H A P P Y    N E W    Y E A R   ! ! !

 December 29

Mark signs new deal and teams up with Tama drums!

"I've been waiting for this for a long time since I have been playing Tama drums for over 15 years!
A thousand thanks to those who believed in me and brought me back to where I belong!

Last year on tour I used one of my old kits, a white Tama Artstar II limited series set and will present my new Starclassic BB setup on the following tour in 2008!

Also Mark is featured in an exclsusive interview in German drum magazine "Sticks" in the edition January 2008.

Click here

More interviews will be announced soon.

November 29

Most of the recordings for the new album are done by now! We've been locked @ Sweden's Studio Fredman for about a month now and we're super excited with the way things are shaping up! Killer sounds on the drums, guitars and bass. We've recorded 12 original songs and a few covers which will be revealed in time.

We also want to set something straight since some people seem to be confused: Apollo is still in the band! Yes, he is singing on the new album (currently finishing up his vocal tracks - which in my opinion are his best performances ever!) and yes, he is going back on the road with us in 2008.

_____________________________________

SPECIAL DVD IN CONCERT RECORDING ON JANUARY 12, 2008

Now onto something different and very special: Since we have gotten such a great response on our world tour 2006-2007 and have received so much love from our fans, we would like to give back by doing something special for them:
We will play a one and only exclusive show in our hometown (Thessaloniki, Greece) on Saturday January 12th, 2008 at Principal Club Theatre, where we will perform our full upcoming brand new album LIVE!
So consider this as a very special event since we don't plan on doing this again. Of course we'll play an extra set of other older material in addition to the new songs. What makes this even cooler, is that we'll record and film this event for future DVD use, so we hope to see all our Metal brothers and sisters at this special event!

For those of you who don't live in Greece and plan to travel to see this show, please email us at r_evolution13@yahoo.gr and let us know of your participation.
We'll get back to you and provide info on how to get to the venue, hotels, etc.

For more information you can also contact our Streeteam at streetteam@firewind.gr

Firewind

November 11

It's finally done!!

We finished our world tour last night in Copenhagen at the Prog power festival Scandinavia.
A huge thanks to all our fans who showed up last night to see our last show. So many from various countries, Scotland, Greece, the USA, Germany, Netherlands and many morre! Today we returned back to the studio and continue the recordings for the new Firewind album and will head out to tour next year in March.

Until then I wish you all happy holidays and peace in your lives!

See you all soon!! Cheers and long live rock'n rolll!

Mark Cross

November 6

Hi everyone,

I arrived in the Studio in Sweden just three days ago after a long and tyring journey from Zaragoza, Spain and started the drum recordings for the new Firewind album last night.
We are in the countryside near Gothenburg and today I recorded the first two drum tracks of the new album and Gus laid down the first rhythm guitars to see how it sounds.
The album will be a great sounding basher with great songs.

The drum sound is just breathtaking, thanks to Tama drums and a variety of Paiste 2002's, Signatures and Rude cymbals and of course our producer Frederik Nordstrom.

I am recording the drums with a "Tama Artsar II limited" series set, which I've been taking on the road since 1991. I decided to use this kit for the new Firewind album because of it's unique sound and I must admit that it still remains to be one of my favorite models of all time!

Unfortunately I lost a Starclassic Snare which was probably ran over by a truck duriing the transport!! Somehow the accident must have happened when the gear was sent to Sweden from Hamburg! I am quite angry and sad that I lost one of my favorite snare drums.
Luckily I had two spare ones in the cases.

These are the latest news for now, more to come soon!! See you all soon on our new world tour next year!

Mark "The Pirate" Cross

October 28

I'm deeply sorry that I haven't been able to update my site more often, but I suffered from a hard disc crash and lost many valuable files and simply invested time in restoring my Mac.

After the recordings I will post new pics and details about the tour in 2007.

See you all soon...

Mark "Pirate" Cross

October 23

European 2008 dates announced!!!

FIREWIND has just confirmed the first European dates for 2008 as part of a package with KAMELOT and VISIONS OF ATLANTIS.

