Judith, Author at RoxetteBlog

Roxette XXX Tour – Vienna, Austria (Stadthalle) – July 08 – #50

July 10, 2015July 9, 2015 by Judith

Wow! What a show! I don’t know where to start. The band, the audience?

The audience was already quite in the mood for partying with Eskobar and got impatient when Roxette didn’t start at 20:30 sharp. But finally the lights went off and Marie and Per and the mighty band took the stage. The audience went wild, and that is wow with Austrian audience, who are usually a bit calmer. But who can resist to Roxette?!

I surprised myself crying when they started to sing Sleeping in my car. Yes, even if I have seen Rox a few times it is just pure happiness. Concert after concert. And when I turned around to see what was that loud noise coming from the audience I saw many people crying of joy too and just big smiles and happy faces. I turned around a few times after that during some big sing-alongs and … it is always a great feeling to see so many people enjoying your favourite band like that. Imagine how it must feel from the stage!

The entrance wasn’t perfect, so many people who had been waiting for hours didn’t end up in the first row. And some groups of friends were split, so it was the first concert (I think?) that I enjoyed a show on my own… But hey. Landed somewhere to the very right in front of Magnus, a side I hadn’t seen so far. And music connects so just had fun with my front row neighbours from Slovakia and Italy. I later found out many people who had been waiting since very early in the morning ended up 2nd-3rd row… But the awesome concert and all the energy and fun made up for it.

It was very hot in the Stadthalle and with Roxette the place was cooking. I hadn’t seen them play since Paris and I was positively surprised by the evolution and I was left with my mouth open a few times. What are they doing now? They just rock! Marie was super cool and crazy, adding lots of yeahs here and there, improvising, looking at everybody and flirting just the way she knows. Chris delivered awesome guitar solos that not only amazed the audience but also the guys and girls on stage. Did I hear Pelle improvising on She’s got nothing on too? Per as always jumping and moving and kicking (how many bruises does Chris have already? 😉 ). And again making eye contact. We love that! I am always amazed by all the energy he has and his big smile, which is just spreading to the audience.

One of the funniest moments was the Joyride intro. Chris played the Wiener Walzer. Per and Magnus started to dance (!) (not together), Marie was just all laughs playing air violin (!) and the others just laughing. Hope somebody recorded that!

All in all an awesome concert with an incredible loud crowd that just made me think once again Roxette is just the coolest funniest happiest best band ever! Pure fun! Thank you!

Per after the show:

VIENNA UPDATE! My Gosh, where will this end? Such a fab show tonite with the most wonderful crowd sweating almost just as much as we did!!! We had the best Wednesday imaginable, hope you did too! We’re so lucky to have these fab crowds all over the world, singing our songs and participating in the shows. Nothing would have been possible wthout you guys & dolls!!! The XXX European tour is soon over and we just want you to know that we’re truly blessed to have you all around!! Cheers, P.

Articles and photos

oe24.at
news.at
vienna.at
wegotit.at
kurier.at
krone.at

Videos

How Do You Do!
Joyride (including band presentation and Wiener Walzer intro)
The Look

Setlist

Sleeping In My Car
The Big L.
Stars
Spending My Time
Crash! Boom! Bang!
Crush On You
She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
The Heart Shaped Sea
Watercolours In The Rain / Paint
Fading Like A Flower
How Do You Do!
It Must Have Been Love
Dressed For Success
Dangerous
Joyride (intro: Wiener Walzer)

Extra
Listen To Your Heart
The Look

Roxette records a new version of “The Look”

June 24, 2015June 23, 2015 by Judith

goo8pdmfyvov5tp2c2e4 According to a press release published today, KappAhl’s fashion campaign in autumn this year will be accompanied by an entirely new version of Roxette’s hit “The Look”. The song – recorded exclusively by Roxette for KappAhl – has also given its name to the campaign. The campaign is all about style and personality – The Look.

