Europe
When: 18th October 2023
Location: Royal Concert Hall
Europe are the Swedish hard rockers with a lite-metal tinge. Coming to Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on 18th October 2023.
The band Europe took root in a suburb outside Stockholm. Singer-songwriter Joey Tempest met guitarist John Norum in 1979 when they were teenagers. Inspired by artists like Thin Lizzy and Deep Purple. They formed the band Force with bassist Peter Olsson and drummer Tony Reno. Recording demos that were rejected by several labels.
Deciding to change their name to Europe. The group entered and won a televised rock band competition in 1982 called Rock-SM that included a deal with Hot Records.
When their self-titled debut album was released a year later, it sold well in Sweden and Japan. Europe’s sophomore album, 1984’s Wings Of Tomorrow, not only began to generate a worldwide following, but also landed them a five-album deal with New York-based Epic Records.
With a major label and producer Kevin Elson (Journey) on board for their third album. 1986’s The Final Countdown was a massive success. The title track went to No.1 in more than 25 countries plus the album spawned three more top 40 singles. These included Love Chaser, Rock The Night and Carrie.
Over the next three decades, Europe would go on to release six more albums. 1991’s Prisoners In Paradise, 2004’s Start From The Dark, 2006’s Secret Society and 2009’s Last Look At Eden. As well as 2012’s Bag Of Bones and 2015’s War Of Kings – which were well-received by critics and fans alike.
30th Anniversary
Europe marked the 30th anniversary of their seminal album The Final Countdown by staging a series of special shows throughout the European continent. Including a sell-out concert at London’s Roundhouse that was filmed and released on DVD in early 2017.
Their 11th album Walk The Earth followed that autumn. Produced by Dave Cobb (Rival Sons, Chris Stapleton) and recorded at Abbey Road Studios. It was big both in scope and sound and led the band to win a Swedish Grammi in 2018.
The current line-up of Europe comprises Tempest and Norum with John Levén on bass, Mic Michaeli on keyboards and Ian Haugland on drums.
40th Anniversary
2023 sees 40 years since Swedish rock icons EUROPE released their self-titled debut album. And to celebrate the milestone, the band are set to tour this Autumn.
The band, with millions of album sales under their belt and a No1 smash in 1986 across 25 countries with the legendary ‘The Final Countdown’ received an award from YouTube in 2022 for the first Swedish band ever to receive a BILLION views for any one song.
The ‘Time Capsule’ tour will take in 18 concerts across Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden, France, The Netherlands and the UK, including two nights at the famous London Palladium. These anniversary shows will consist of a career retrospective “evening with” performance featuring all the hits together with deep cuts and fan favourites from all of their 11 studio albums.
