Europe
19 May 2005
London Astoria
Since their reformation last year I had seen Europe play to the largest crowd of the weekend at Sweden Rock and to a respectfully large crowd at the Hammersmith Apollo. So tonight with the Astoria balcony closed and the downstairs hardly packed, it`s a bit of a worrying sign for the longevity of the reunion.
Equally worrying was the crowd reaction to much of the newer material aired. True each song received a suitably large cheer at it`s conclusion but during the songs the audience was pretty flat. It`s a shame as tracks such as Got To Have Faith and Wake Up Call rock as much as Europe`s older material and for the most the new material is heavier. Flames in particular, which is one of my personal favourites, seemed lost on the crowd.
One person throughout was a constant 100% of energy and that`s Joey Tempest. The guy worked his socks off covering every inch of the stage and interacting with the audience who were right in the band`s faces due to there being no photo pit tonight.
By contrast John Norum hardly moved his feet, but during his solos his fingers were tearing across the fretboard of his guitar. During opener Got To Have Faith, Tempest seemed to appreciate Norum`s skills as he stood alongside him headbanging and following his own solo spot later in the set, Norum really cut loose during Girl From Lebanon. Mic Michaeli was also afforded a solo spot mixing 80s keyboard sounds with 70s Hammond organ to great effect.
The rhythm section of Ian Haugland and John Leven did their job well providing a solid backbone to the songs. For a band remembered by many for their big hair a pretty boy looks, the now shaven headed Haugland not only looks brutish, but channels aggression in to his hard hitting drumming style.
Tempest appeared alone with an acoustic guitar for a solo rendition of Carrie, but not before he had been persuaded by one member of the audience into playing a portion of Open Your Heart.
It`s the hits the majority of the crowd seem to want and with a final run including Rock The Night, Cherokee and, of course, The Final Countdown, the reaction got more and more frenzied punctuated only by a slight breather for Start From The Dark.
Europe have always been a much heavier proposition live than perhaps many would expect and they continue to be a very tight live act. It was just a shame that more people had not been there to witness that fact tonight.
Europe set list:
Got To Have Faith / Ready Or Not / Superstitious / America / Wings Of Tomorrow / Seven Doors Hotel / Hero / Wake Up Call / Keyboard Solo / Sign Of The Times / Guitar Solo / Girl From Lebanon / Open Your Heart (Acoustic - verse & chorus) / Carrie (Acoustic) / Flames / Yesterday`s News / Rock The Night / Start From The Dark / Cherokee / The Final Countdown
LINKS:
Europe
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