was fortunate enough to keep my mouth shut!  A couple of the H.E.A.T. boys (bassist Jimmy Jay and guitarist Eric Rivers) were also floating around and we took a few moments to shower them with accolades based on the wicked show we had seen last night.

Joining the line outside of Nottingham Rock City we chatted with folks as we filed into the venue.  Right off something I noticed today was the incredible stickiness of the floors!  It was not like this

Waiting in line for Rock City-photo by Shawn Irwin

yesterday, and even though we’d seen musings/warnings of this on the Firefest Official group Facebook page before leaving Canada, there were not words accurate enough to describe just how sticky it was.  Let’s just say that I paused and tightened my shoe laces for fear that I would lose a shoe to the sticky quicksand.  Again a beeline directly to merchandise, the young lady proprietors of which have been extremely friendly and helpful. Shawn came away with a Black 'N Blue shirt today, a band he’s been wanting to see since the 80’s.  Heading upstairs and back to nearly the exact same spot, we were ready for the first band of the day.  This time we had pockets full of sandwiches, in case we ended up here for another 10 hours, see we do learn lessons from yesterday!

Rage of Angels was up first today and once again I was not very familiar with the band, only a little YouTubing prior to leaving Canada.  What I did know was that the guitarist for Rage of Angels is Ged Rylands, who provided keys for Tyketto’s Monsters of Rock Cruise 2014 performance in

Rage of Angels - photo by Shawn Irwin

which I dubbed  them "The hands down best show on the boat"!  Rage of Angels' set was quite good and I was able to catch some song titles such as "Dreamworld”, “See You Walking By”, “Falling” and “Through It All” before our Canadian friend tapped us on the shoulder.  Also a member of the crew for Firefest, our friend handed Shawn a photo pass to allow him to go into the photo pit.  Awesome, thanks!  Maybe we missed a song during that brief exchange but I think “Over and Over” was the next ditty before they invited guitarist extraordinaire Tommy Denander (who appears on more than 100 albums each year!) up on stage for “Spinning Wheel” to wrap things up.  Definitely another band to investigate closer as they sounded really good and their music was catchy to say the least.
(Rage of Angels (Escape Music)) (Rage of Angels Facebook)

With Shawn ready to enter the pit, (sounds a bit like Star Wars or something, eh?) I was now free to make use of my VIP wristband and investigate the vantage points afforded by the upper balcony.  After being afraid to miss something and therefore not eating yesterday (there is no food inside Nottingham Rock City), we had gotten smarter and stuffed some market bought sandwiches into Shawn’s camera bag.  So, we made a plan to reconnect at the end of a set near the photo pit if I got hungry. 

From The Fire was next and a band completely unknown to me this time.  They started out with “Hold On” before the keyboardist offered the band's thanks for being here, it only taking 24 years for them to make it to England.  Throughout the next few songs they lost my attention, but gushed thank-yous after every one, to which the audience responded in kind.  To me they exhibited very

John McCoy - photo by Shawn Irwin

little stage presence and were rather stationary as I wandered around the balcony, running into Mike and Angela from Canada.  Apparently, as I found out later on, the bassist for From The Fire had been a legend of some sort, John McCoy.  The name is unfamiliar to me but I've been told that I need to rectify that immediately and have had buckets of shame hurled upon me for my lack of knowledge.  “Over Your Head” was a song title that I caught before they invited a special guest up on stage for the next one.  They had my complete attention once again as she was beautiful, even from this distance away.  Unfortunately I missed it's title, but Issa sang with From the Fire on what was probably their best tune yet, maybe that’s just because I was paying better attention?  My focus again wandered afterwards, but the fans on the floor were absolutely loving it.  I may have appreciated From The Fire more had I been down on the floor instead of chatting up in the balcony, my mistake.

Boulevard - photo by Shawn Irwin

Boulevard was the next band and I was surprised to find them being Canadian!  How had they not crossed my path?  Question answered quickly during the opening number.  They were a little too light pop for my particular tastes, but damn, the singer had a good voice.  Actually the whole band was super tight and I found myself toe-tapping right along.  “Dream On” led things off and I made a point of the saxophone player on stage with them, not something I usually see during my concert attendances.  They graced us with songs such as “Lead Me On” (for which the video that I took should soon appear on Decibel Geek's YouTube Channel channel), “Where Are You Now” and “Crazy Life” among others.  I marveled at how awesome my fellow countrymen were sounding and after talking to some folks around me on the upper deck I learned that Boulevard had issued two albums in the late 80’s early 90’s, something that I will definitely be searching out even though they are a little lighter than my usual fare.  They deserve support for the

