FIREWIND have just returned from a very successful nine date tour of the UK and Ireland. Guitarist/mainman Gus G. reports:

"So, we're back from our UK tour! This was a very smooth nine date run for us and we are very happy with how the whole thing went down!

To start with, we had two killer bands with us: KIUAS and DEAR SUPERSTAR. All very nice guys and good live bands! Our crew was top notch and amazing people. So if the foundation is right, the rest can be a piece of cake. Right? Well, actually our feelings were mixed up. Stressed and excited. We didn't know what to expect, as this is only the second time we were headlining in the UK and many of these places we visited for the first time. We didn't know if anyone would turn up for these gigs.

But we were in for a surprise. All shows were packed with our crazy fans (some sold out) and you guys have proved that the UK has some of the most hardcore Firewind fans, if not THE most hardcore! If you ask me for highlights, I don't know what to choose from. Nottingham and Glasgow were insane as always, Dublin has a special place in our hearts after such a warm welcome on our debut show, Manchester, Leeds and Wolverhampton were louder than hell, London was stressy but beautiful as always and Milton Keynes and Peterborough were great to wrap it up, even though we felt we just started getting on fire!

Cheers to all of you!

Big thanks goes out to Kiuas, Dear Superstar, our killer crew (Greg, Fotis, Michael, Chop, Luca, James), Sharon Richardson & Factory Music and everyone that was involved into making this tour happen!

I have a 'Premonition' that the European shows will be just as good. See you all soon!"

In other news, a new video lesson has been uploaded on the band's YouTube channel, Fire TV - this time it's a long awaited drum lesson by Mark Cross.