Confirmed dates are as follows:

KAMELOT, FIREWIND and VISIONS OF ATLANTIS

Apr. 04 - UK - London - Carling Academy
Apr. 05 - UK - Wolverhampton - Wulfrun
Apr. 06 - NL - Amsterdam - Paradiso
Apr. 09 - BEL - Antwerpen - Hof Ter Loo
Apr. 10 - GER - Saarbrücken - Garage
Apr. 11 - FRA - Paris - Elysee Montmatre
Apr. 12 - SWI - Pratteln - Z7
Apr. 13 - ITA - Milano - Alcatraz
Apr. 16 - GRE - Athens - Gagarin 205
Apr. 17 - GRE - Thessaloniki - Ydrogeios
Apr. 18 - BUL - Sofia - Hristov Botev
Apr. 19 - SER - Beograd - SKC
Apr. 20 - HUN - Budapest - Wigwam
Apr. 22 - GER - München - Backstage
Apr. 23 - GER - Ludwigsburg - Rockfabrik
Apr. 24 - GER - Essen - Weststadthalle
Apr. 25 - GER - Hamburg - Markthalle
Apr. 28 - FIN - Helsinki - Tavastia
Apr. 29 - FIN - Oulu - Teatria
May 01 - SWE - Stockholm - Klubben
May 02 - SWE - Gothenburg - Trädgarn
May 03 - NOR - Oslo - Sentrum Scene

October 17

Hi everyone,

It's the 17th and I made it back home safe from Japan and now need to recover from the Jet lag! Funny thing to wake up at 4am believing it's noon.

We have two more shows to go and then start recording our new album.

A lot of great things happened during this tour and I personally want to thank everyone who came, supported me and Firewind, and helped on this world tour!
A huge thanks goes out to my endorsing companies, Erik and Kelly Paiste, Andrew, Tim, Joerg and Dan at Paiste cymbals, always Marco at Vic Firth sticks for brilliant ideas (strobe led sticks) and great laughs, Mike Trimis, Yukihiro "Happy", Aaron, Jason and Mitsuaki "Mitch" at Tama drums, with who I recently signed a new deal, thanks for Starclassics and superb drums, you guys made this tour sound better than ever! Thorsten Braun at Shure for your endless support, matt Connors at Remo and Felix, marcel & Henning for outstanding technology in in ear monitorings at "Compact Monitors Germany" and last Jim at Factory metal percussion for the great designs of Crossbenders!!
IN TAIWAN Sherry Lee and Dennis for making this show happen.
IN EUROPE George "Mr.Briggs" for sound, Phil Hills for lights, the Dragonforce MF's and Angra's, the crew, Andi Platte, Alex for drum teching a few times, Dragon Productions, Leif, Gerrit and Steve and everyone else at Century Media.
IN THE UK, Sharon Richardson for truely believing in us, Adam "MF" Sagir, Dave Thorne, Duncan at the Cathouse Glasgow, Simon Jayes at the London Drum Company, Y Not and our driver Sean and all the fans. IN TUNESIA Heshim, Adagio and everyone involved for a superb stay and concert!
IN THE USA Michelle, Dutch "Wallmart!"our driver, Hoss for taking care of things and Brandon "trello mouni" for a great sound, Mike my drum tech... who did I miss?
IN JAPAN Nozue for taking good care of us, Atsuhiko, Yuka and everyone else at Avex Live Creative, K2 for chinese bombs, Yaggi for being the best drum tech ever, Kaz at King Records and the Kamelot gang and crew.
All fans around the world and my family who has been patient with me being away for so long.and last, of course my bandmates in Firewind and Henning Basse, you shook the world, nice to have been with you on the road once again!!

Two more shows to go before we get our ass' into the studio to record the new album .... see you in Spain and Denmark!!!!!

See you all again next year!!!!!!

Cheers and ... Let there always be Rock!

June 14

New UK dates announced:

16.08.2007 Derby (UK) @ Bloodstock Open Air
17.08.2007 Cheltenham (UK) @ Night Owl // with Wolf, Man Of The Hour
18.08.2007 Dudley (UK) @ JB's // with Man Of The Hour

______________________________________________________________

FIREWIND to release "Breaking The Silence" single (Greece-only) & video clip!

