Europe (ahem) Rock the Night!
Europe and Diamond Head - Manchester Academy II (27th Feb 2010)
So after all these years I finally manage to see Europe, one of my Big Bands from back in the day. A top night was had by all and this is kind of how it went.
I initially didn't think I'd get to this gig due to Tobes being only a month old and not knowing what would be going on, so it was a lovely surprise to find that Kez had bought us tickets for the gig as a surprise Xmas present. I was really excited as I'd never seen the band, had always wanted to and it would be our first night out as a couple for a while, so it was all good. Al lI had to do was wait until the end of February and we'd be off. The new album "Last Road to Eden" is a stormer and I was really looking forward to hearing some of the new numbers in the set with some of the tried and trusted old numbers. As a support act, the bizarre choice of Diamond Head was made for the tour. I'm not sure who thought the NWOBHM stalwarts would be a good support match for Europe, but it would be interesting to see them and watch them play "Am I Evil?"
Anyhoo, the day came for us to go and, all of a sudden, Europe had become popular again. No one had really talked about it, but there were a bunch of people going along. Pete, Wendy, Roy, B, Brad and John would also be at the show, making it a bit of an occasion, which was tops. Kez and I drove up to the Academy and got there for about 8pm, which is when Diamond Head were due on. We met Roy and B and went into the room to see what was what. I had a quick shufty at the merch, but was disappointed to see nothing worth the money. I would have liked a shirt, but there you go.
The venue was getting pretty crowded as we walked in. The band were half way though the second song of the set, I think and were giving the audience some serious stick and were playing well. Since they're not a band I'm that familiar with, I only recognised a few numbers including the aforementioned "Am I Evil?" (which everyone knows by now) and (ahem) "Sucking My Love" and they sounded OK even if they did look like Anvil's UK cousins on stage, complete with Flying Vs and bushy hair. The drummer also insisted on doing the spit-a-load-of-spray-into-the-lights bit on every bloody song. They also looked very cramped on stage, what with all Europe's gear in place, they were standing between gear and in danger of falling over if they moved too much. They did about 45 minutes as it was and it was OK, although I still wondered who put the bill together as they seemed a little at odds with the Europe sound.
We went back outside to the bar for a while and found Brad and John. Our little group was getting in the mood for the show with some of our number getting nicely chemically oiled up for the show. Spirits were high and I was getting rather excited myself, even though (since I was with car and all) I was as sobre as a judge. We wandered back in at about 9.10pm and found that the room was absolutely rammed. The gig was a complete sell-out and, as we found out at the end of the gig when everyone had left, they venue had put in the full-on crash barriers at the front of the stage so a good deal of the space available for bodies in the room had been taken away. We ended up plonking ourselves in the back corner of the room in the space left between the fire exit and the mixing desk. At least we could breathe and the smaller members of the party could have some chance of seeing something. I was jibed for being tall, but as some really big dude stood infront of me, I reminded them that there's always someone taller that goes in front of me!
The lights went down pretty promptly and the "Prelude" came on that introduces the album. The room went bezerk as the shadowy figures of Europe took to the stage and took their positions. They were all looking trim and fit and very cool as they stormed into "Last Look At Eden" and there was a collective swoon as Joey Tempest strode on and grabbed his trademark white mic stand and got into the tune. Tempest was looking fab and trim, as were the rest of the band. Maybe it's something to do with being Scandinavian that keeps rock-and-rollers from those parts looking so good. After all, Mike Tramp still looks cool after all these years too. As Brad said about Tempest, "I fucking would." "Only after I've had a go!" was my reply. Pete had remarked that he was "fucking beautiful" too, so maybe Joey Tempest is the ultimate homoerotic rock icon the genre has... Sorry Joe!
ANYWAYYY... The sound was punchy and the band were very tight. The playing was dynamic and fluid and pretty much note perfect, from what I could hear. The Tempest voice was still sounding excellent too. Maybe a few higher notes had dropped slightly, but he still delivered with power and sounded great. John was losing his mind at the perfection of the band's performance and we were all lapping it up and rocking along with the band. The atmosphere was excellent. When you consider the fact that we were shoe-horned into a rear corner of the room, you couldn't help but get carried along with the show. It must have been really intense down the front.
