I got acquainted with Long Live through the excellent TV show on ERT3, Jammin’, which gave Greek bands a platform to perform on a national scale on a daily basis. There, Long Live, along with George Gakis and the Troublemakers had a residency, as they played very often.
Shortly afterwards, when I was a student living in Thessaloniki, where Rockpages.gr was born 20 years ago, I was lucky enough to see them live in the rock bars of the city, such as Café Americaine, Cult, Ekkendro, ARK and of course Papagalos, where they played every Thursday and I never missed a show, because the energy, passion and emotion filled every second you saw them. Lakis Ragazas, often wearing floral vests, just like Ian Gillan, would put his soul on the stage melting faces with incredible playing, solos, improvisations, grimaces and tons of sweat. We are talking about the best living Greek guitarist. On vocals George Simeonidis (Sarissa) with an imposing presence every night with frequent take-offs of the microphone stand, that often reached the venue’s ceiling, or smashing a spotlight offering an imporessive effect and filling the stage with glasses! The rhythm section consisted of Stelios Tzoumerkas on bass and Alexandros Dimarelis on drums. Both of them were excellent at holding everything together, giving volume and depth, being the perfect platform for a top live band like Long Live, while there was no shortage of solos.
Later on, George Monte (George Monte – Psycho Choke, One Of Discord, Methods, Luna Obsura) joined the line-up, giving the band a more metal character with his double bass drummer and higher speed playing.
Long Live also, was the first interview I did with a band after meeting George Simeonidis outside “Nora” record store in Ethnikis Aminis Str. with his car stereo blasting “Shout At The Devil”. If my memory serves me well, we went to Thermaikos cafe to talk.
So, since so many years have passed from all those memories, the joy and excitement of the release of this album was indescribable. In fact, I knew that this effort had been underway for some years now and here we are in 2023 with the album in our hands at last.
The first side contains the-song EP that was released in 2000 containing the songs the band played live. As soon as the needle touches the grooves of “She, Devil”, I immediately go back 20 years to those unique, magical moments and fond memories. This one, “Ride Through The Night” and of course “Hellsdrive” with its killer dual solo, which I know them by heart now, have gone down in the pantheon of Greek rock as classics… completely objectively this is a perfect example of classic rock and is absolutely representative of the band’s identity and indicative of the DNA of the Greek rock scene.
On the second side we find the unreleased material, consisting of 5 songs (I think “3” is missing from the song title “Times Life”, “Digital Angel”, “All I Want Is You”, “In Your Face”, “Revolution”), of which I remember listening to “Revolution” live, with the fast part being faster than what we hear on the album. This material is somehow darker, heavier and more modern. Montesnitsas is sitting on the drums stool and that’s the difference with the 6 songs on the first side.
The album also contains a neat 4-page inlay with photos of the group, which I had never seen before, collected by Giorgos Simeonidis. We should also note that the band remains active playing in Thessaloniki, but also all over Greece with George being the only constant member. But my reliable information tells me that a reunion with the original lineup is in the works…
