EUROPE – BRIDGE Guitar Festival – Eindhoven – The Netherlands

Of course, everybody knows – and can singalong to – Europe’s greatest hit The Final Countdown, but that is definitely not their best song, as the music of Europe – especially their last two albums Walk The Earth and War Of Kings – is much more diverse and interesting indeed. Europe, founded in 1979, by Joey Tempest and John Norum, released their last album War Of Kings already eight years ago, so it was obvious that tonight the setlist of this Swedish rock/pop/AOR band would mainly consist of classic Europe tracks, read: singalong, anthemic songs for sure!

Singer Joey Tempest and guitarist John Norum are still members of the band, and these two gentlemen mainly determine the greatest part of the basic sound of Europe, which has not changed very dramatically over the years. Europe’s melodic hard rock/pop/AOR music is thus still very recognisable, due to the catchy choruses, which call for singing along, the brilliant guitar playing of Norum and the excellent singing of Tempest.

Europe kicks off tonight with the diptych On Broken Wings (the B-side of The Final Countdown single) and Rock The Night, both of Europe’s most successful album The Final Countdown. The venue, the Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven, is packed and right from the very first chords of On Broken Wings the crowd is really into this gig for 100%. Rock The Night, which was also a huge hit, is being screamed along, while the song Walk The Earth, the title track of Europe’s last studio album (2017), is received with rather laid-back reception from the crowd. That is rather odd and strange, as that song is surely one of the better Europe tracks, but there is no account for taste, so…

It is obvious that the audience is here for the hits and of course the fans are served at their disposal, as all classic Europe hits, such as Carrie, Open Your Heart, More Than Meets The Eye, Ready Or Not, Superstitious and Cherokee pass by tonight and the crowd enjoys them and sings along with full force. As far as I am concerned the highlights were: Stormwind and Scream Of Anger, both from the Wings Of Tomorrow album (1984), War Of Kings and Last Look At Eden, the title track of Europe’s eight studio album. Especially the heavier tracks like Scream Of Anger, War Of Kings and Stormwind highlighted the impressive guitar picking of Norum, while the ballads displayed the beautiful vocals of Tempest as more than meets the ear….

Of course, the final song of this evening is the iconic greatest hit The Final Countdown, a true rock/pop classic which still appeals to the imagination, even though this track is already thirty-nine years old… Tempest, Norum, Leven, Michaeli and Haugland played top notch , the sound/mix was excellent and the setlist was “above-board”, but without surprises, certainly because Europe’s more than excellent last two albums were only represented with just one track.

Review and photos by Martien Koolen