SHRIEK ATTACK!
Expectations ran high: this was to be Europe's first performance ever in Los Angeles. Despite having no past record of U.S. concert dates to acquire a live reputation, tickets for this show were sold out. L.A.’s Wiltern Theater, just south of Hollywood, was built by Warner Brothers Pictures in 1931 to show their film premieres of the day.
SHRIEK ATTACK!
THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS
EUROPE Wilfern Theater Los Angeles, CA
April 24, 1987
by Phyllis Pollack
Expectations ran high: this was to be Europe's first performance ever in Los Angeles. Despite having no past record of U.S. concert dates to acquire a live reputation, tickets for this show were sold out.
L.A.’s Wiltern Theater, just south of Hollywood, was built by Warner Brothers Pictures in 1931 to show their film premieres of the day. And though the glory of that Hollywood is long gone, this night saw a capacity crowd turn out to witness a premiere performance in rock 'n' roll.
Europe had started their first U.S. concert tour the week before this show. Hailing from Yngwie-land (otherwise known to heavy metallers as Sweden, birthplace of Yngwie Malmsteen), the band has received much critical acclaim from European concert audiences. Their single, “The Final Countdown,” has been in the Top 20 both here and in Europe. And it showed, as fans milled around outside the theater hoping to somehow be able to buy a ticket. Finally, the show began and the audience enthusiastically rose to its feet.