Wait a minute here, two Europe DVDs in one year? Well, unlike The Final Countdown Live 1986 this is a recent recording. Live from the Dark was taped on the last night of the tour for the album Start from the Dark. The gig took place at Hammersmith Apollo in London in November of 2004. After viewing the performance from 1986 I wasn’t too keen on what would be inside of this double DVD set. What I found was surprising. I am familiar with the tracks from Start from the Dark, but I’m not found of the back catalog. What Joey Tempest and John Norum have done is brilliantly updated the previous material it’s got a punch and a bite that it lacked before. Joey Tempest can still moisten the ladies’ britches and work an audience into a frenzy. John might stand in place the entire night, but with the intense energy he puts into his performance and fretwork all is forgiven. Europe does a fantastic job of incorporating current material in between the classics. At times there is dead silence as Joey introduces a new track, but about mid-way the fans get into it. The standouts performances on this DVD are; “Superstitious,” which has stood the test of time as has “Carrie” here performed acoustically by Tempest, reminds me of Sammy Hagar doing “Where Eagles Fly,” in the Van Halen set to give the rest of the band a breather. Tempest enlists the participation of the audience on the chorus, they oblige and their voices are deafening. Also worth mentioning are “Rock the Night” and “Let the Good Times Rock” both drive the audience insane. Live from the Dark ends with a song that gets under my skin “The Final Countdown,” but it would be ridiculous of me not to expect the trademark song not to make the set. Complementing the live show, are; interview footage, tour diaries and music videos from the album Start from the Dark. I applaud Europe for putting together a quality DVD that’s sure to be embraced by casual and die-hard fans alike.
No comments:
Post a Comment