Live Show: Silent Winter, Wildfire
Place: Temple, Athens, Greece
Date: Saturday, March 22nd, 2025
Live Correspondent: Kostas Boudoukos
Saturday, March 22nd, time 2100. Everybody on the ramparts ready for battle with the vanguard with the code name “Wildfire” already on stage…we are not referring to a scene from a war movie but to the live performance of two excellent Heavy / Power Metal Greek bands that were about to present their new albums. WILDFIRE, their first full length album “Rise” and SILENT WINTER, their third album “Utopia”.
At first, the stage belonged to the Athenians WILDFIRE who may be relatively new to the Metal scene (as WILDFIRE of course and not as musicians) but with one look at the quite full venue one could easily understand that they had their own fanatic supporters. They were, after all, playing at home. With the very good “Rise” having been released less than a month ago, they had no choice but to present it in its entirety since they had the necessary stage time playing for more than an hour. From the first moment I had heard “Rise” I had the desire to listen to it live because almost all of its songs seem to have been structured for such occasions. To be honest, this genre of Metal requires a strong singer. Both vocally and as a performer. Bill Chrepas has everything you could ask and he unfolded his talents with ease, with the highlight being of course his duet with Mike Livas of SILENT WINTER for an epic medley of Gary Moore’s “Out In The Fields” and HELLOWEEN’s “I Want Out”. Before that, though, we had other highlights like everyone’s favorite “Navigators” in which Tolis played a short clarinet solo with the audience going wild or the second top song of the album “Far And Beyond (In Hell)”. We even had an encore, which was unusual for a support band but the occasion demanded it. A few minutes after 22:00, under the sounds of “Wildfire” from their EP, they said their goodbyes but I’m sure this musical encounter will be repeated soon.
Setlist
- Leap of Faith
- Rise
- Nights
- Navigators
- Inside the Box
- Breaking Point
- Mirror’s Edge
- Far and Beyond (In Hell)
- Night with a Witch
- Out In The Fields (Gary Moore) – I Want Out (Helloween)
- Wildfire
The audience had warmed up for good, the necessary changes on stage had been made, SILENT WINTER’s fans got in the front rows of the arena so everything was ready for them to take over the stage. Very experienced and with a top vocalist, Mike Livas, it didn’t take them long to pick up the thread from where WILDFIRE had left it. Besides, they have several songs suitable for live shows, with the top ones being “Shout”, “Hellstorm”, “Empire of Sins” and of course “Gates Of Fire” with that “three hundred men in battle they stand…” still ringing in my ears. Of course, “Utopia” was played almost in its entirety, but thankfully they didn’t forget their most classic songs. We should of course mention the two new members, Maria Moscheta on keyboards who gave them a richer sound and especially Lazaros Kourtis (or Larry Curtis) on drums who had to cope with a very demanding set in his first ever live show with SILENT WINTER. Nevertheless, he had no problem standing out despite the technical problem he encountered at one point which led to a five-minute break. The worst thing for a musician but it didn’t seem to affect him. One of the highlights of their show was definitely the closing of their set with the melodic and mid-tempo “Hands Held High” that left us with a sweet feeling. After supporting the huge GAMMA RAY and their first appearances in Japan in May, speaking only for 2025, SILENT WINTER seem to grow constantly, steadily and smoothly, a fact that becomes more valuable if we consider that we are talking about a band from Volos, keeping also in mind that music is not their main source of income and every step implies sacrifices in time and money.
Setlist,
- We Burn the Future
- Shout
- Reign of the Tyrants
- Hellstorm
- Gates of Fire
- Final Storm
- Silent Shadows
- Heart is a Lonely Hunter
- Reborn
- Empire of Sins
- Utopia
- Hands Held High
All in all, it was a beautiful show with great sound (lately Temple has started to make a lot of progress in this matter), the crowd honored the two bands, even though there were some people leaving after WILDFIRE, the merch stand was always full of people buying the goodies that the bands had prepared for us (support your local bands, let’s not go over it again) and the hugs between the metalheads filled the place. It’s awesome how intimate we feel among people we only meet during concerts or communicate with via social media but we are united by our love for Metal music.
Live Correspondent: Kostas Boudoukos
Design & Editing: Kostas Boudoukos
Photographs: Kostas Boudoukos
External Links: SILENT WINTER – Facebook Page
WILDFIRE – Fcebook Page
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