“To record a brand new version of ‘The Look’ felt tempting but was also a great challenge. It is particularly gratifying to have achieved a unique collaboration with KappAhl, a Swedish company that we both respect and love. Pop music and fashion go hand in hand. It’s about expression and emotions, to dare and to care,” says Per Gessle.

“The Look” consists of a total of five campaigns that will be introduced through autumn 2015. The campaigns have different sub-themes and go by the names “The Chic Denim Look”, “The Always Black Look”, “The Must-have Look”, “The Wellbeing Look “and” The Hot Look “. The first collection campaign, “The Chic Denim Look”, will hit the stores on August 24.

The campaign’s official hashtag is #thelookkappahl. You can see a sample of The Look – 2015 on KappAhl’s The Look website and on YouTube. On the website you can also participate to win tickets and a meet & greet with Per.

x4h3ea2zw3eduupi8njh With this a further Rox–mystery has been solved. You may remember that some days ago a picture of Roxette in the studio found its way to the net, Per also posted on FB that day that Roxette was in a “secret mission”… now we know what it was about! The waiting was worth it!

The song was recorded at the X-Level Studios – previously known as EMI studios, where the song was initially recorded.

It is still unclear if the single will be released physically/digitally at all, at least there is a cover for it on the press release site…

Update 24/6: According to Expressen, more material from the recording session and campaign will be available on July 14 and the song will be released on Spotify “soon” (don’t we love this word!). My guess is that it will be right on time for the Swedish shows starting mid July.

Roxette XXX Tour – Paris, France (Olympia) – May 26 – #33

May 31, 2015May 27, 2015 by Judith

rox olympia Roxette played in Paris last time in 1992. That is 23 years ago! That is definitely too many years, actually, if the records are right, Roxette only played twice in France/Paris, once in 1989 and the last time in 1992.

During the day I had been thinking about the show and what to expect. I was curious to see how the French audience would react for various reasons. Roxette having played here last time so many years ago, not really being present in the charts for a while. I had no clue how French audience is at concerts, would it be fun and sweaty like in Spain or more on the quiet side like in Sweden? And it was in a theatre, which meant seated. So lots of questions that were to be answered later that day.

Eskobar started at 8 pm and played the set that they’ve been playing during this tour. One could indeed feel that they have an audience in France, some people were singing along and a lot more were clapping. It was a great warm up, but somehow people still felt a bit quiet. Would it stay like that? Not really, that was about to change. As soon as the venue went dark and the Roxette-intro music started to sound, one could feel the excitement building up and when the first chords of “Sleeping in my Car” started to sound the audience went wild, people stood up immediately, some of those who were sitting in other rows even tried to get to the front, and people were singing very loud. The concert wasn’t going to be seated after all!

After just two songs, the whole place felt very hot, that was going to be a fun night! And everybody on stage was just crazy and happy. I don’t know what they expected from the sold out show. I was positively surprised by the response of the audience and I had the feeling Per and Marie and the band were too. The sound was awesome (even though Marie sounded very low, and it was not her fault neither the fact that people were singing very loud), that is the positive thing about small concert halls made to enjoy music. It reminded me in a way of the concert at the Beacon in NY, both the great sound and atmosphere.

IMG_0292-1 Marie, who was wearing white outfit and black jacket and tie, was laughing a lot, making eye contact with the known faces, and oh! her voice! It was awesome. I don’t know what she did during “Watercolours in the Rain”, but it was one of those moments when you realise (for the 1012912th time) why you just love this band so much. Goosebumps all the way! It’s hard to describe how she was singing, but it was so touching and jazzy and wow!

Magnus, Chris and Dea were also having lots of fun and Per jumping and running and bouncing as we know him and torturing his shoes (which, by the way, I realised are very flashy and cool, the sole is very elastic, maybe to make the bumping easy on his knees? I wonder how many pairs he needs every tour…!).