The set progressed nicely with a good balance between old and new tunes. There were a lot played from the new album (including the excellent "New Love in Town") and they sounded perfect placed next to old favourites like "Superstitious" and the forgotten classic "Seventh Sign". It's a shame that the band couldn't have played for another thirty minutes and put in some other classics too, as they would have been very welcome. For instance, there was no "Open Your Heart", which I was disappointed about, but then again, there was an excellent reworking of "Carrie" thrown in with the first half played acoustic sing-a-long style with the band crashing in for the big solo spots and the ending. (This tune alone caused some shockingly loud three-part harmonies (2 parts pissed) from Brad, John and I. All good fun.) It's also a shame that they couldn't work more stuff from "Prisoners in Paradise" into the set, but I suppose that they only had a certain amount of time and a new album to sell.
Tempest had a natty line in working local songs into his numbers. He managed to shoe-horn snippets of stuff like "Don't Look Back In Anger", "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Wonderwall" as local salutes into the songs, some which worked well, some which fell a bit flat, but it was a nice effort and it'd be interesting to see how he saluted his audiences across the country with the different songs from the locality. He also showed local soap knowledge asking the audience about Gail from Coronation Street with a big smile on his face. He knows how to ingratiate himself with an audience, for sure.
There was some good funny stuff going on during the set. Brad nearly had a run in with some huge dude due to Brad continually being paushed back onto this guy's feet. Brad always apoligised in good humour, but this chap was not seeing the funny side of it. It was hilarious as Brad would turn back to me and give me the look. "One word Brad... Sex offender." Brad was so badly going to be this guy's prison bitch if this foot treading continued. Brad was in fine voice too and that was good to hear :) Roy disappeared completely and it turned out that he had got himself right to the front. He came back with some excellent camera material at the end and looked as though he'd had a great time. Kez and B seemed to be having fun with lots of dancing going on. Brad's camera seemed to capture a lot of images of their arses during the night, which is par for the course on these occasions. John looked like he was close to tears for the most part, overwhelmed by it all. He was having a good night and was grooving along like a mutha. Not one of us went away feeling like we'd not been thoroughly entertained.
The set went far too quickly and before we knew it, there was the final run of the main set with two tunes slotted together (joined by a sing-a-long) from "Final Countdown" to end the set on a high. "Cherokee" probably wouldn't be the first choice of a song from that album, but it did sound excellent run together into "Rock the Night" to end the set with a bang. Needless to say, the crowd gave a good deal of noise to bring on the inevitable encore. After all, they hadn't played "The Hit" yet and no one was leaving before that had been sorted out.
The band didn't take long to take the stage again thankfully and they went straight into "The Beast" and it sounded excellent. We thought we'd get three encore numbers, but the iconic intro tape to "The Final Countdown" showed we'd only get two. The response was massive, as you'd expect and the number sounded great. There's nothing to dislike about this song and it's great to see that the band don't deny the impact of the number and embrace it fully as their biggest and most important song. So many bands would try to distance themselves with a song that's so linked to a time so long ago, but Europe blasted out the song like it was written yesterday and it sounded perfect and brought the gig to a thunderous climax.
The band left the stage and the lights were kept down for a mo until the house lights were switched on and it was time to go. I'm sure the audience could have withstood a lot more from the band, but we'd had just the right amount and the set had obviously been worked to perfection. We finally caught up with Pete and Wendy for a chat. They'd been near the front and had found Roy at some point during his adventure in the pit. We filed out and chatted for a while before splitting and going our separate ways. I'd promised Brad and John a lift home since they thought they'd have to leave early to get the last train home. That wasn't going to happen when they both lived on the way home anyway. As a result of this, we got some excellent banter and comedy in the car. Poor John was very much worse for wear and literally fell out of the car outside his house. His path to the front door was very wobbly, but he made it (I hope). Brad was in fine form too. So funny. He's a star and him and John do make a fine comedy team when they are on form.
So, it was a great night out and a perfect Christmas present in anyone's book. Europe proved that they were so much more than people perceive them to be (80s one-hitters) and everyone in the gig (including even the most manly of men) fell in lurve with Joey Tempest again. It's a shame I couldn't have had a drink too, but that's no problem when the gig was so great and the company was so perfect. Thanks to the Better Half for sorting it out for me (xxx).
Europe Set List
This was mainly taken from a forum, but it seems to be pretty much what I remember them playing, so I'm confident it's OK :)
- Main Set
- Prelude
- Last Look At Eden
- Love is Not The Enemy
- Superstitious
- Gonna Get Ready
- Scream of Anger
- Let The Good Times Rock
- No Stone Unturned
- Carrie
- Sign of The Times
- Optimus (John Norum solo)
- Seventh Sign
- New Love in Town
- Start From The Dark
- Cherokee
- Rock The Night
- Encores:
- The Beast
- The Final Countdown
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