EUROPE drummer Ian Haugland has issued the following statement regarding the cancellation of their appearance at the Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England this past weekend:

"What a bummer at Download. We were forced to cancel the show due to the fucked up weather. We had a bad start already in the morning when the flight was two hours delayed from Arlanda (in Stockholm, Sweden) due to hurricane winds at Heathrow.

When we got to Heathrow, we had a tour bus that picked us up to drive us to the festival. But because of the delayed flight, we manged to catch Friday traffic from London. I've never been in a worse traffic jam ever! The traffic jams I've been in in Tokyo (that are relly bad) felt like open highway. The trip that was plannd to take two hours took close to four hours!

When we finally approached the festival site, our crew, in a last desperate act to try and make the show, left the bus and started running across the muddy fields towards the festival area. They made it there and started putting up our stuff, but since we were still trapped in the traffic, it was too late!

It felt really shitty when we got there... so close but so far away.

We feel really bad for all the fans that came to se us, but what can you do when the weather gods are in a shitty mood!? We managed to some interviews, though, and the festival promotors didn't blame us, so hopefully we can come back another year.

Once again... sorry to all you guys the went through mud and rain to see us at Download! Bummer."

Europe's tour schedule is now as follows:

June

16 - Ost Fest - Bucharest, Romania
24 - Graspop Festival - Dessel, Belgium
30 - Kirunafestivalen - Kiruna, Sweden

July

12 - Wrightegaarden - Langesund, Norway
21 - Osla Live - Porvoo, Finland
27 - Rock Of Ages - Seebronn, Germany

August

4 - Furuvik - Gavle, Sweden

November

21 - Birmingham, UK - O2 Academy
22 - Glasgow, UK - O2 Academy
23 - Manchester, UK - HMV Ritz
25 - Newcastle, UK - O2 Academy
26 - Leeds, UK - O2 Academy
27 - Nottingham, UK - Rock City
29 - Bristol, UK - O2 Academy
30 - Cardiff, UK - Coal Exchange

December

1 - London, UK - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

Europe released their ninth studio album, entitled Bag Of Bones on April 27th in Europe. It was produced by Kevin Shirley (IRON MAIDEN, BLACK STONE CHERRY, JOURNEY). Released on CD and vinyl formats, the album features a more straightforward rock approach.

Bag Of Bones tracklisting:

'Riches To Rags'

'Not Supposed To Sing The Blues'

'Firebox'

'Bag Of Bones'

'Requiem'

'My Woman My Friend'

'Demon Head'

'Drink And A Smile'

'Doghouse'

'Mercy You Mercy Me'

'Bring It All Home'

“Why drive a VW beetle when you can drive a Rolls Royce?” asks Europe’s guitarist John Norum. “Bag of Bones is a classic rock album with lots of class. Even my mom likes it!”

Frontman Joey Tempest commented: "Kevin Shirley did such a great job capturing the spirit of this band. He just let us do our thing and then pushed us and our songs to the max. Finally we express ourselves completely without restraint. Straight from heart and soul. It took some time but we have arrived!"

The single, ‘Not Supposed To Sing The Blues’, was released digitally on March 9th. Check out the song below: