Europe, Manchester Academy 2, Friday 25th February 2011
After ripping up the stage at Sonisphere last year, I was massively excited about seeing Europe play a completely sold out Manchester show, yet again. For me, these boys seem to improve with age – their most recent album ‘Last Look at Eden’ is an excellent example of just how far Europe have come over a career spanning over 30-odd years.
So tonight, a sold out Manchester Academy 2 seemed pretty geared up to experience the very awesome Europe, then bang cue, the prelude kicks off, soon followed with the amazing ‘Last Look At Eden’. Joey instantaneously takes command of the stage, punching out a flawless vocal delivery that immediately captivates the roaring crowd. What I genuinely find fascinating is how good the band look; okay, okay… what I mean is Joey’s trademark dimples… (that’s not to say the rest of the boys aren’t all looking pretty damn good for a bunch of 40-something year olds too…).
Anyway…Europe seem to exude an incredible passion during their live performances; it totally blows the balls off a lot of other classic rock bands and can most certainly demonstrate to the young’uns how it’s done properly. Following ‘Last Look At Eden’ comes ‘The Beast’ and ‘No Stone Unturned’, along with the infamous power ballad ‘Carrie’ – a proper “lighters in the air” moment. Also, I’m probably not the only one in the room that felt the emotional and heartfelt tribute to Gary Moore was executed beautifully.I just love how much Europe seem to enjoy themselves, which was definitely reciprocated by the Manchester crowd. Each time I see Europe play, Joey always reaches out to a couple of audience members, which fills me with multiple emotions, one of jealously and also fear that he’ll fall off the stage and faceplant the floor, but no… Joey is a bloody pro.
Rounding off the final part of the set, the boys fire out a personal favourite, ‘New Love In Town’, swiftly followed with ‘Gonna Get Ready’, ‘Rock The Night’ and a surprise new song called ‘Doghouse’, which receives a decent reception from the fans. And so, finally… to close an epic evening of Europe awesomeness the band close the set with that “doo de do do, doo doo do do do” song. Yes… ‘The Final Countdown’. The whole bloody Academy erupted, mobile phones were shoved in the air, hands flying, fists pumping, and red raw vocal cords galore.What a super-duper end to an enjoyable evening; it just goes to show that the 80s produced something very special when it gave birth to Europe. It’s great to see that the band still command a significant following, and that they’ve still got something exciting to offer, over 30 years after their formation.
Words and pictures by Gemma-Louise Harris