Hard-working Greek melodic metal sensation FIREWIND will be releasing their 2nd single in Greece off the band’s latest album “Allegiance”, which stayed in the Greek album charts for nine weeks! With the album’s first single “Falling To Pieces” FIREWIND managed to reach position # 11 in the official Greek single charts and brought some real Metal to the chart-lists for no less than eleven (!!!) weeks!

On July 2nd, 2007 FIREWIND will now unleash the power-ballad “Breaking The Silence” (feat. Tara Teresa on duelling guest vocals), a song set to continue this wake of success. A new video clip for “Breaking The Silence” has already been shot with director Patric Ullaeus from Revolver Company Sweden (Dimmu Borgir, Within Temptation, etc.) and will be premiered soon!

Here is the exact tracklist for single release:

Firewind (feat. Tara Teresa) – “Breaking The Silence” CD-Single:

1. Breaking The Silence (feat. Tara Teresa)
2. Healing Tool *
3. Till The End Of Time [live] *
+ Breaking The Silence (feat. Tara Teresa) [Video Clip Enhancement]

* Previously unreleased song / version!

May 27

FIREWIND to support JOE SATRIANI @ Greece"s GAGARIN OPEN AIR!


FIREWIND has just been confirmed as special guest of guitar legend, JOE SATRIANI @ Gagarin Open Air festival. The festival location is at the Baseball Stadium, Hellinikon in Athens.

July 11 – Athens, Greece @ Gagarin Open Air festival

Festival website: www.gagarin2005.gr
Ticket Info: www.i-ticket.gr

May 25

US Tour - Venue change!!

We were recently informed that the Rochester, NY venue "Penny Arcade" is closing down. FIREWIND was scheduled to play there on September 24th.

Therefore that date is now moved to:

Sept. 24 – Reading, PA @ The Silo

Buy tickets at: www.enterthevault.com


See below FIREWIND"s full N. American dates coming this Fall:

NORTH AMERICA Tour 07"

19.09 - USA, Minneapolis, MN @ Station 4
20.09 - USA, Mokena, IL @ The Pearl Room
21.09 - USA, Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s
22.09 - Canada, Toronto, ON @ The Funhaus
23.09 - USA, Detroit, MI @ I-Rock
24.09 – USA, Reading, PA @ The Silo (new show!)
26.09 - Canada, Quebec City, QUE @ Salle Albert Rousseau
27.09 - Canada, Montreal, QUE @ Medley
28.09 - USA, Poughkeepsie, NY @ Chance Theater
29.09 - USA, Bedford, NH @ Mark’s Showplace
30.09 - USA, New York City, NY @ B.B. King’s
02.10 - USA, Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero
03.10 - USA, Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
04.10 - USA, Covington, KY @ The Mad Hatter
05.10 - USA, Fayetteville, NC @ Jesters Pub
06.10 - USA, Atlanta, GA @ Prog Power Festival

May 21

JAPAN 07’ tour dates announced!!

After their very successful performance last year @ Japan’s biggest Metal festival Loud Park, FIREWIND will now team up with KAMELOT and return to Japan for a 4-date tour this coming October!! Below exact dates & ticket info:

KAMELOT / FIREWIND Japan Tour 07’

10.10 - Tokyo @ Shibuya O-East
11.10 - Osaka @ Club Quattro
12.10 - Nagoya @ Bottom Line
14.10 - Yokohama @ Blitz

Tickets Online: http://www.creativeman.co.jp

May 20

2 more festivals confirmed!

Firewind will  perform for the first time in Tunesia at Rock a Rade festival.

August 11 "Rock a Rade" Rade (TN)
November 11 "Prog Power Skandinavia" @ The Rock, Copenhagen (DK)

May 5

The countdown for the FIREWIND show in Athens has begun!
One more week to go ...
Here are the final details:

Location: Pireos street 100
Gazi Technopolis in Athens, Greece
Date: Saturday, May 12
Tickets: 5,00€ 
Doors: 11am for the Vinyl Stories event all day
Signing session: @ "Basement Studio" booth (time tbc)
Merchandise: @ “Basement Studio” booth

RUNNING ORDER:

1st support: Infidel @ 8pm
2nd support: Nighttalker

FIREWIND: @ 10pm

An after show party will be held at the Club "WIZARD" on Kifissias Avenue 119 in Maroussi, Athens.

