Guitarfest 2008

After the fun of Music Live during the day on Friday, I then stayed at the NEC to review Guitarfest 2008, and once again had a great time. Again, I was reviewing the show for Birmingham Live, and the review should be up there very soon. First up, a storming set by The Quireboys.

This was the first time I'd even heard anything by The Quireboys, let alone see them live, and I was really impressed.

Next up, former UFO axeman Vinnie Moore, who proceeded to shred for half an hour of so.

While his playing was superb, Vinnie's set did start to drag just a bit with the absence of a band or any vocals - still this was Guitarfest so some serious shredding like this was in order!

Third on the bill was ex-Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy bassist Marco Mendoza, who played a set of jazzy funk rock.

Marco has a superb singing voice, very Glenn Hughes-esque. While his set was probably a bit long given that it was all new material, the guy is such a nice bloke it was hard not to enjoy his performance.

Next up were Danny Bowes, Luke Morley and Ben Matthews of Thunder, joined by Mendoza and Marco's drummer for a three-song set of covers, which was great fun.

They rattled through Bad Company's "Can't Get Enough", and "Don't Believe a Word" and "Boys Are Back In Town" both by Thin Lizzy, and considering they probably only had Friday afternoon to practice, they did a damn good job!

And then it was down to the mighty Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, along with his drummer Shaun Drover to wrap things up. They played "Peace Sells..." the song chosen by a fan vote.

The only problem was, they only played the one song, and you got the impression that people were expecting a lot longer set from the thrash master. Still, it was better than nothing, and getting to see a legend in such a modest venue was awesome.

So that was that. It was great to get some shots of Dave for my portfolio, and I'm very much looking forward to Megadeth's return to these shores in February with the mighty Judas Priest. Rock on!