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Post by Eva Tomorrow on Jul 19, 2012 13:37:30 GMT 2
Here's a little report. -First , the sky : weather reports all spoke about a very rainy day (and even about a tempest !), but finally, it was sunny, just a little windy. Perfect for me who don't like heat. -the "Tempest" was there, but a very nice one on stage ! -2) The venue : outside in a kind of close garden of a restaurant. So, we could listen to the soundcheck outside. Very short, but with great moments of Mr tempest training his voice (exceptionally good !) -3) The fans : There were many Europe audience of course, however I think we were not more than ~20 "hard" fans. Which means there was no battle to be at the first rows : we all could find a place very near to stage. The barriers were less than 1 meter from the stage ; and as the stage itself was rather large but not very deep, we were very close to the band. An unusual experience for me. -4) Special conditions. No opening act, only EUROPE. Which means : no time wasted, only full pleasure ! We arrived, took our places quietly, and after a while, the blast begun... Then it was a daylight show (althought it began at 9:30) because we were in Norway in Summer. So, for the first time I saw the band just how they are for true. It gives more "proximity" : they are normal people, when they are not enlightened by artificial lights. But the amazing thing is that they are still unusual person ! They stay very handsome even in daylight. What stroke me, is that in the reality, JTempest looks very much like how he was in the 80s !!! His faces didn't change very much in fact. (That was very surprising for me to see this, because I've always thought JT in the 80s and JT nowadays were 2 different persons ! ) 5) The show : Excellent, of course. that's Europe, always at their best. IMPERIAL. Nothing else to add. Even my husband, who was working in a nearby restaurant during the concert, and who heard the show, told me he found them excellent (and he doesn't like hard rock at all !) 6) The band behaviour : Ian didn't make any special joke (like the pig mask). Leven was in his "distant" day. Mic also. They didn't interact very much with the audience. At the contrary Norum made winks and little signs ; and at a moment, he made a little joke. It was "Seventh Sign" moment, but he watched Mic, and began a few notes of "Girl from Lebanon". Mic answered with his keyboard, Norum answered, and so on for a little while. then he took a mischievous air, and attacked on Sevneth sign... That was nice. Tempest was on a very friendly mood. He did big smiles to the most enthusiastic fans. there were a lot of beautiful girl (they were all, except me, in fact !), so I suppose it was nice for him to see all this young cuties full of love for him. He made little signs, but in a kindly way. and he threw some mediators. However, those pics often fell beyond the barrier ! So, suddenly, a polish fan jump above it to catch the pic. She was leaned over it, her head downstairs and the feet in the air ! the man behind her was holding her legs. And she succeeded in taking the pic and to lift up again !!! It was funny. 7) MY great moment. For me, the most amazing episode was during "Rock the night". Suddenly, JTempest kneels down on the edge of the stage, right in front of me, and stretched out his arms towards me to sing "what do you want?" with his most passionate and fiery air... !!! I thought his eyes had burned me all, and I was not far from the KO !!! (does he know it's dangerous for the poor audience to make this kind of thing? He should inform first : "beware, I'm going to fire one of you...") The story is not completely finished.there 's another part to come about my little disappointements...
Guess, I love your report, thanks ... and about your "great moment" : What !!! OMG ... OK, I'm glad for you ... I also remember that when I saw the band last year in live at Portugal, there wasn't many people and was very easy to be around, I think I'm never going to be so close to them as I was there. I remember very well that I could see the amazing blue eyes of Joey when he was moving on stage ... it was great. You know, I think this man is
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Stein
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Post by Stein on Jul 20, 2012 19:30:12 GMT 2
Carrie:
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Post by Michaela Italy on Jul 20, 2012 23:44:49 GMT 2
-2) The venue : ... Very short, but with great moments of Mr tempest training his voice (exceptionally good !)... -3) The fans : There were many Europe audience of course, however I think we were not more than ~20 "hard" fans... -4) Special conditions. ... But the amazing thing is that they are still unusual person ! They stay very handsome even in daylight. What stroke me, is that in the reality, JTempest looks very much like how he was in the 80s !!! His faces didn't change very much in fact.... 5) The show : Excellent, of course. that's Europe, always at their best. IMPERIAL. Nothing else to add. Even my husband, who was working in a nearby restaurant during the concert, and who heard the show, told me he found them excellent (and he doesn't like hard rock at all !) 6) The band behaviour : ... Tempest was on a very friendly mood. He did big smiles to the most enthusiastic fans. there were a lot of beautiful girl (they were all, except me, in fact !), so I suppose it was nice for him to see all this young cuties full of love for him.... 7) MY great moment. For me, the most amazing episode was during "Rock the night". Suddenly, JTempest kneels down on the edge of the stage, right in front of me, and stretched out his arms towards me to sing "what do you want?" with his most passionate and fiery air... !!! I thought his eyes had burned me all, and I was not far from the KO !!! (does he know it's dangerous for the poor audience to make this kind of thing? He should inform first : "beware, I'm going to fire one of you...") The story is not completely finished.there 's another part to come about my little disappointements...
