FollowFriday the 25th of may was the first of a 6 date UK tour that has been dubbed by many AOR fans as a “mini Firefest”, with British melodic rockers Ten headlining with Serpentine, White Widdow and Dante Fox all taking part in the tour. The tour kicked off at Corporation in Sheffield, so how did it go? I got to Corporation early, ready to interview the bands and review the gig.
White Widdow
I have to admit I only started listening to White Widdow recently, since the release of their second album Serenade, but I thoroughly enjoyed the album and was looking forward to hearing them perform live. I did have my reservations though, because I think White Widdow have a very up-beat, bombastic sound, and an important part of that sound is the drumming. However I wasn’t sure how how having replaced their previous drummer Jim Naish with new drummer George Kristy would affect that sound.
White Widdow started the gig with “Cry Wolf” the opening song from their second album “Serenade”. I loved this song on the album, so much so that I expected it to feature later in the set, but it was a performed fantastically and I doubt anyone could have asked for a better start. This song contains everything that’s good about melodic rock. And as for George on the drums? My reservations were absolutely blown away. Not only does this uber cool drummer look like Tommy Lee’s little brother, not only did he seem to play with passion and a speed that seemed destined to defy any attempt to take a photograph of him, but I’m sure several times I saw him juggling his drumsticks during the set. Lets just say its a good job his drum kit was well made, because it took a hell of a beating from George that night.
They next played “One More Day” from the debut album, which went down well,
followed “By Stranger’s In The Night”. Here we got to hear some of the other banding singing with Jules, and the harmonies between the band were fantastic.
“Cross To Bear” was next, followed by “Tokyo Rain” from the debut. This song was performed with a lot of energy and went down very well with the crowd, as well as being one of my favourites.
“Change Of Passion” and the Def Leppard-esque “Do You Remember” gave singer Jules Millas the chance to shine, and he leapt on it, impressing everyone in the ever-growing (and increasingly sweaty) crowd.
The band rounded of the set with “Broken Hearts Wont Last Forever” from the debut. This was a great finish to the set, with the crowd singing along and loving every minute of it.
Here’s the full set list for you:
1. Cry Wolf
2. One More Day
3. Strangers In The Night
4. Cross To Bare
5. Tokyo Rain
6. Change Of Passion
7. Do You Remember
8. Broken Hearts Won’t Last Forever
Serpentine
I’d been listening to Serpentine’s first two albums over the last few months, “A Touch Of Heaven” and “Living And Dying In High Definition”, and was very impressed by their AOR sound, which set me in mind very much of none other than Journey. On the CD’s though, they are fronted by their previous singer Tony Mills (Shy, Siam, TNT), and although I enjoyed them I did feel that the songs might sound even better with a slightly different vocal style.
Enter Matt Black.
So I was quite eager to see how they sounded now, with him fronting the band. Now, as already mentioned, the crowd had swelled and sweated during White Widdow’s set, and it wasn’t getting any cooler. This level of heat can have a negative effect on the enthusiasm of just about any crowd, and beside that, White Widdow had rocked the crowd with gusto, so how was Serpentine going to go down?
They opened with “(Deep Down) There’s A Price For Love”, the opening song from their second album “Living And Dying In High Definition”, and really hit the ground running! The crowd responded to this very well and started rocking again despite the heat. (The bar must have down a roaring trade that night too).
The following song, “Lonely Nights” from the bands debut album, was one of my favourite songs of Serpentine’s set, partly because its a great song (so much so I can genuinely imagine Journey performing this back in the glorious days of Steve Perry), but also because I think it gave new singer Matt Black a chance to really hit and hold some high notes, with soaring vocals and group vocal harmonies. It was during this song that I knew for sure Serpentine had found themselves a better singer than the great Tony Mills. (And yes, you can quote me on that). The next song the band chose to play, “Philadelphia” also gave Matt another opportunity to showcase his vocal range.
“In My Blood” and “Heartbreak Town” both went down well with the heavily perspiring crowd. (If anyone reading this thinks I’m dwelling on the heat too much you obviously weren’t there to feel/smell it).
Now, Matt had had his opportunity to shine/show off (and deservedly so) but now was the time for guitarist Chris Gould to show us what he can do. The band launched into “A Touch Of Heaven” and “Dreamer”, both quite guitar led songs featuring some good guitar solo’s which Chris obviously enjoyed playing.
The last song on the set, “Whatever Heartache” came as no surprise, and had the 
crowd singing along enthusiastically. By the end Serpentine left the stage to a huge round of applause, and I believe they didn’t have to buy their own drinks for the rest of the evening.
Here’s the set list:
1 Deep Down (There’s A Price For Love)
2 Lonely Nights
3 Philadelphia
4 In My Blood
5 Heartbreak Town
6 A Touch Of Heaven
7 Dreamer
8 Whatever Heartache
Ten
Now I’d been a fan of Ten for a long time, and to my mind frontman Gary Hughes is one of the greatest song writers of this generation.
