Firefest is festival in Europe that came about after the end of another festival called The Gods of AOR. Firefest started in 2004 and it was bigger and even better than the Gods festival. Jeff Scott Soto performed at the Gods festival in 2002, and even released the show on a live CD/DVD. Jeff got the call again to do the festival in 2008 and he said Yes, obviously or this discussion would be ridiculous.

It wasn’t easy for Jeff because at the time of the festival, he was in the middle of rehearsals for the Trans-Siberian Orhcestra’s annual Winter Tour. TSO rehearsed 12 hours a day and Jeff was probably exhausted, but he jumped on a plane on a Friday in the U.S and landed in London by Saturday morning. He had to rush to Nottingham and meet his band. Luckily, it was his band so it was Howie Simon, Gary Schutt and Dave Dziaklak, but they hadn’t played in over about year and had like an hour to rehearse and get ready for the show. Did they pull it off…well, of course they did! They are professionals. It is a great show and another great live album from Jeff.

But…I have a major problem with this release and it isn’t the quality of the show as Jeff sounds amazing and the band is tight and all is good. It is the fact that this setlist is almost identical to Jeff’s last live release ‘One Night in Madrid’. Every song on here was played at that show in this order. The only difference is that the Madrid show had more songs (and was a totally killer show). I feel like I just reviewed this show and not really sure what new I can say about it. I could basically cut & paste that review here, delete out the songs that aren’t on here and BOOM!…the review and you probably wouldn’t know the difference.

So what I will do is walk through the little differences between the shows so I at least give you something different. Like the Madrid show, this one kicks off with the opening track “21st Century” from his latest album ‘Beautiful Mess’, but the big difference is when Madrid goes in to the next song “Colour My XTC” you get the whole song while her you get a small prelude portion before going in to the great “Soul Divine”. One of the highlights on this and the other live show is “Our Song” from his latest album. Jeff sounds amazing on this one and the band nails the song. A power ballad with a lot of Jeff’s powerful vocals. Such a great song.

What is funny to me about the two releases is at the same time in the show they have a small drum solo and a little guitar jam with the big difference is Madrid’s has a funky jam also which adds over a minute to the show that we are missing here. It’s funny to me because it is two different bands which means this is the way Jeff wanted to do it and no one else.The rest of the disc is song for song and pound for pound equal to the other live album as you get the funked up “Mountain” then “Eyes of Love”, “Testify” and “Broken Man”.

Both 2nd Discs kick off with the fantastic track “Hey” which is one of my favorites from ‘Beautiful Mess’. The difference that follows is that this show goes straight in to the Seal cover “Crazy” and it is wonderful as Jeff always nails this song. The Madrid show actually goes in to the Madonna cover of “Frozen” and then in to “Crazy”. I like they way they handled it in Madrid it was cool.

Then we are to the point in the show where we get the Piano Medley and the biggest difference between the two shows is that Madrid adds the song “Just Between Us” to the end of the medley where Firefest stops at ‘4U’ which is a great Prince-like falsetto track. Then we get “Gin And Tonic Sky” and “I’ll Be Waiting” but with out a 2 minute jam session that is on the Madrid show, but the songs are performed just as good here. The biggest omission is the encore song. On Madrid we get the coolest of tracks from the movie ‘Rock of Ages’, “Stand Up” which is sorely missed as it is always a crowd pleaser. Then the show ends with the Funky Medley which is another crowd favorite. Jeff ends his shows with this all the time and it is a fun, exciting way to end the show as the band goes through a ton of dance, funk tracks and even makes fun of some artist on it.

This is another great live set from Jeff Scott Soto, there is no denying that. The biggest complaint is that the setlist isn’t as full as the Madrid show and the other is the crowd wasn’t as lively and loud as the Madrid show either…those guys were nuts! Those two things make it a slightly lesser show then the Madrid show, but honestly, not by much. Jeff and the band really give it their all and are totally in to it. Jeff’s vocals are in fine form, Howie’s guitar playing is sweet and bad ass at times and the rhythm section keeps the show moving. My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars. You should still get both, but if you only chose one, go with the Madrid show.

