Europe at The Roundhouse

hubobulous

30yrs since I saw them with my brother at Hammersmith on The Final Countdown tour, here we were again. This time it was to experience the whole album live and it was sublime. Back then, John Norum left before the tour, so Kee Marcello stepped in and did an amazing job followed by two great albums. This time, the original lineup from the recording were back together.

Norum's guitar work is stunning and Tempest's voice has hardly been affected by the passing time.

they opened by playing the entirety of their latest album which was a great warm up and has two or three standout tracks, but that's not really why everyone was there.

The moment the video screens indicated the time going back, a palpable energy changed in the room. Whether you like it or not, The Final Countdown has one of the most recognisable riffs ever written. Played to perfection, the crowd went bonkers. Such a great atmosphere and what a solo!!

Rock the Night was next and again, the whole crowd was loving every second. The show just swept along, with Cherokee being another high point.

My air guitar got a proper outing and @Felineguitars probably is a little hoarse this morning too I'd wager. Just a great album from a band that were on their A game. So glad I went.

And another bonus was that the venue kindly gave Mrs Bobulous an extra seated ticket due to her now being 7 months pregnant. Obviously this wasn't the case when tickets were purchased, so at the time no seats were required. She was allowed to keep her standing one as well so spent the first half hour with us and then could enjoy the rest of the show in comfort. Really great customer service.

Europe may seem a little poodle rock, but they are great live, have aged well, poke fun at their 80s image whilst respecting that it got them the life they've had. Such a huge part of my youthful musical soundtrack and they didn't dissapoint again.

capo4th

Are they still standing tall and heading to Venus? 

hubobulous

Yes, they bloody well are :-)

Nikko

Saw them at Sonisphere once, and the place went mental for the Final Countdown. Tres cool!

DLM

Yay for the customer service!

I should explore more Europe, I only know the one obvious song, and agree that it is really awesome, from many vantages.

Bidley

I saw them at Bloodstock a few years ago, expecting them to be a laughing stock.

They were actually very good.

hubobulous

In some respects, Europe was overshadowed by Bon Jovi in the 80s. Slippery When Wet had a few more hits on it, and arguably stronger songs overall. It was TFC, Carrie and Rock the Night vs You Give Love a Bad Name, Wanted Dead or Alive and Livin on a Prayer.

Europe's two albums following TFC were perhaps their strongest, but by that time, their sound was a little more grown up and not what people were looking for.

Kee Marcello's playing on 'Out of This World' is for me one of the best guitar based albums ever. His tone and playing are simply astonishing. Ever solo is composed, melodic and flash - a very difficult combination to get right.

I'm really glad that they've still got the stage presence. @FelineGuitars I'm sure will concur

FelineGuitars

I love Europe and The Final Countdown was part of why 1986 was my favourite year for rock releases

Just a few from memory that I also bought that year....
Accept - Russian Roulette
Dokken- Under Lock and Key
Europe- Final Countdown
Bon Jovi - Slippery when wet
Queensryche - Rage for Order
Cinderella - Night Songs
Alice Cooper - Constrictor
Motley Crue - Theatre of Pain
Ratt - Dancing Undercover
Poison - Look what the cat dragged in
Dave Lee Roth - Eat Em and Smile
Great White - Shot In the Dark.
Ozzy - Ultimate Sin
Wasp - Inside the electric Circus.
Judas Priest - Turbo
Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time.
Terraplane - Black and White.

But back to the gig 
The band are so on form it's a joy to watch - Joey has a voice that never falters (and it's nowhere as near syrupy as everyone seems to remember it being).
Whilst the new album is good I'm not sure many in the audience were familiar with it and may have felt disappointed not to hear more tracks they knew.

The stage production was flawless though ....though I personally have a small issue with bands using video screens that are showing video footage other than what is happening onstage. The video was amazing and often quite beautiful and enjoyable in it's own right but I think it pulls your attention away from the action on stage. It's a bit like having sex with your hot girlfriend whilst the TV is showing the football cup final - your attention is going to waver away from one or the other when it shouldn't.

I was at the Hammersmith TFC gig back in Feb 1987 when Europe first played that album in UK and the second half of tjis gig felt just like that  fabulous gig, only you actually had John Norum playing the guitar instead of the talented kee Marcello who took over when Norum quit in a huff over the band getting too commercial.

Saturday's gig had all that magic and more and so great that it was the original lineup too after all these years

Here they are back in 1986

Philly_Q

Will they be still be allowed to tour the UK after Brexit?

Kebabkid

Kee Marcello's playing on 'Out of This World' is for me one of the best guitar based albums ever. His tone and playing are simply astonishing. Every solo is composed, melodic and flash - a very difficult combination to get right.

This ^^ - Absolutely agree D @hubobulous and loved the fact you could clearly distinguish between the neck and bridge pickup selections and love that he switches them mid solo.

Oh, and we missed this local gig by him too
http://getreadytorock.me.uk/blog/2016/09/gig-review-kee-marcello-the-cavern-raynes-park-london-21-september-2016/

Glad you and Jonathan enjoyed the gig