HERE in the Argus office more than one colleague chuckled at the thought of yours truly singing along with a crowd of rock fans to that Europe classic, The Final Countdown. Well, sing along I did – but not only to that all-too-familiar track.

Europe, now in their 33rd year, have come an awfully long way from their roots in Stockholm. While they will always be slightly unfairly labelled as a one-track band, they showed in Cardiff why they don’t deserve the tag.

So confident were Europe of their new and gutsy bluesey-rock Bag of Bones album, they opened the set with three tracks from it, Riches to Rags, Not Supposed to Sing the Blues and Firebox. Lead singer Joey Tempest was in sparkling form, and he had the whole crowd singing along to Carrie and a powerful Rock the Night – which included lines from Tom Jones’ Delilah and Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust.

In the middle was a light-hearted acoustic set (including Drink and a Smile and Open Your Heart). Tempest told all of his delight to be back in Wales, but couldn’t remember where he last played the nation... cue many cheers of ‘Neeewwpoooort!’ The night finished with Last Look at Eden and yes, you know the other one. To sum up, a cracking show from an energetic band that likes to have fun.