When Per told the story about Magnus’ favourite album, Magnus asked the audience which album they loved most. One could hear that “Joyride” and “Look Sharp!” got the most “votes”, matching the time Roxette was the most successful in France. Before “It Must Have Been Love”, Per asked Marie if she was ready and she said “I am always ready”, which made the audience and Per smile. Yeah! One could see during the whole show that she enjoyed the music a lot, especially Chris playing guitar, and connecting with Dea a lot. It is just an incredible feel-good feeling to see a band that is having so much fun on stage, playing, dancing, teasing eachother and interacting this way, not only with the audience but also among themselves.

Chris chose to play an Edith Piaf song as an intro to Joyride and he got a nice response from the audience. After all, Édith Piaf is one of France’s national divas! “Joyride” was incredible and pure fun, and “The Look” was a great ending of the show. You gotta love Chris going crazy with the guitar, it sounds just terrific! The whole band was in top shape and the audience didn’t stop jumping and singing during the whole night.

Per mentioned the fact that they hadn’t played in Paris since 1992 during the show and he asked how many had been at their last show at Le Zénith back then. A few raised their hands, and while Per was looking at the audience to see who had been there back in 92, he added a fun note when he saw some kids among the audience, saying that they weren’t even born back then. Such a long time! IMG_0315-1

Just like the concert in New York in 2012, this was a very special evening in a special place with lots of history. As Per mentioned in this post on FB, the Beatles played there back in 1964, and so did Édith Piaf and many others, a very legendary place. I think one of the best things were the big red glowing letters announcing Roxette “old style”. How cool is that?

PARIS UPDATE: Oui!!! What an evening! Thanx everyone for making this gig so special. What a great venue, lots of history. Can you believe The Beatles played here 18 days in a row (or something) back in 1964? And Chris played an Edith Piaf-song by heart tonight!!! So special for all of us. We had a blast in this beautiful city. See y’all next time. How about tomorrow in Amsterdam???? Love, P&Co.

All in all, it was a very positive surprise and experience. French fans showed they still love Roxette even though they haven’t been around for a while. And it was a great proud happy feeling to turn around and see so many people standing and having fun at a Roxette concert, in Paris! Let’s hope they don’t have to wait that long till the next show!

After the show, many fans stayed around to chat about the show. Many agreed that this had been a magnifique concert, maybe one of the best they had seen, and that it would be great to see more Roxette concerts in such venues and more relaxed settings. There is no need to queue for hours, which is not only great for our backs and feet but it means we are full of energy for the concert (we are not 20 anymore … ;)), and the atmosphere in such places is just awesome.

Videos

Articles and photos

Instagram: 1, 2, 3

laparisiennelife.com
concertmag.net
loeilduspectacle.fr

Setlist

Extra:
Listen To Your Heart
The Look

Cover of “Kärleken till livet” revealed

May 21, 2015 by Judith

karlekentill_inb_low — Cover of “Kärleken till livet”

Swedish publisher Piratförlaget revealed the cover of “Kärleken till livet”, Marie’s upcoming biography, on their website and autumn catalogue. You will also find a picture of the co-author Helena von Zweigbergk and Marie on the website.

A few more details about the formats have also been published. We knew that the book will be available on hardcover, e-book as well as audio book (CD-book, mp3 format and digital download). Now we can see that the hardcover will have 330 pages and the audio book version will be narrated by Helena von Zweigbergk.

According to Piratförlaget’s website, the book will be released on October 14, 2015. The books will probably cost around 200-230 SEK.

