by Tarja Virmakari

This second edition of Frontiers Rock Festival was my first experience at this AOR based 2-days label festival at Live Club (on 11-12 April 2015 in Trezzo – Milan, Italy). But I must say right away that it’s  difficult to express with words the emotions that those days provoked in me… Here, we’re not talking just about a label festival; it felt more like a family gathering! People, Friends, before and in between the band performances, gathered together in smaller groups to fill the venue all over, talking about the latest news, even with me, who right at the beginning felt a bit like a fish out of water. However, as soon as the first tunes filled Live Club, I found myself fully immersed as if I had always been there.  I will not try to put into words the turmoil of various feelings and emotions I had inside me during those 2 days.  I’ll let the facts, pictures and videos (watch below) do the talking, as they will surely say more than 1000 well-selected words… check them out for yourself!

Day One:  Taking the stage were ANGELICA, PRAYING MANTIS, ECLIPSE, BURNING RAIN, FM, HAREM SCAREM and JOE LYNN TURNER.

Each band gave their best on stage, but the absolute highlights for me were ECLIPSE and their crazy show, which didn’t leave anybody cold!  And it goes without saying that the guys of BURNING RAIN (Doug Aldrich – Guitars, Keith St. John – Vocals, Sean McNabb – Bass, Matt Starr – Drums) conquered me in full, with their precise and impeccable sounds and great songs.  They finished their set with a legendary cover of the Led Zeppelin classic, “Kashmir”, featuring on keyboards our “own” Italian pride and joy, Alessandro Del Vecchio, Frontiers’ own producer.  I still have chills in me, thinking of their performance as “Kashmir” was one of the biggest soundtracks of my entire childhood (see the video and Day One pics below).

Day Two featured performances from BAILEY, VEGA, TED POLEY, PINK CREAM69, HOUSE OF LORDS, LYNCH MOB and PRIDE OF LIONS.

My second FRF day was unfortunately short, as I had to leave for the long drive home before I could see the day’s headliners on stage.  But one thing is for sure, my unconditional highlight was One Name, One Man, who stood up and took the audience with his captivating and enchanting stage presence:  DANGER DANGER‘s legendary vocalist TED POLEY, with his brilliant Festival line-up (Anna Portalupi on bass, Alessandro Del Vecchio on keyboards, Mario Percudani on guitars and Alessandro Mori on drums).  Believe me, one simply cannot help falling in love with Ted and his devoted performance — you just let go and enjoy it all. Ten points also to the Live Club security, who was put to the test when Ted suddenly jumped into the public to sing “a duet” with hundreds of people around him in the audience, and then piloting him back to the stage. No harm done but a lot of fun!

See some of the Day Two pictures below:

Overall
Frontiers Rock Festival exceeded my highest expectations.  These great bands have revived my love for AOR, which began in my childhood but somehow got lost during the last 10 years.  I also want to thank the Frontiers Crew for the excellent organization, in all its details, and for making me feel like one of the family! There’s only one tiny little problem, or more like a question: how will we manage to wait a whole year until the next edition of Frontiers Rock Festival?

The best way to “feel” music is to do so together with a huge family… Music, as it should always be, is without frontiers—just as it was at Frontiers Rock Festival! See you next year! \m/

http://www.frontiersrockfestival.com – http://www.frontiers.it

Some of the FRF highlights in videos:

TED POLEY

BURNING RAIN

ECLIPSE

PRIDE OF LIONS