Lovely lovely experience, it must have been, in the full light of the Norwegian night! There are many passages that I have found so vivid and true! Starting with the warming up of Joey's voice I would pay almost a fortune (which I don't have btw) to listen to him while warming up! The 20 affectionate fans in the first row, yes! That's why they know these fans so well! And now Guesswho, beware you have been tracked down by them as well! Their presence is simply astonishing, man they're handsome! Yeeesssss! I think there's still a difference with Joey in the 80's though, namely you wouldn't have been here telling us the story, because you would have still been lying there on the floor after his glance to you . While now, you will only be suffering from "angels visions at night" The husbands...oh that's a good point, I think Europe the band is "notorious" to throw them in the hugest desperation every time they start a new tour again. Some are trying to take it easy and not thinking too much , some can literally get out of their heads... So good to see your husband taking the show with philosophy then Finally, so happy for you for the "what do you want" part! Thrilling, exciting, superb, Guess!!! I would have stared at him quite puzzled, with my mouth half open, trying to answer THE Question, LOL !!!
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Tone Irene
Member
In a Europe state of mind :)
Posts: 428
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Post by Tone Irene on Jul 21, 2012 17:36:37 GMT 2
I'll try to scribble down my review here, but have patience, it's been over a week It was a partly rainy day. The weather was shifting between cloudy, bits of sun, and rain. I had packed two suitcases, in order to go abroad the next day. One with everything I needed for the Europeconcert, and another with a week's worth of clothing for my trip to Germany. I took my car to Asker, where I picked up a friend who'd come from Oslo. Then we headed to another friends place, where I placed my car. We took his roomy, spacious car, the three of us. The rain was pouring down outside at this point. We picked up our last passenger in Drammen, that's nearly my hometown, and then our road trip could begin. The last passenger is a friend of mine, it was her very first Europe concert, I was so happy for her. The first album we listened to was...Bag of Bones. Later we changed to Out of this world. It was a smooth 1.5h ride down to Langesund. The nature in Telemark (the county were Langesund is) is very beautiful. Looks a bit wild, lots of trees, hills, and blue-blue fjords/lakes. Langesund was a calm place. We checked into the hotel, then put on our concert clothes and make-up and headed for the center of town. It was a really cozy town center, situated by a lake or a fjord. Lots of people were there, but it wasn't any buzz about the concert. We were there pretty early in order to maybe hear the soundcheck. We decided to go and check out the venue. Wrightegaarden is a concert/restaurant-establishment, it was a nice, old sort of classy two-storey house with a terrace with a view to the venue, which was in a sort of open yard. It was enclosed so you couldn't enter without tickets, but it was still very open to the skies. At this terrace I saw another Europefan-friend of mine, she'd got to know a nice fellow, Michael, from Austria, who was there for the concert. So me and my friends sat down there as well, to see if we could see the soundcheck To be continued.
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Tone Irene
Member
In a Europe state of mind :)
Posts: 428
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Post by Tone Irene on Jul 21, 2012 17:57:26 GMT 2
At this point it was partly clouded, partly sunny. I had bought a cool t-shirt for the occasion: I wanted a top that revealed my back, so that the E was easily visible. And then I'd found a top who was partly open in the back, and on the front there was the shape of a skull, made out of lots of skulls; my own bag of bones-t-shirt. We sat chatting, looking down upon the crew walking across the open yard to the sounaged-booth, back into the back of the stage, and sometimes up on stage. They played a bit themselves on our bands instruments, so I was for a bit worried that the band itself wouldn't do any soundcheck. But then the band members appeared in the yard (remember: we had perfect view to all of this), talking to the sound crew, going uon stage to play a bit on their instruments and so on. Then the restaurant people told us that the band wanted a closed soundcheck, so we had to go inside the restaurant... we still had a perfect view (through dirty windows), and the sound was really good as well, when the band got up on stage and played through Riches to Rags and Superstitious. I filmed my friends during both, where we would mime the song and lyrics on both songs. I won't share those videos, mostly because I look really retarted in both videos. After the soundcheck I decided to check the rest of the house to locate a bathroom. I went throught the restaurant (or actually, it was more like café/bar/catering-place) to look for a bathroom. On my way to the bathroom I found a piano! My friend who had been sitting at the café in the first place was with me, so I just HAD to boast to her about my abilities to play Europesongs on the piano. (I didn't boast, I just asked that she waited while I played a bit for her). So I played Carrie, Tomorrow, bit of Coast to Coast and The final countdown. During one of the songs (I kept missing at some of the keys because I had to stand while playing, and I was unfamiliar with the piano) I saw in a flash that Ian was walking by. I stopped playing, and said the first thing that came to mind "I'm sorry for playing your songs!" (In english)... He said that was fine, he was just looking for some food. So apparently they were eating in that building. Ooops. I'm kinda thrilled, to have played some Europe stuff on the piano in earshot of a band member... not really sure if he was listening at all, or noticing...If I ever get that opportunity again, I'll continue playing, and play BETTER. That means more practise, I guess. When I got back to the friends around the table, some of them were talking to Ian. So I wanted to say properly hi as well, and then I got to show him my tattoo (open back, you know)... then he showed me his He had some photos with some norwegian fans I did not yet know, so I asked for one with him as well, was very hard to resist. i know I already have some pics with him... it's just... cooool, you know. To be continued
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Post by Michaela Italy on Jul 21, 2012 19:39:54 GMT 2
Wow, toneirene that's great...I can't resist to read the rest of it! You have created almost a thrilling atmosphere here Thank you so much!! Go ahead, pleeeaaseee
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Tone Irene
Member
In a Europe state of mind :)
Posts: 428
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Post by Tone Irene on Jul 21, 2012 20:54:12 GMT 2
my back is killing me, so I can't sit too long at the time... will finish later tonight or tomorrow
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Post by Michaela Italy on Jul 21, 2012 21:56:06 GMT 2
my back is killing me, so I can't sit too long at the time... will finish later tonight or tomorrow No worries, take your time!!! From your tale it was like being there and living the same experience with you... I saw Ian coming while you were playing the piano Gosh, I would have loved to see that place! Good night toneirene!
