It has been 40 years since Swedish rock icons Europe unleashed their self-titled debut album on the world, and, although it was a further 2 albums before the world became accustomed to ‘The Final Countdown’ and its instantly recognisable opening, it seems like they have been around ever since.
In celebration of 40 years as a band, Europe is touring Europe, and the tour reached the Glasgow date of the UK leg of the tour with a stop at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on October 18.
With the promise of a career retrospective performance featuring the hits, deep cuts, and fan favourites, the crowd was ready and waiting for the band to take to the stage.
But first, the film show. It seemed appropriate for there to be a short film projected onto a giant curtain hanging over the auditorium, and it was a well, received documentary about the foundations of the band and their writing and recording processes. This was a preview of the forthcoming documentary release about the band.
With the completion of the film, Europe took to the stage with a huge Glasgow welcome, and the near-sold-out crowd was treated to a fine version of ‘On Broken Wings,” which was the B side of the ‘Final Countdown’ on its initial release.
From this point forward, the hits kept coming, and the crowd kept lapping it up. With tracks such as ‘Rock The night’ complete with a little snippet of Stevie Wonder track ‘Superstition’ in the middle through to ‘War of Kings’ and ‘Vasastan”, it was the track ‘Girl From Lebanon’ that proved to be the first of many absolute standout tracks for the enthusiastic crowd who had already been on their feet and singing along from the start of the show.
For those who had not seen Europe live prior to this gig, and I don’t think there were many in the crowd who had not, it became very clear very quickly that Europe are not the 80’s pop band you may have been mistaken in thinking they were.
Instead, Europe offers a very strong rock persona with solid, well-constructed lyrics and music, along with musicians who have really honed their craft.
Whether it be the vocals of Joey Tempest, who, after 40 years, still has the ability to sing at 100% of his ability, the drums of Ian Haughland, or the fantastic guitar solos of John Norum, these musicians, together with their bandmates of John Leven on bass guitar and Mic Michaeli on keyboards, would give any comparable band of the same era a run for their money.
With the tracks ‘Carrie’ and ‘Stormwind’, the latter truly whipping up a storm of support from the crowd, the first half of tonight’s set comes to a close with a pre-recorded message from drummer Ian Haughland explaining that there would be a 20-minute interval.
The second half of the show begins like the first—with a movie. This is another chance to have a preview of the forthcoming documentary about the band, and this part focuses on the band after they got back together and began playing again.
Europe returns to the stage and begins the second part of the evening with ‘Always The Pretenders’ from the ‘Secret Society’ album, and takes us back to where we left off at the interval with a classic rock show full of hits and superb musicianship.
‘Prisoners In Paradise’ features Joey Tempest on guitar, and it’s clear he is as comfortable with an instrument as he is as a vocalist.
A beautiful acoustic version of the Bowie classic ‘Space Oddidty’ slows the pace a little, although it is perhaps a welcome slowdown for band and fans alike, and gives everyone time to get their breath back for what is to come.
With the completion of a bass and a drum solo, the end of the gig rapidly approaches, and the three-song finale of ‘Superstitious’, ‘Cherokee’, and ‘The Final Countdown’ provide a good fifteen or so minutes of rock music from a band who, 40 years on, are still as close to the top of their game as they have ever been.
Review & Photographs by Gavin Ross