Boulevard - photo by Shawn Irwin

obvious sheer talent on stage right now and sometimes it’s nice not to bang heads all day long.  The harmonies, fantastic sound and incredible melodies made for a thoroughly enjoyable presentation that I was sad to see the end of.  Boulevard announced their first single from 1988, “Never Give Up” to end the set, which I actually did recognize, probably heard it on radio when I was 15 years old.  Great set Canucks, you have my respect and I'm not the only one.  In a fun poll on the Firefest Facebook page Boulevard placed #4 out of votes from almost 150 attendees!
(Boulevard Facebook)

I headed down from my perch on the upper VIP balcony and to the side of the photo pit to meet Shawn and see how the day was going for him so far.  And I cannot tell a lie, it was time to eat and he was in control of the supermarket sandwiches…lol.  Along the way I met some more new friends and got talking to one guy, possibly due to the Brighton Rock shirt that I was wearing, but I don’t remember exactly.  After a few moments the Decibel Geek business cards were in my hand and ready to pass on, always promoting the podcast/website.  After the gentleman read the card he looked up and said that he had read some of my reviews before when he’d seen them pop up in the side column or news feeds!  Awesome, and he promised to check out the podcast show now as well!  After gathering sustenance from Shawn it was time to get back upstairs for a good railing spot for Babylon A.D.

I remember in high school at the age of 15 or 16 there was this other kid, a kind of a loner, that I’d befriended somehow.  We would always talk music, even with our little knowledge in those times and one day I was cutting through the high school cafeteria on my way somewhere or other when he stopped me.  I remember clearly he was sitting alone at a long table, his dirty blonde, larger than life mullet in all its glory, nearly taking on a personality of it’s own.  Greeting him I asked what he was listening to, to which he responded "Babylon A.D." and passing me the earphones.  “The Kid Goes Wild” was the song playing and I was quickly hooked and begging for him to “dub” me a copy if I gave him a blank cassette.  After all that time this was to be my first experience with Babylon A.D. live, something that was filled with apprehension.  Would they still have it or would it be a train wreck?

Derek Davis-Babylon A.D. - photo by Shawn Irwin

Appropriately, “Back In Babylon” was the opener and I had the video camera rolling.  They hit the stage like a lead balloon as the saying goes.  Like a smack in the face they woke up the entire place pounding out that first track followed by “Hammer Swings Down”.  On “Shot O’ Love” next, I thought momentarily that they sounded almost a little Tesla-ish at points and I’m not even sure where that came from!  Definitely a high energy in your face performance and the crowd on the floor was with them every step of the way as several around me up on the balcony commented, “wow”.  I got the video camera ready again for “Bad Blood” from the band’s sophomore effort, 1992's Nothing Sacred.  Staying with that second album netted a bit of a sing along (or was that just me singing) with “So Savage the Heart”.  I held out hope of hearing “Take The Dog Off of the Chain”, my top pick from that Nothing Sacred release.  Back to the debut for “Maryanne” and then "Love Blind" close on its heels.  I was surprised when the single and probably most well known Babylon A.D. composition of “Bang Go the Bells” found it’s way into the set

Robb Reid-Babylon A.D. - photo by Shawn Irwin

 next.  Surely this can’t be the end of their stage time already?  Thankfully not as they continued with “Sally Danced” and “Desperate” before the one that got me hooked that day in the school cafeteria with “The Kid Goes Wild”.  It appeared that frontman Derek Davis even did the speaking parts totally live, which if I'm not mistaken originally belonged to the late Sam Kinison, .  In any case the whole thing sounded incredible, just like playing the album!  With one final song, that I didn't recognize, running them a little over time, I think, they exited the stage leaving the crowd bewildered at the hammer that had just swung down on them.  What a great set, well worth the 25 year wait and now I’m more excited than ever to see them again on the Monsters of Rock Cruise 2015!  Perhaps we'll hear "Take the Dog Off of the Chain" on the cruise guys?
(Babylon A.D. Website) (Babylon A.D. Facebook)

