Marie’s tour: Umeå, April 19th #19

This fabulous tour came to an end yesteday April 19th in Umeå after two months of travelling and enjoying to the maximum.

Yesterday everything felt like more intense. Marie interacted with the fans more than ever and gave everything for the audience. The band played as if there was no tomorrow and we gave all our best to jump, dance, sing, clap and have fun. It was a very special ending to a very special tour.

The setlist remained the same, so the show started with a Så stilla så långsamt that felt slower and more beautiful than ever… and the fun then started with Kom villa hos mig. The few fans attending the show were spread here and there but we all stood up to the start of the song as if it had become already a nice interaction routine. The band loved that and rocked exceptionally. I couldn’t help crying to that, as this would be the last time we would do that.
Marie welcomed everybody and explained that it was the last concert of the tour and it was special to finish it in the North since they have been there very few times.
One could hear and feel in her voice that it would be an emotional last show.
The three acoustic songs were very beautiful, specially Så skimrande (yes, I just love this one, a very special song for me) brought me to tears again. B E A U T Y.
The audience started to melt a bit more into the show and joined the standing up fans with Efter stormen, which was a major big awesome pop party.
Chris and Jokke had much fun playing the guitars for Den sjunde vågen and went totally bananas together with Pelle at the end. Surjo had a great time during the whole show and moved here and there many times.
Everybody was standing when Marie came back to the stage to rock the house. Jokke and Chris killed us all with the smashing guitars!
And then suddenly the moment everybody had been somehow trying to avoid or speak about arrived. The first notes of Tro started to sound, all fans in the various rows held eachother and sang along. Marie had mentioned before the song started that the tour was now coming to an end and thanked the band and the crew for a fantastic tour and then the audience and fans who came to her concerts. She looked very touched and emotional. Astrid had organised flowers to give to Marie so we all got one or two and held them during the song and gave them to her afterwards. Micke and Chris took many of the flowers and gave them to Marie but Marie came to the edge of the stage to get the flowers of 3 of us as well. It felt like nobody wanted to leave!

After the concert we could say bye to Marie and the band at the hotel. Some people just were there to get something signed or take a picture but some of us just wanted to say thanks for the wonderful tour.
This time most of us stood in a line and first said hi to Pelle, Surjo, Chris and Jokke and then Marie and Micke walked by and thanked all of us (and we thanked them).
A perfect closing to a perfect last concert and tour!

Thank you!

PS: And today we had the chance to interview Pelle so stay tuned! Three interviews are on the way.

Articles

VK – Interview
VK – Review

 

Marie’s tour: Luleå, 18th April #18

First things first: no changes in the setlist.

When we arrived in Luleå at noon it seemed that nobody lived in this town. The more surprised I was when we got to know that the Kulturhuset was actually sold out! How cool! No seats available. On the other hand – do you need a full arena when only us international fans are clapping or standing up to cheer Marie? That was at least my first thought when we stood up during Kom Vila Hos Mig. Nobody joined in and I was a bit afraid that someone from the back would throw eggs or tomatoes to make us sit again. It didn’t happen, of course, because the Luleå people know how to behave, but still – to stand during KVHM felt strange this time. Also because we were all smiling and the band was all smiles, too. It felt like we had made this secret agreement that we stand during KVHM and nothing and nobody will stop us from doing so. So we exchanged some smiles with the band members and took our seats during Bara För En Dag again.

At the beginning Marie started as always with Så Stilla Så Långsamt – this time it seemed she was a bit nervous or didn’t trust her voice enough. I thought that she might have a cold, but I don’t know if that’s it. I – however – have heard better versions on this tour, though. I must say that Luleå was my sixth show and the last I had attended was Göteborg, so I really missed a lot in the meantime.

Bara För En Dag was – as in all six shows I have seen – one of the best songs in the set. I love how Marie delivers the lyrics here, she feels so safe about this song that you can’t help but smile. This song grew a lot to me during this tour and I am happy that I gave it a second chance.

Nothing important happened during the next songs. Marie did a great job, the band was great, too, and maybe the only annoying thing was a really loud amp next to Micke’s piano during Ett Hus Vid Havet and the other ballads. All in all the Kulturens Hus didn’t offer the best acoustics, unfortunately.

As it happened many times before the audience cheered a lot when Sparvöga and Ännu doftar kärlek started. Those are THE songs for many Swedes while we wait for Ett Bord I Solen, Ett Hus Vid Havet or Mellan Sommar Och Höst. I still haven’t get used to the fact that you can hardly impress them with anything but they go crazy when they hear ÄDK. However, my impression also was that the band has slowed down the song. It sounded much slower than I remember it from my last show in Göteborg. The same goes for Om Du Såg Mig Nu. It has its own magic when it’s slower, no doubt about that – but it lost a a bit of its dynamic, too, especially ÄDK, but maybe nobody else cares and I am fine with it.

As many times before on this tour we tried to make people stand up again during Så Länge Det Lyser Mittemot which didn’t work. Good for us that Efter Stormen followed and EVERYONE in the room got on their feet – YAY! By the way: US, that’s around 15 international fans who made it to Norrbotten.

Thanks to Nina everyone stood again during Tro – what a finale! And I can’t really believe that this tour is supposed to be over in about 19 hours!