Bang your heads and pledge your Allegiance!

Firewind

April 26

FIREWIND Confirmed for Bloodstock Open Air!

Right after their first and very successful UK headline tour ended, the Greek Metal Gods have just confirmed their return to British ground. And what a better comeback by playing at one of UK’s premier Metal festivals, Bloodstock Open Air!!

FIREWIND will perform on Thursday, August 16th right before the night’s headliners, TESTAMENT!

Tickets & Info: www.bloodstock.uk.com

April 15

Guitar Clinic & Acoustic show @ FOPP Records, London

On April 24th @ 4 PM (16:00) Gus G. will hold a special guitar clinic @ FOPP Records (Tottenham Court Road, W1). A short acoustic set will follow and the guys of Firewind will sign copies of their latest album "Allegiance".

ATTENTION: All attendees to the Fopp event will be entered into a FREE raffle for the chance to win the “Gus G 600 ESP Guitar” and a 1 years subscription to Metal Hammer magazine.

Get Tickets Online for FIREWIND"s UK Tour!

21.04.07 Peterborough @ The Park - Tickets HERE
22.04.07 Nottingham @ Rock City - Tickets HERE
23.04.07 Glasgow @ Cathouse - Tickets HERE
24.04.07 London @ Underworld - Tickets HERE

|April 2

FIREWIND Announces USA/Canada Tour!!!

Yes, the rumours are true: FIREWIND will tour North America this Fall so be prepared!

The tour will consist of a few dates supporting premier Metal bands such as Sonata Arctica, Edguy and Epica as well as a few headline shows, before they wrap it up at the now sold out Prog Power Festival!! Below is the full list of dates:


NORTH AMERICA Tour 2007

September

19 Minneapolis , MN @ Station 4 (w/ Epica)
20 Mokena , IL @ The Pearl Room (Headline show) 
21 Cleveland , OH @ Peabody’s (w/ Edguy) 
22 Toronto , ON @ The Funhaus (Headline show)
23 Detroit, MI @ I-Rock (Headline show)
24 Rochester, NY @ Penny Arcade (Headline show)
26 Quebec City , QUE @ Salle Albert Rousseau (w/ Sonata Arctica) 
27 Montreal , QUE @ Medley (w/ Sonata Arctica)
28 Poughkeepsie, NY @ Chance Theater (w/ Sonata Arctica)
29 Bedford , NH @ Mark’s Showplace (Headline show) 
30 New York City , NY @ B.B. King’s Blues Club (w/ Sonata Arctica)

October 

2 Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero (w/ Sonata Arctica) 
3 Springfield , VA @ Jaxx (w/ Sonata Arctica) 
4 Covington, KY @ The Mad Hatter (Headline Show) 
5 Fayetteville, NC @ Jesters Pub (Headline show)
6 Atlanta , GA @ Prog Power festival

Ticket Information: www.enterthevault.com

April 1

We're sorry for the inconvenience for our server being down for the past 4 days!!
Now everything is back to normal and the site is fully functioning again!

Webmaster

March 29

Athens (GR) headline show confirmed!

FIREWIND has just been confirmed to headline the 2nd day of Vinyl Stories Festival in Athens Greece (1st day being headlined by Therapy?). Support acts will be Nightstalker and Infidel.

May 12 (Sat) – Athens, GR @ Vinyl Stories Festival

Tickets & Info: www.spacerockers.gr 


Below are the band’s comments:

“It’s no secret that we don’t play many shows in Greece. Why? For many reasons the most important being that we want our home country gigs to be special.

We know many Greek fans have been waiting for this, but you’re in for a special treat:
Firewind live in downtown Athens at an Open Air stage? Headlining the “vinyl stories festival”? With ONLY 5 Euro ticket price?? FUCK YEAH!!