Ronnie Atkins-photo by Shawn Irwin

It was time now for Pretty Maids, a band that I’d seen at Sweden Rock 2014, but Shawn had been waiting a long time to see.  I held my spot at the railing refusing to leave for a bathroom break or beverage.  Hey, if I could hold out for nine or so hours yesterday…….  I saw Shawn in his glory in the photo pit from my vantage point, as I awaited what I knew would be a great show.  I think I may have created a festival monster as Shawn has been repeatedly thanking me for making him come to Firefest and also talking about other events like Frontiers Rock Festival, Sweden Rock and Melodic Rock Fest.  The "Danish Dynamite" led out with “The Mother of All Lies” from their incredible 2013 Motherland album, which made my list for top of the year that year.  It seemed Ronnie Atkins may be having some vocal issues, but it didn't detract from “Nuclear Boomerang” for me at all, so happy to see this awesome band live, I wish they’d make the trek to Canada someday.  Drummer Alan Tschicaja was almost animalistic behind the kit as he pounded away for “Love Games”.  I was able to capture the awesome, but more mellow “My Soul to Take” on video, hopefully the camera didn't pick up my tone deaf singing as well.  While it was very well done I’m not generally a big fan of cover songs in a short festival set, but nonetheless Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In the Wall Part 2” was next and sounded great as the crowd sang along.  That lead us right into “I.N.V.U.”, an awesome track off of 2010's Pandemonium.  Motherland’s “I See Ghosts”

Ronnie Atkins-Pretty Maids - photo by Shawn Irwin

was the next treat in the Maids’ bag of tricks, “Sad to See You Suffer” following right behind.  After some “hey, hey, hey” chanting with the audience they ripped into some “old shit” with “Rodeo”.  “Little Drops of Heaven” and the John Sykes cover that the Pretty Maids have really made their own, “Please Don’t Leave Me” kept the crowd singing along before they wrapped up with “Futureworld”.  Thank you Firefest they proclaimed as they took a final bow with the Monty Python ditty, “Sit On My Face”, playing them off stage.  Fabulous presentation by yet another band that does not receive the accolades they so rightly deserve on this side of the pond.
(Pretty Maids Website) (Pretty Maids Facebook)

Having seen Black 'N Blue several times through the Monsters of Rock Cruises I decided to vacate my railing position and visit the gents, receiving some compliments on my Brighton Rock shirt along the way.  Learning from yesterday's experiences (although not learning quite enough to leave the venue to void my bladder), I waited for a spot at the stainless steel trough and kept well away from the toilet stalls.  I touched nothing in there but still felt creepy and gross even after I had exited.  Heading back up to the balcony I ran into Mike on his way to the Pretty Maids signing/meet & greet and I decided to tag along.  This seems like as good a place as any to mention that most bands would perform a meet & greet/signing session shortly after their set in the basement where the lovely ladies were minding the merchandise stand, all this included in the admission price of Firefest.  Unfortunately The Pretty Maids did not come out for a signing, but I was able to be briefly introduced to Kieran Dargan, basically the driving force behind Firefest if I'm not mistaken.  Thanks for this Kieran, every moment of it from start to finish, so sorry I didn't make it over here sooner.

Jamie St. James-Black 'N Blue - photo by Shawn Irwin

I was back up on the balcony in time for Black 'N Blue to start off with "Get Wise to the Rise" directly followed with "Stop the Lightning".  Frontman Jamie St. James' vocals were just as clear and taught as I imagine they were in his days of youth and the rest of the band were certainly together as well.  "Autoblast" was next up and I remembered that guitarist and fellow Canadian Stacey Blades was filling in on this Black 'N Blue show.  The video recording began with "Rockin' On Heaven's Door", watch for it and other videos from Firefest coming soon on Decibel Geek YouTube.  "Nasty Nasty" was next in line, one of my favorites for sure, but it doesn't top "Miss Mystery" for me.  The awesome "Chains Around Heaven" took us through to "Target" from 2011's Hell Yeah! release, a less than favorite of mine.  Back to the good ole stuff with "The Strong Will Rock" from their 1984 debut, but my attention was becoming distracted as Mike and I took turns refreshing

Jamie St. James-Black 'N Blue - photo by Shawn Irwin

the others beverage and I think I missed a guitar solo while it was my turn at the bar.  "Wicked Bitch" followed and forget what I said about "Miss Mystery" as my top Black 'N Blue song as "Wicked Bitch" clearly tops it.  Stick around, "BnB" has so many great songs that my favorite may yet change again folks!  "School of Hard Knocks" and the MTV hit "Hold On to 18" brought the regular set to a close, but an encore soon followed in "I'm the King".  OK, so my favorite didn't change again while writing this, but as I think back "Chains Around Heaven" would also be a fine selection and then there's also the un-played "Violent Kid"..........
(Black 'N Blue Website) (Black 'N Blue Facebook)

I rushed down to see what Shawn thought of the Black 'N Blue set after waiting and wanting so long for it.  Two enthusiastic thumbs up were all the answer I needed!  Afraid to get caught downstairs and miss his photo opportunity for Firehouse, he asked me to see if Black 'N Blue were doing a signing for him.  Off I went to discover that the area was closed off for the night, probably in preparations for the selected audience acoustic after show performance I presume.