Marie is still full of energy and probably could go on forever, while we need some time to save up some money and and to work for more holidays! 😉

Judith’s review:

As I am trying to write down a summary about tonight’s show a lot of thoughts go through my head and I don’t know where to start.
One may think people here up north are colder and that as audience it may have been boring. I must say… not at all! It was a pleasant surprise to see and hear people clap from song two on. Still a bit shy to stand up that early but some did. And more and more towards the end. Efter Stormen was a biiiig party! Marie was welcomed by a standing audience after the short break … during which many people shouted ‘en gång till’ (which I didn’t hear at many shows before).

The front row was again full of fans from Uruguay, Spain, Austria and Germany, to mention a few. As Micke told us after the show, they were surprises to see us here… that far up north. What to say, of course! and it was worth it because the concert rocked big time and we had loooots of fun!!

Today I realised with more intensity – maybe because I am extra enjoying these last shows… always keeping in the back of my head that it’s over soon – with how much passion and respect the band play and perform Marie’s songs, every note, every chord that is played. And that the band is enjoying it the same way we do.

Marie left the audience mouth wide open once again with her performance. I found Så skimrande amazingly beautiful. And Ett bord i solen. And … I could go on. It’s hard to pick! Sometimes you sit there and you cannot believe it can be so beautiful and touching. Out of this world! It was great to see her all smiles when she realised the first row is full of familiar faces and interacted with the audience a lot.

As I mentioned before, Marie and Micke talked with the fans and afterwards we talked to a very happy band as well.

See you tomorrow! We will give our best and we will surely have a blast!

Setlist (no changes)

1. Så stilla så långsamt [1992 – DSR]
2. Kom vila hos mig [2013 – Nu!]
3. Bara för en dag [1987 – ES]
4. Det regnar igen [1992 – DSR]
5. Sista sommarens vals [2013 – Nu!]
6. Ber bara en gång [1996 – IETSV]
7. Sparvöga [1989 off the Swedish drama TV series]
8. Ett hus vid havet [1985 – DSV]
9. Ett bord i solen [2007 – TFT]
10. Så skimrande var aldrig havet [1990 off Taube compilation album]
11. Ännu doftar kärlek [1984 – HV]
12. Så länge det lyser mittemot [1992 – DSR]
13. Om du såg mig nu [1987 – ES]
14. Efter stormen [1987 – ES]
15. Den sjunde vågen [1985 – DSV]

16. Mellan sommar och höst [1992 – DSR]
17. Den bästa dagen [1985 – DSV]
18. Tro [1996 – IETSV]

Articles

NSD

Decibell

Marie’s tour: Uppsala audio bootleg

After Norrköping audio and Göteborg and Halmstad video bootlegs, another audio bootleg showed up from Uppsala (19th March 2014). The sound is low, so turn up the volume to hear it better. Thanks a lot for sharing it, Bianca Martins Cappelletti from Roxette Brasil! In audio bootlegs I always enjoy the talking between the songs the most. Click here for the bootleg.

2 shows left from the tour, Friday in Luleå and Saturday in Umeå. Enjoy the concerts you all who are joining!

MF_Stockholm_20140408

Another surprise for Record Store Day

As Per posted about it on Roxette Official some weeks ago, a surprise was coming for Record Store Day. When it was announced some days ago that a limited edition ”The Look” vinyl will be released on Record Store Day in Sweden, we thought that it’s a great surprise for us Roxers. But now it turns out that besides the beautiful, limited edition, 25th anniversary ”The Look” red vinyl (1000 copies) there is another surprise for this year’s RSD. We are spoiled and we love it! Per Gessle also releases a limited edition 7” vinyl called “The Per Gessle Archives”. So limited that only 500 copies will be available!

Finnish Record Shop X states that the limited edition PG vinyl is in their stores from 19th April (Record Store Day everywhere except Sweden…, where it is 26th April), but on CDON you can see it’s available from 26th April. Ginza states no date, Bengans hasn’t listed it yet.

KIMB_LC_Per_GessleThe vinyl is featuring 2 songs from a forthcoming box set:

Side A – Kvar i min bil
Per wrote this song for Tomas Alfredson’s film, “Låt den rätte komma in”(= “Let the Right One In”). It has never been released, but is loved by all Mr. G fans. Listen to the song here.

Side B – Loud Clothes
For a Roxette album Per writes about 25 songs and then selects those that fit. “Loud Clothes” was written for “Have A Nice Day” in 1998. An interesting thing is that in May 2010 a fan asked Per on Facebook what’s up with some of the never released songs listed under his name in the BMI repertoire and “Loud Clothes” was among them. Per replied LC is a pretty decent one. “I/We might use them some day.” Now he is using it. Yay!

So, who knows what else shows up on the box set! According to Ginza, the title of the box set is “The Per Gessle Archives” and will be released on 24th September 2014, but both pieces of information haven’t been confirmed yet. It’s not yet known whether it’s going to be a vinyl box set or it will be available in CD version, too. Fingers crossed for all fans who want to get hold of these limited edition goodies.

 Update by Judith: as one can see on the Finnish website, the single will be released by Cosmos Music Group, you may remember Per became co-owner and board member of the company about a year ago.