Now even during Serpentine’s set the crowd was growing. By now there was a logistical problem, not just that the crowd seemed to big for the venue, but also the band seemed too big for the set. Anyone familiar with Ten will know they are a six piece band, and anyone who’s been to the Corporation in Sheffield will also know that the stage barely has room to swing a cat (which fortunately, Ten were not planning on doing anyway, but still…). Thankfully they managed to do the set without tripping over each other or sitting on each other’s lap.
Ten started the set with “Endless Symphony”, the opening song from their latest
album “Stormwarning”. The band started this song with the guitars leading, sounding dark and broody, and this was a better way to start the song I felt than the more drum opening from their previous performance at Fleetwoodstock.
“Spellbound”, title track of Ten’s fourth album, gave the crowd a chance to start headbanging and really got the crowd going. This was followed by one of my 
favourite Ten songs (and not just mine judging from the fact that Ten’s fan site is named after this song) “Ten Fathom’s Deep”, a song loosely based on the story of the Mary Celeste. The crowd were in good singing voice for this song, and were quickly going mental. Performing this song took a great deal of energy and it gave the band as a whole a chance to shine. It should be said as well that although half the band were new (guitarist Dan Mitchell, keyboardist Darrel Treece-Birch and drummer Max Yates) they threw themselves into this intense song and sounded like they’d been playing in Ten all their lives.
“After The Love Has Gone”, a classic AOR song and a fan favourite, also went down well.
Ten are known for their epic, 8 and 9 minute songs featuring a story, and the 
epic “The Robe”, title track of the bands third album and based on the 1942 historical fiction novel then film about what happened to the garments of Christ after his death, is no exception. This song was fantastic, and the fans loved it. Not only that but Gary and the guys all seemed to really enjoy this, and Max had to do some very intense drumming at times during this song.
“The Hourglass and The Landslide” was next and it was a change in pace after the intensity of “The Robe”. Gary sung this song beautifully and it managed to keep its ultra-catchy feel that it had on the album too. “Love Song”, the only ballad of Ten’s set followed, then the Whitesnake sounding “Book Of Secrets”, the bands third song in a row from “Stormwarning”.
As the band launched into “Red” the crowd found their singing voice again, and this song was so good and passionate I wanted to put on a kilt and start fighting the English. Quite a task, as I am English myself. My gorgeous wife is Scottish though so maybe that counts? Again this is one of the songs live that really allow us to hear Gary’s voice at his best, and he leapt on it, sounding better throughout this set than ever.
Now there really isnt anywhere to go at the Corporation for the band to go and
hide while we all shout to beg one more song, a fact that Gary realized and made a joke of as he said “Pretend we’ve left and come back on. Thanks for coming out tonight and here’s a bit of a party song to end with.”
Dan Mitchell and John Halliwell then led a full on guitar assault on our senses,
going into “The Name Of The Rose” – which is one of my all time favourite rock songs, and I was in no way dissappointed. Steve Mckenna, John Halliwell and new drummer Max Yates worked hard and well to keep up a brilliant rhythm throughout. This song features both some beautiful and slow guitar work, as well as some unbelievable shredding, and new lead guitarist Dan Mitchell played this song to perfection. The final lyrics summarize well the relationship that the band and the fans share… “Never say goodbye…”
At this point I want to say a few things about the new guys in the band. Drummer Max Yates partnered with stalwarts John Halliwell and Steve Mckenna to make and maintain a fantastic rhythm section throughout the night. Darrel Treece-Birch played the keys beautifully throughout the set, a particular highlight of this being on “Hourglass And The Landslide”. And new lead guitarist Dan Mitchell had a lot to live up to this night. Many of Ten’s songs are guitar and vocal led, and Ten have always managed to have good guitarists. Could Dan Mitchell live up to that?
Well the only way to describe Dan Mitchell’s playing was that he attacked (thats right, we’re talking the musical equivalent of GBH here) every song, every solo, 
every damn note throughout the night with passion, with energy, with commitment, and most of all with a skill that made me want to weep about my own puny fret skills. The man was playing on the floor during the opening song! Dan kept the spirit and style of the songs, and yet managed to add his own flair. In Dan Mitchell it’s obvious Gary Hughes has recruited Ten’s best guitarist yet, and so I have to give him a special mention. Dan, if you read this, consider our collective face melted.
Like I mentioned earlier, Gary Hughes sang fantastically for us, and sounds better than ever.
One of the things that really stood out on the night from all three bands was how happy they were to be there, to be playing for us. All of them were extremely friendly with the bands and made themselves available on the night to talk, be photographed and sign merchandise, and meet the fans. These guys were some of the friendliest people you could hope to meet. And on stage, they all blew us away.
Here’s Ten’s set list for you:
1 Endless Symphony
2 Spellbound
3 Ten Fathoms Deep
4 After The Love Is Gone
5 The Robe
6 The Hourglass And The Landslide
7 Love Song
8 Book Of Secrets
9 Red
10 The Name Of The Rose