You voted us Best Band of 2006 in Metal Hammer’s polls. It’s time for us to show you why we can live up to our title….it’s time for you to show us that you’ll be there for us!
Athens: Pledge Your Allegiance!!!”

Firewind

March 22

Firewind gig at the Music fair in Frankfurt, Germany on March 30.

This event is hosted by ESP guitars and supported by Paiste cymbals, Remo drumheads, Vic Firth sticks, Pearl drums, Shure microphones, Randall amps, Elixir strings and Compact Monitors in ear monitoring.

March 30 - "PRO STAGE" Music Messe Frankfurt 2007 (14:00)    

Signing sessions with Mark Cross. Mikkey Dee (Motörhead) and Gas Lipstick (Him)

at the PAISTE booth: Hall 3
Friday, March 30 at 3:45pm

February 26

Get Tickets Online for FIREWIND"s UK Tour!

21.04.07 Peterborough @ The Park - Tickets HERE
22.04.07 Nottingham @ Rock City - Tickets HERE
23.04.07 Glasgow @ Cathouse - Tickets HERE
24.04.07 London @ Underworld - Tickets HERE

February 22

Apollo forced to cancel tour dates

Dear fans,

The 2nd part of our World Allegiance Tour has already started and the first 4 shows have been fantastic so far!

But we’re in the unfortunate position to announce that Apollo has to cancel the last 7 dates of the European tour we’re now on with Angra and Power Quest, due to a family emergency.

Apollo will be performing the whole French leg of the tour, his last show being on February 26th in Toulouse.

However, we’ve all discussed the situation and we decided to continue with a replacement singer.

The person who will help us out in this difficult moment, will be Henning Basse of Metalium. Henning is truly a worldclass singer and a great frontman. We are excited to have him on board for the remaining dates!

Pls note that Apollo is NOT leaving the band, we have his blessings to continue as we all feel that cancelling the rest of the tour would be the last option.

Apollo will return for the UK headline shows and all upcoming tourdates.


Sincerely,
Firewind

February 15

FIREWIND Debut New Video On Headbangers Ball This Weekend

FIREWIND's new video for the track "Falling To Pieces" is set to make its 
Headbangers Ball debut on MTV2 this Saturday night at 10PM EST/7PM PST. The 
clip was shot by acclaimed director Patric Ullaeus (Lacuna Coil, In Flames, 
Dimmu Borgir), and the track comes from the Greek metal powerhouse's highly 
acclaimed new album, Allegiance, which is a must for any fan of 
Dragonforce, Iced Earth, Hammerfall or anyone who claims to be a heavy 
metal fanatic.

February 15

School Of Audio Engineering in Athens, Greece 
presents 
a Drum recording seminar on March 9 & 10
with 
Mark Cross

Friday 18:00pm - 22:00pm
Saturday 10:30am - 14:30am

For info and tickets please contact:

SAE Athens
Nikis street 28
10557 Athens - Greece
below Syntagma square

Phone: +30 (210) 321-7661
FAX: +30 (210) 321-7641
email: info@sae.edu.gr 

February 12

Mark signs new deal and joins the In Ear Monitoring company "COMPACT MONITORS" family and will use his new headsets on the upcoming tour with Firewind starting in France on February 16.

February 8

FIREWIND will return to English shores for 4 headline shows in April!

21.04.07 Peterborough @ The Park
22.04.07 Nottingham @ Rock City
23.04.07 Glasgow @ Cathouse
24.04.07 London @ Underworld

Swedish rockers, GRAND MAGUS will be the main support. 

January 23

FIREWIND's Allegiance, is now available in the U.S and the response from the press is really amazing! Our music finally has good U.S. distribution and promotion. All you have to do is go to your local record store, get a copy and pledge your Allegiance.

January 13

Mark changed his PAISTE Cymbal set from "Signatures" to "2002".

"I realized that I needed heavier cymbals for my play, especially live! So I decided to add a bunch of Wild and Full Crashes of the 2002 series in different sizes plus 2 Rock Chinas to my kit, but also kept a few Splashes and the Ride of the Signature and new Signature series, they just match and sound perfectly."

 more details here ...