Wonderful weekend of music, best Firefest ever and thats saying something.

Day 1
Talon- enthusiastic and new singer sounded good with new material but when it came to the song I'd been looking forward to (Wrecking Ball) it all fell apart for some reason
Loud and Clear- enjoyed the most of all the Saturday bands. Jess Harnell looks and sounds the part and had a great sense of humour. A bit rougher than I expected and not enough off Disc-Connected but great fun.
Paul Laine- far more impressed with his voice than when I saw him with DD but didnt do nearly all of Stick it in your ear. The version of Dorianna was brilliant. But why does he have to drink so much when on stage?
Valentine- good but didnt make the same impact as last year and felt a tad samey. Now I realise about Hugo's difficulties. Interesting that despite having new product, they played far more songs off the debut than they had last year. Those choirboys coming on during Soul Salvation was bizarre!
Jeff Scott Soto- usual energetic talented and genre-hopping self. Stripped the set down a lot but could have done without the Boogie Nights stuff
PC69- missed first part for food- dont know much of their stuff but solid set
Tyketto- had reservations initially whether this was the real deal but Danny as superb as ever, PJ seemed far more fired up than he ever did in Vaughn and I thought the rockier sound with two guitars actually worked. Few surprises other than Big Wheels but can't go wrong with songs of such quality.

Day 2
Burn- sorry guys, wanted to catch the set but brunch called and service in Wetherspoons was shite
David Readman- didnt know material but reasonably impressed
HEAT- havent got the album but what I heard impressed me. Too many covers but I guess inevitable with the late change of singers- plus they did a great job of them!
Rox Diamond- better performers than I expected and the more pomp sound made a change from most of the acts playing. Singer SO wanted to be Steve Walsh.
Mitch Malloy- he seemed overly fired up for Mission of Love but after that was brilliant (other than the God slot song). The sound was great and the ballads Nobody wins.... and Our Love... came over as superb. Great sound and one of the acts of the weekend
White Sister- one of the great firefest moments- not just classic songs, but they put on a real show and were great characters. Dennis CD's voice is still awesome and Garry Brandon was cheesy but really worked the crowd on his songs. As someone else said could have done with more from Fashion by P (and was also surprised Promises opened rather than ended set) but can't have everything
Tall Stories- agree with others comments. Enjoyed them myself but the songs not as instant as what went before or after and their stage presence was boring especially the Arthur Smith lookalike on guitar
Danger Danger- complete party time, the place going crazy and the songs irresistible- not one for the musical purists but who cares?
Firehouse- hard to follow DD and a little disappointing. Honest and hardworking performance but other than All she wrote, Reach for the Sky and Dont treat me bad, I found their other stuff a bit hair metal by numbers.

Danger Danger and White Sister won it for me, closely followed by Mitch, Loud and Clear and Tyketto.

Would love there to be a Firefest 6, not least just as a gathering of like minded fans, but we have to be realistic, it may not match this bill for quality (though I'm sure the board will be full of speculation and wishlists until it ever happens!)