After having the pleasure of seeing EUROPE over the summer at festivals and them putting on a very entertaining show, the allure of attending EUROPE, as well as DIAMOND HEAD who I had yet to see live, in such an intimate venue was all too tempting; sadly the night felt like a tribute to past glory more so than anything else.
DIAMOND HEAD opened up the night, with a 45 minute set consisting of classics mostly from the first two albums. They put on a good show with what they had. A muddy sound and lifeless crowd didn't help the proceedings but songs such as "It's Electric","In The Heat Of The Night" and of course "Am I Evil?" helped to spur on the rows of aging rockers. To be honest I was quite surprised that I looked to be the youngest member of the crowd along some kids with their parents. It seemed DIAMOND HEAD and EUROPE were exactly the introduction to rock music that some were looking for.
DIAMOND HEAD looked tired, but seemed to enjoy themselves. After all, they are a band that enjoy still being able to play to people -I had been waiting to hearing to a lot of those songs for years- so, for me and a few from the crowd it was a good opener. I would have liked to have seen some local talent getting involved in opening up the night before DIAMOND HEAD however. When will promoters learn that the way to draw a crowd in is not to just appeal to dad rockers who saw these bands in the 80's but instead by booking young talent and bringing in the local fan base? But this is a discussion for another time… I was wondering how EUROPE would deal with a small crowd in an intimate venue, especially when a lot of the crowd looked like they had come just for that song?
By the time EUROPE had gotten ready to take to the stage the room was surprisingly packed, as soon as the "Prelude" and "The Last Look At Eden" kicked in from the 2009 effort the room lit up with a surprising amount of energy. With all credit to the guys they tried there hardest but ultimately looked disappointed to be playing to such a quiet crowd in such a small venue. They were masterful in their control of the European crowds on the festival run last year, but here the bassist and keyboardist looked like they had other places to be and quite frankly it made me want to have other places to be; but then again you would be mad to leave a EUROPE show before the end of the set.
Closing off with "Cherokee", "Rock The Night" and "The Final Countdown" was somewhat brilliant. I wasn't expecting "Cherokee" and neither were the crowd; those final songs had more passion, energy and atmosphere then anything else the whole night. It is tough watching a band trying to stage a comeback, but with the whole crowd only wanting to hear songs from that album, it is tough and somewhat embarrassing.
Here is a band who, in their heyday, entertained thousands in venues around the world, and here they are having trouble entertaining a small crowd of people who are notoriously starved of heavy metal, south coast just doesn't get metal, for good reason if the crowd is going to be like this. It was enjoyable hearing some classics but on the whole the show was embarrassing at times, not embarrassing for me, but more of the fact that I felt embarrassed for the guys. An enjoyable few songs, but at the end of the night it felt like watching; a tribute to EUROPE, a bunch of aging rockers hoping to recapture a fading flame.