Roxette XXX Tour – Barcelona, Spain (St. Jordi Club) – May 14 – #28

May 16, 2015 by Judith

The day started very early for many fans that had catch planes, cars, busses, trains to get to Barcelona on time to queue up and try to get the best spots in the first row(s). The first ones were at St. Jordi Club at around 9 and started with the numbering system, that had worked in Madrid too (as well as many times before in other countries/tours). And it paid of, around lunch time the sun was the strongest and we had to find some shadows under the trees nearby. The waiting was very calm, it felt at times more like a picnic, under some trees having lunch and chatting with friends. At around five-ish more people started to join and every body went back to her/his places in the queue. The local security told us that since we had been organised all the time, they would let us in in groups of five to try to respect the numbering system. Nice! It only worked for the first … 10? since the ones that were let in later seemed to panic to get a precious place in the first row and started to run (where is Show Security Sweden when you need them!). In any case, it wasn’t pushy but rather hot inside (and it was about to get hotter!).

Eskobar showed up on stage right on time at half past eight and played their 30-minute set, which people seemed to enjoy a lot. Some fans shouted “Eskobar! Eskobar!” or the typical “ooeee oeee oeee” many times as well as Daniel’s name. I think it’s always nice when the support band is welcomed warmly by the audience, it makes the whole show a better experience.

And finally it was time for Roxette (on time this time). About 4.000 fans were waiting for the Roxing guys and girls and ready to give everything during the whole concert. As soon as “Sleeping In My Car” started to sound people went wild. I haven’t heard such a loud bunch for a long time! Sometimes the audience was so loud it was hard to hear the band sing. This went on during the whole concert, even non-singles like “The Heart Shaped Sea” or “Watercolours In The Rain/Paint” were welcomed by a lot of sing-along (check video below). This last one was very touching, with Marie singing as wonderful as always. The setlist was the same as in Madrid.

rox_bcn — (C) Mariana G. Magnus with the chicken hat in Barcelona.

And everybody on stage seemed to love the crazy audience, judging by the big smiles. Dea and Chris were teasing each other all the time, and Magnus even had the honour to wear one of the chicken hats that made a second appearance in Barcelona (read Madrid’s review for details). And Per somehow got lost presenting one of the songs, he started to say something about he hoped we knew that song “because………”? He laughed and everybody else laughed as well. And, of course, everybody on stage got his or her share of “Claaaarence” or “Maaaagnus” or “Marieeee” or “ooeees” (a few times we went on for so long and loud they had to wait to start speaking or the next song).

One of the highlights of the night was surely when Chris played the hymn of FC Barcelona as the Joyride intro. It only needed Chris to play the first chords for the people to go wild and start to sing. If you’ve grown up in Catalunya and are a Barça fan you just know this song by heart, and it was simply special. Thanks for that!

The whole show was a constant sing-along and one could simply feel the love in the air. Goose bumps! It is simply one of the best feelings I know, to enjoy the most important band in your life, the one that has always been there since you were a teen, and feel proud to hear so many people share and give that love and share this moment with friends you have known for more than 20 years. The venue may not have been as full as the last time Roxette played in Barcelona, compared to Palau St. Jordi, but the explosion of fun and good wives in the air was there the same or even stronger.

The party went on after the show was over outside the venue. While walking to the car or down the Montjuic hill one could hear people commenting how amazing the concert had been, singing Roxette songs, or even hear some concert-goers blasting Roxette songs from their cars in the traffic jam. The reaction? Happy horns by neighbouring cars, clapping and singing by those who were going down by foot. Party! I heard some even went to a karaoke to sing some more Roxette songs…

Two TV channels (Catalan TV3 and Spanish TVE) were at the place and interviewed some fans before the show, recorded a few moments of the concert and broadcast a short report about the show as well. Check the links below to watch them.

Next gig is on Sunday (17th May) in Bucharest, Romania.

Articles and photos

Photos by Xavier Mercade.

Videos

News on Catalan TV3
News on Spanish national TVE
“Stars” recorded by Catalan TV3
Youtube:
Watercolours In The Rain
Listen To Your Heart
Joyride
Fading Like a Flower
The Big L.
Spending My Time
It Must Have Been Love
How Do You Do!
The Heart Shaped Sea (check the videos by this user, there are quite many of them, including Crush On You)

Setlist

Extra:
Listen To Your Heart
The Look