For the second year running, Newman appeared on Firefest, this time as substitutes for FarCry, who cancelled at the very last minute. In contrast to last year, when their nerves got the better of them, Steve Newman & co now left a very relaxing impression in which the pleasure of playing prevailed. With Shaun Bessant in their midst they have a greatly talented guitarist. In ‘Over And Over Again’ he got the assistance of Pete Fry from FarCry, whom - despite his band pulling out - made the long journey to the UK on his own. Newman also took the opportunity to bring some of the new material that would be coming out soon on the new album ‘Under Southern Skies’ and it must be said: the new stuff sounds a lot heavier, but nevertheless still very melodic. Crowd pleaser ‘One step Closer’ eventually closed a more than satisfying set.

White Widdow had the honour of being the first Australian act ever on Firefest. Their second album “Serenade” was released earlier in 2011 and is filled with melodic eighties rock, the keyboards however in a far too prominent role. Fortunately live everything sounds a lot heavier and much more balanced, mainly because of the blistering guitar playing by Enzo Almanzi. With his sleaze rock look singer Jules Millis drew most of the attention upon him, but due to his youthful enthusiasm he unfortunately did not always keep perfect tone. Nonetheless this was an enjoyable set with a nice song selection from both albums out so far.

The original line-up of Swedish band Alien did not escape the wrath of time which - with the exception of guitarist Tony Borg - made them physically nearly unrecognizable. But in strident contrast their musical brio did, if not even got better. Singer Jim Jidhed did not have a smooth start, but by the time ‘Brave New Love’, ‘Go Easy’ and ‘Tears Don't Put Out The Fire’ had passed in review, I had been bewildered by what a splendid voice he still has. Tony Borg could also display his talents during “I’ve been waiting”. One by one superb performances of their best songs passed by and the Marbles cover ‘Only One Woman’ - which scored them a hit in their home country - was interpreted in a magnificent manner, which ensured them of rightly deserved applause. The new ‘Ready To Fly’ concluded this much too short set of which we can expect a live CD soon. It would be sad to see such a talented act disappear as it has rumoured.

In a change of musical mood, there seemed to be a younger and more glammed up crowd down the front for Kane Roberts, who looked gaunt and unrecognizable from the Rambo-esque figure of old. His excellent “Saints and Sinners’ album from 1991 (co-written and produced by Desmond Child) still stands the test of time. However, reproducing this massive sound today was merely impossible, partly due to Robert’s long absence from the stage. After a couple of songs into the set it was obvious the ex-Alice Cooper guitarist was unprepared and uninspired. His voice was mediocre at best and even backing band Talon couldn’t hide the lack of rehearsals for this gig, resulting in a messy set. A pity, because with ‘Wild Nights’, ‘Twisted’ and the hit ‘Does Anybody Really Fall In Love Anymore’ along with Alice Cooper songs ‘Freedom’ and ‘Prince Of Darkness’ the set list certainly was promising. During ‘Dance Little Sister’ two tarty tattooed ‘dancers' joined him, but at that point the show was already flagging. After a lengthy ‘Take It Off’, which he co-wrote with Paul Stanley and Bob Ezrin for Kiss, he called it a day 15 minutes short of his allotted playing time. Currently Roberts is making a come-back, but has some serious work ahead of him to equal his heyday.

Mitch Malloy to me is the prodigal son of melodic rock. From time to time he cuts his hair and dips into genres from country to modern rock, but eventually always comes home to his roots. Women were doubtlessly swooning and men envious of his luxuriant mane of hair and gleaming pearly whites as he came on stage to ‘Mission Of Love’ from his classic 1992 debut album. Another great catchy up-tempo rocker ‘Falling To Pieces’ followed. No oldie this time, but a taster from his new album “II” instead, which sees him returning to his original sound. The rest of the set continued with a mix of classics like ‘Stranded in the Middle of Nowhere’, on which his vocals did go a touch over the top, a beautiful stripped down ‘Our Love Will Never Die’, and ‘Forever’, with some really promising new material like ‘Carry On, Love Song’, which was rockier than the title might suggest, and ‘I'm the One’. His trademark song ‘Anything At All’ had the crowd going crazy and I expected that to be the last song, but he played an anthemic new song, ‘All My Friends’, with vocals that had quite a country rock feel reminding me of The Jayhawks. Mitch had been to the UK before but, supported by an excellent Italian band including an attractive girl bassist, and looking thoroughly at peace with himself, he has never sounded better.

