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Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
@Maxximum23Clark
3:12 PM 10th April 2014
arts

Review - Europe And Foreigner At Sheffield City Hall

 
Europe
Europe
Tonight's show was all about classic rock and took you back to an era when melodic rock was a chart regular, in fact Europe had a #1 hit single with The Final Countdown.

The hair might be shorter these days but the intent is still there with Europe's lead singer, Joey Tempest. He still looks good and in shape. You get the impression though that they feel like they are playing second fiddle to tonight's headliner, Foreigner. That need not be as they have some classic tracks to perform.

Opening with a track off their last album, Rags to Riches, the track shows that the band is not resting on their laurels. After that it is a greatest hits set, during Rock The Night, Tempest slips in a few lines from Hysteria a track from Sheffield's own Def Leppard as if paying homage to one of the finest rock acts to come out of the city.

Of course it's "that track" that ends their set. They have probably played The Final Countdown thousands of times but they still perform it with enthusiasm and energy.

Kelly Hansen, lead singer of Foreigner
Kelly Hansen, lead singer of Foreigner
Foreigner was given the hard task of keeping the momentum going that Europe had created. Again, they have such a good back catalogue of songs that it was going to be an easy task for them. There are hardly any of the original members in the band these days but in lead singer Kelly Hansen the band have found a singer who sounds like a cross between Ronnie James Dio and Paul Rodgers.

Double Vision opens up their set and all the hits follow, during Cold as Ice Hansen decides to go walkabout in the stalls much to the fans delight. They applaud even further when the driving force and main songwriter in the band, Mick Jones joins the band on stage for Feels Like The First Time. He stays on stage for the rest of the night.

Mick Jones, songwriter and original member of Foreigner
Mick Jones, songwriter and original member of Foreigner
The band is tight and make it look so easy. It has been far too long since they played in the UK but tonight we forgave them for that as Juke Box Hero, Hot Blooded and I Want to Know What Love Is made Sheffield City Hall not a bad place to be. They even had the choir from Sheffield High School join them on stage for the latter track.

With no young bands coming through who make melodic rock music as good as this, it was a night for the masters of the genre to show how things should be done. Classic rock and a classic gig.