UP NEXT: JEFF SCOTT SOTO – ‘DAMAGE CONTROL’ (2012)

THE JEFF SCOTT SOTO SERIES:

1. Panther – ‘Panther’ (1986) – recorded in 1984
2. Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force – ‘Rising Force’ (1984)
3. Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force – ‘Marching Out’ (1985)
4. Kuni – ‘Lookin’ For Action’ (1988)
5. Kryst the Conqueror – ‘Deliver Us From Evil’ (1989) / ‘Soldiers of Light: The Complete Recordings (2019)
6. Eyes – ‘Eyes’ (1990)
7. Eyes – “Nobody Said It Was Easy” (1990) – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition
8. Talisman – ‘Talisman’ (1990)
9. Talisman – “I’ll Be Waiting” (1990) – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition
10. Skrapp Mettle – ‘Sensitive’ (1991)
11. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Eternal Prisoner’ (1992)
12. Bakteria – ‘Deficate! Suffocate! Mutilate! Masturbate!’ (1992 / 2009)
13. Eyes – ‘Windows of the Soul’ (1993)
14. Talisman – ‘Genesis’ (1993)
15. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘The Ballads’ (1993)
16. Biker Mice From Mars – ‘Biker Mice From Mars (Soundtrack)’ (1993)
17. Takara – ‘Eternal Faith’ (1993)
18. Talisman – ‘5 Out Of 5 (Live in Japan)’ (1994)
19. Talisman – ‘Humanimal’ (1994)
20. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Between the Walls’ (1994)
21. Gary Schutt – ‘Sentimetal’ (1994)
22. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Love Parade’ (1994)
23. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Made in Germany (Live)’ (1995)
24. Takara – ‘Taste of Heaven’ (1995)
25. Talisman – ‘Life’ (1995)
26. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Black Moon Pyramid’ (1996)
27. Human Clay – ‘Human Clay’ (1996)
28. Talisman – ‘Best of’ (1996)
29. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Magic’ (1997)
30. Human Clay – ‘U4IA’ (1997)
31. Boogie Knights – ‘Welcome to the Jungle Boogie’ (1997)
32. Takara – ‘Blind in Paradise’ (1998)
33. Talisman – ‘Truth’ (1998)
34. ‘Rock Star: Music from the Motion Picture (Soundtrack)’ – Various Artists (2001)
35. Humanimal – ‘Humanimal’ (2002)
36. Humanimal – Find My Way Home: Limited Edition E.P. (2002)
37. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Holding On E.P.’ (2002)
38. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Prism’ (2002)
39. Talisman – ‘Live at Sweden Rock Festival’ (2002)
40. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘JSS Live at the Gods 2002’ (2003)
41. Talisman – ‘Cats & Dogs’ (2003)
42. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Believe in Me E.P.’ (2004
43. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Lost in the Translation’ (2004)
44. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live at the Queen Convention 2003’ (2004)
45. Soul SirkUS – ‘World Play’ (2004/2005)
46. Talisman – ‘Five Men Live’ (2005)
47. Talisman – ‘World’s Best Kept Secret DVD (2005)
48. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Essential Ballads’ (2006)
49. Journey – ‘Live from Atlanta (Bootleg)’ (2006)
50. Talisman – ‘7’ (2006)
51. Talisman – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
52. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘B-Sides’ (2006)
53. Redlist – ‘Ignorance’ (2007)
54. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Beautiful Mess’ (2009)
55. Jeff Scott Soto – “21st Century” / “Gin & Tonic Sky” CD Single (2009) – Bonus Edition
56. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘One Night in Madrid’ (2009)
57. Trans-Siberian Orchestra – ‘Night Castle’ (2009)
58. W.E.T. – ‘W.E.T.’ (2009)
59. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live at Firefest 2008’ (2010)
60. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Damage Control’ (2012)
61. W.E.T. – ‘Rise’ (2013)
62. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘LA Rocks Demo / Vinnie Vincent Demo’ – Bootleg (2008)
63. W.E.T. – ‘One Live in Stockholm’ (2014)
64. Jeff Scott Soto – The Authorized Biography (2014)
65. SOTO – ‘Inside the Vertigo’ (2015)
66. Joel Hoekstra’s 13 – Dying to Live (2015)
67. SOTO – ‘Divak’ (2016)
68. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Retribution’ (2017)
69. Sons of Apollo – ‘Psychotic Symphony’ (2017)
70. W.E.T. – ‘Earthrage’ (2018)
71. SOTO – ‘Origami’ (2019)
72. Sons of Apollo – ‘Live With the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony’ (2019)
73. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Wide Awake (In My Dreamland)’ (2020)
74. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live and Loud in Milan 2019’ (2020)
75. Sons of Apollo – ‘MMXX’ (2020)
76. SOTO – ‘Revision’ (2020)
77. Talisman – “Never Say Die (A Song For Marcel)” – 7″ Single (2020)
78. W.E.T. – ‘Retransmission’ (2021)
79. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘The Duets Collection, Vol. 1’ (2021)
80. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Complicated’ (2022)
81. Ellefson/Soto – ‘Vacation in the Underground’ (2022)
82. Jeff Scott Soto / Jason Bieler – Live In Concert (2022) – Bonus Edition