I never thought I would live to see the day to witness Coney Hatch in concert, but 30 years after first discovering them and thanks to Firefest my dream was realized. The Canadians lived up to the expectations and delighted a crowd that - from my vantage point near the front - was noticeably thicker with older fans than with most of the other bands. With no frills they tore into an opening trio of ‘We Got the Night’, ‘Don't Say Make Me’ and ‘You Ain’t Got Me’, with Carl Dixon looking much the same as he did back in the day and his singing stronger than you might expect from a man who has had to fight back from a serious accident three years ago. It was also immediately apparent that Steve Shelski's excellent, effortless guitar work had a more classic, even bluesy feel than many of the flashier guitarists over the weekend and that gave the sound extra solidity. Coney Hatch always had sharing several people vocal duties and Andy Curran, rake thin and in pork pie hat unrecognizable from his poodle permed days, delivered the likes of ‘Stand Up’ and ‘Love Poison’ with his harsher, punkier tones, while the more melodic ‘First Time for Everything’ was a sheer delight to hear live. I had expected them to major on their first two albums, but Carl mentioned that the organisers had recommended they played more from the more AOR flavored third album “Friction”. So we were treated to the likes of the classic ‘She's Gone’, ‘Girl from Last Night's Dream’ with its great lyrics and ‘Fantasy’. ‘To Feel the Feeling’ again momentarily took the pace down, but the likes of ‘Hey Operator’ and ‘Devils Deck’ had me and quite a few others casting away any inhibitions to shout along and punch the air to songs we never thought we'd hear live again. Personally, I would’ve preferred them to end with ‘This Ain’t Love’ than with Andy's ‘Monkey Bars’, but that was a small gripe after a set that was worth the anticipation.

Firefest's Sunday night headliners were also special, in their own way. Unruly Child released a superb debut album in 1992 that was swiftly buried by record company politics and the onset of grunge. The year after, singer Mark Free delivered a memorable display at the first ever Gods festival, but was plainly in the grip of deep personal traumas. The band have intermittently recorded since, but reunited last year with – now Marcie - Free. After the band took the stage, the roar of approval as Marcie came on to the stage, in a very Stevie Nicks-esque blonde fringe and floaty black dress, had a warmth that you could reach out and feel, and which transcended purely musical considerations. Opening with the super melodic ‘Love is Blind’, after an unconvincing ‘Show Me the Money’ the band generally concentrated on the more laid back moments from their excellent “Worlds Collide” album, rather than the harder rocking numbers. They are excellent musicians, but also had the grandest lights show, while Jay Schellen's drum kit and Guy Allison's suite of keyboards were certainly the largest of the weekend! Highlights included the Beatles-esque ‘Tell Another Lie’, the laid back ‘You Don't Understand’ with some great harmonies from all the band members, the progressive feel of the title track and ‘Neverland’ with some great keyboards. Although the majority of the crowd wanted to hear more songs off the debut, ‘Lay Down your Arms’ and ‘Take Me Down Nasty’ had the likes of band members from Serpentine, who were standing near me, roaring out the lyrics. Marcie was on good voice, even though its timbre has definitely changed, hearing her sing some of the first album’s songs. Unfortunately her homilies on life, faith and love between songs, not to mention swigging from a thermos flask and occasionally checking a lyric book, increasingly broke up the momentum of the show and that was even before the bass and drum solos. Nevertheless the set ended on a high with probably their best known song, ‘Who Cries Now’, and encores of the heavy pomp of ‘On the Rise’, and the happy sounds of ‘When We Were Young’ from the current album. A memorable show that justified their billing as headliner.