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Tone Irene
Member
In a Europe state of mind :)
Posts: 428
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Post by Tone Irene on Jul 21, 2012 22:35:18 GMT 2
Then we went outside to stand in queue in order to get to the front row... No problem at all.. but while we stood there (approx. 15 people), I talked to a few people, among others Valeria... She said her name, didn't ring a bell to me, then I said my name, and she says "oh, you're on my facebook!", and at once I remembered her last name Was very nice to meet her, she's so sweet. I also chatted with the other norwegian fans I didn't know before that day, and one of the girls said she recognized me from Skien a couple of years ago (Europe played there... it was only 30 minutes from Langesund), she said we had talked then, which I couldn't remember, and that she recognized my tattoo. She also said that that tattoo had inspired her to get one, then showed me the E on her arm, that was the "new" E, the one with the ring around it. And she'd also written in small letters "no stone unturned" across it. It was soooo nice. There were also some people from Poland. They opened and let people enter, and then I got my first surprise: MERCHANDISE!! Tord the merch-man told me a couple of years ago that it's so hard with customs in Norway, so it's hardly worth bringing merch to Norway from Sweden. But this time they had I bought the over-the-shoulder-bag, and I simply LOVE it. I stationed myself front center, while my friends that I had traveled with took places elsewhere (but of course in the front), according to their preferances. Then we waited. I was beside Valeria, so I chatted more with her. Michael from Austria was so gentle as to hold on to my space while I was away for a little while... Wonderful fans, really. The outdoor venue filled up real slowly. Norwegians are a slow breed But it looked quite filled up when the boys finally hit the stage Not very long before the concert started, Guesswhoo showed up just behind me. I had been looking for her during the entire day. She was soo sweet. Calm, which matched my energy buzz real nice. I haven't seen Europe live since Tromsø in September, so I think my excitement was pouring over. But they all beared with me I was so blasted away by the concert. I had deliberately tried not to catch any setlists from the BoB-tour, cause I wanted to be caught by surprise. So when Stein sent me the setlist on an SMS a week before the concert, I just deleted it The Bag of Bones-songs were awesome, and I have no doubt that when they're filling the shows with more BoB-songs in the fall, they will do so with as much success as they did in this concert. They blasted the audience away with Riches to Rags, then Firebox... then came Superstitious, and then Demon Head... I was IN AWE!! tbc
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Tone Irene
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In a Europe state of mind :)
Posts: 428
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Post by Tone Irene on Jul 21, 2012 23:08:29 GMT 2
The two front rows filled with fans, I could almost feel their joy, like mine. But there was a few polac fans also in the front row who didn't sing along to either BoB, LLAE or SS-songs... they had travelled all that way just for older songs, apparently. I was fascinated... But, at one point really annoyed.. Joey tossed me his plectrum (ok, it could have been aimed at anyone, but I had it in my grasp for some milliseconds before I slipped it, and it fell to the ground. That's when the polish chick almost threw herself over the fence in order to pick it up, as Guesswhoo-mentioned... I got a bit irritated, both because that plectrum could have been mine, and because she acted so maniacly... About the setlist.. It was almost perfect... Save for one thing: SFTD... The story is that... I was at the very first Europeconcert after the reunion. It took place in Norway on June 11th 2004, and Europe played there, for the very first time, Start from the Dark.... Since then, they've played it every single concert I've been to, except for this, my 18th concert... So in hindsight, I'm dissapointed for that... especially since I re-discovered the greatness of this song a couple of months ago.... I suddenly started listening more intently to the guitar-riff of the verse, and then I was really looking forward to digging it live again. Well, hopefully next time tbc
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