Crimson Fire toured recently Europe together with Suicidal Angels, and Myth of Rock came in contact with the Greek melodic metal band to make an assessment of what happened in this tour. The members of Crimson Fire gathered for an intimate interview, reflecting on the “European Dimension Tour 2024”, talking to Ira. With passion in their voices and fire in their eyes, they recount this musical journey and share with us all their experiences and thoughts!
by Ira Bunia
Good evening, guys!!! How are we doing?
(Crimson Fire) Good evening, Ira. We are fine!
So, European tour 2024! Please tell me about the proposal, when was it made?
(Stelios) The proposal was made on January 2023, right after a live gig of ours, at Temple. Exactly on the tenth of January 2023, Orpheas, the drummer of Suicidal Angels, made the proposal to Dinos (bass).
Dinos, which were your feelings, when you first heard of this great proposal?
(Dinos) Joy and vindication that our efforts were finally rewarded.
Was it a lifelong dream?
(Dinos) Of course!
You, Stelios?
(Stelios) It was something that always existed in the back of our minds, the issue was, like a band, what moves we made and what we pursued. At some point, we said that we will chase it until the end. As Dinos said, it was a huge vindication.
John?
(John) It was a move that had to be made, no matter what. On a tour, you test many things like your endurance, the bonding of the band members. It’s one thing to do one live show and another thing to do twenty two live shows in a row. That’s where you see, does the band move forward or not? We saw that we can move forward, though, and it was a very good test for the next tour.
Nikos, how did you perceive the tour?
(Nikos) The truth is, I never thought something like this would happen. But as they say, appetite comes with eating, and, seeing the enthusiasm of the kids, I also said yes, let’s do it. It was a challenge, as we were opening the concert and the other two bands were playing thrash metal. We saw the audience’s response, which was positive. The audience was coming early as soon as the doors opened to see the entire live performance and not just the headliners. The comments were great, saying that we were a pleasant addition to a thrash metal night.
Did the setlist of the tour include tracks from all your three albums?
(Stelios) Yes, it included songs from all three of them, however, our goal was to promote the latest release, “Another Dimension”. That’s why the tour was called “European Dimension Tour”, we had set it up like that to show our intentions. The goal was for the “Another Dimension” album to be heard all over the world. The audience’s response was good.
Let’s also talk about the stages, where you played.
(Nikos) Our first stop was Essen, Germany. We played on both large and small stages. The smallest ones were in Switzerland and Vienna.
(Stelios) The largest were Hellraiser in Germany with 1,500 people and Budapest. They were truly packed with people. As everyone said, it’s our reward for our efforts, and we thank the guys from Suicidal Angels for the opportunity they gave us.
Was there a moment when you said “I can’t take it anymore, I’ve hit rock bottom”?
(John) When you’re on a tour with twenty two live shows, you need to have endurance, and adrenaline helps you on stage. It’s like recharging your batteries every day so you can perform.
(Nikos) This tour was a very good school. After a point, things were automatically falling into place.
So, would you do it again, all the things you experienced?
(Crimson Fire) Of course, YES!!!
(Stelios) If you told me tomorrow that I’m leaving again for a tour, I would be gone. It’s one of the biggest addictions you can have.
Guys, thank you very much for this interview! I hope to see you on an even bigger tour next year and admire you!