C.J. Snare-Firehouse - photo by Shawn Irwin

And with the set changes still basically staying within the 20 minute allotment (how the hell do they do that?  I have some clubs here in Toronto that need your assistance!), this last one of the day seemed about ten minutes behind, still very good.  I had not overly been a Firehouse fan until I caught some of their performances aboard The Monsters of Rock Cruises and now looked forward to this headlining set.  Firehouse opened up with "Shake & Tumble" and I was quickly toe-tapping and tone deaf singing along from my railing spot, amazingly still vacant by the time I got there.  "All She Wrote" followed with "You're Too Bad" sitting in the third song position.  Vocalist C.J. Snare announced that after being one of the first headliners at Firefest the band felt privileged to be included in this Final Fling .  After ripping through "Rock On the Radio", Snare slid over and behind the keyboard as guitarist Bill Leverty handled the vocals on "Holding On".  Once again, not being a particular fan of lengthy solos my attention began to wander during Leverty's

Bill Leverty - photo by Shawn Irwin

"Holding On" solo which seemed to me to go on for a rather long time.  Proclaiming that Kieran was forcing them to drink Guinness they downed their glasses and cited next year as the 25th anniversary of their debut album.  With that it was time for "When I Look Into Your Eyes" which had a good portion of the crowd singing right with them, including me, the ballad-hating, fueled by beer, tone deaf guy.  "Door to Door" was the next selection featuring drummer Michael Foster on vocals which also, unfortunately, featured a lengthy drum solo and jam session that definitely went on for an eternity.  "Hold Your Fire" was up next, "Don't Walk Away" right behind it, but these two offerings from the initial two Firehouse releases did little to bring me back from oblivion.  Whatever the previous two songs did to bring me back was destroyed in "Trying to Make A Living" and a keyboard solo, what a colossal bore!  The well known Firehouse classics "Overnight Sensation", "Love of A Lifetime" and "Reach for the Sky" did little to recapture the audience as evidenced by the person at the other end on the VIP balcony with their laptop open, and no they were not filming.  "Don't Treat Me Bad" including a little Edgar Winter Group cover of "Free Ride" in the middle closed the show without an encore.
(Firehouse Website) (Firehouse Website)

Jamie St. James & Stacey Blades

Not as ravenous as we had been yesterday, we decided to head over to "the curry place" (The actual restaurant name eludes me) as we'd heard it was the place to be.  Spotting Coney Hatch drummer Dave "Thumper" Ketcham at the next table I advised Shawn who had his back turned.  As he swiveled I realized that bassist Andy Curran was also seated at the table with another gentleman who I assumed would be the new guitarist.  After a brief chat with our hometown boys, we wished them well and bade them goodnight.  Not ready to end the evening as yet, we headed over to the Crowne Plaza for some after party activities.  Shawn was in his glory as we spotted Jamie St. James and took a few moments to thank him for tonight's event.  Another fellow Canuck was right there as I greeted guitarist Stacey Blades and both Shawn and I did the photo thing with the guys.  I had a few brief moments to chat with Stacey during which he told me that he had basically had one rehearsal for the show, acoustic at that!  Wow, it all sounded great to me so excellent job sir!  Greeting some other

Derek Davis & The Meister

friends which included Autograph bassist Randy Rand among others we mingled, beginning to wind down from the day's awesome concerts.  Deciding to take our leave, we passed by Babylon A.D. vocalist Derek Davis on our way out.  We took a moment to shake his hand and offer thanks for a great show and looking forward to MORC 2015 Cruise.  I told him my story of walking through the high school cafeteria and my Babylon A.D. introduction all those years ago.  Derek was a really cool guy and thanked us for our support as well.  He reached in his pocket and awarded me a guitar pic quickly followed by a copy of his 2012 issued solo CD, Re-Volt.

Top bands of the day-Shawn:                      Top bands of the day-Meister:
#3-Babylon A.D.                                              #3-Boulevard  
#2-Pretty Maids                                               #2-Pretty Maids
#1-Black n' Blue                                               #1-Babylon A.D.

Gallery of Shawn Irwin's Photography: Firefest, October 25, 2014 (Arranged by order of play)

Look for videos from the whole event coming soon to Decibel Geek's YouTube Channel

Cheers,
The Meister

(The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

PHOTO CREDIT: SHAWN IRWIN 2014

(Firefest Website) (Firefest Facebook)

(Fireworks/Rocktopia Website) (Fireworks Magazine Facebook)

(Blackstar Amps Website) (Blackstar Amps Facebook)