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.
Yesterday Marie and the band rocked Västerås big time!
The first row was again mostly full of fans, but there were some also in the other rows, which probably helped to keep the mood happy and loud throughout the whole concert. Of course, the band was awesome and Marie was in a very good mood, so all this were the perfect ingredients that made the Swedes want to join the party. And they did already on song #2. After a few shows where we had to wait until towards the end to see some action, I was pretty surprised and felt so happy for the girl and boys on stage. They seemed to be happy with the response as well because they were all smiles, proud smiles.
Of course, Efter stormen was the song where really everybody (not only the fans) stood up and clapped and sang along, but you could see that in many other songs as well. Even the people at the balcony were standing and having fun, and Marie saw that and waved to them with a big smile. At some places we have seen skeptic or a bit angry faces when we stood up to some songs, but yesterday the audience seemed to like that. Like the 70-something ladies in the first row who had a blast; or the 4-6 Swedes that were sitting in row 2 who first looked shocked when we stood up but at the end thanked us in the first row for spreading the fun; or the two mid 50 ladies in the first row who were faster standing up than some of us!
The craziest rockiest song was Mellan sommar och höst. The audience was already standing up when Marie walked out to the stage again and everybody went wild with the amazing guitars and Marie’s rocky voice.
This concert was also the last one for many fans and Marie and band knew it, so they gave special attention to the ones on first row. Specially during Tro when everybody hugged and moved to the rythm of the song and many of us were all tears she gave those looks of hers to many of us. At the end, she also made sad faces to some of the fans she knew were saying goodbye to the tour yesterday night. It was not possible to hold back the tears, it is actually also not possible as I am writing this now. It has been so special… the love tour 🙂
Some fans had prepared flowers and a card for Marie to thank her for the great tour. Many fans had signed it and Anne gave it to Chris at the end of the show. The fans who waited for Marie after the concert explained that Micke had thanked them for coming to the concerts and said that fans turned the tour to something completely different and special and he added that the reviews were all very good because of that.
By the way, Clarence was in the audience yesterday night.
So now it’s just 2 concerts left: Luleå and Umeå. Those who are going to the last shows will surely give our best and party until the end!
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]
Marie played the 16th concert of this tour in Gävle tonight. I started to realise during the concert that it’s only 3 concerts left after this one, so I kept telling myself ‘only three times left to enjoy this song’ or this moment… this is going to be a hard after-tour blues!!
The concert was… you guessed it! Amazing!
The front row was fully taken by fans. I could change our 5th/6th rows we had gotten via Ticnet for 1st row tickets a few hours before the concert thanks to very nice staff at the concert hall. Sometimes one just has to ask! It turned out some other fans had asked as well to switch seats because we were all sitting there (it would have looked quite weird if nobody would have sat there, weird ticketing system…).
So it was the first row mainly who stood up as always. This time, though, I didn’t have the feeling that the audience wasn’t into it but the other way around. They reacted to what Marie said and joked about and also when they heard the first tunes of songs like Sparvöga, Ännu doftar kärlek or Tro.
And they did partly stand up at Efter stormen and rocked along at Mellan sommar och höst. The version of this song played tonight was probably one of the rockiest of the whole tour!!
Amazing guitars tonight, by the way. I think even Marie thought Chris and Jokke were superb tonight judging by her reaction and face.
Micke changed the intro of Tro a little bit and it’s simply beautiful.
And Marie left us all with our mouth open with Så skimrande… wow!! I am always amazed by her powerful voice!
One if the anecdotes tonight: Pelle had started to play the drums for Om du såg mig nu when somebody (Chris, Micke?) shouted for him to hold on. Marie was to speak! She introduced the song as the one which is dedicates to her dad.
She sang this song with a lot of feeling. She always does of course, but I felt tonight was extra deep and special.
Some fans had paper hearts that they held up during Tro. Marie also got flowers from some fans.
Tomorrow: Västerås!
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 GD.se Arbetarbladet.se (Note to the reporter: just so that you know, Rox fans are very well aware that this is a Marie SOLO tour and don’t expect to hear any Roxette during the concerts. We are there to see Marie live with her Swedish master pieces)
Warner Music Sweden revealed in a press release sent out yesterday night one of the surprises Per was talking about on FB that would happen on Record Store Day.
‘The Look’ will be released again on a special limited edition 7″ vinyl on April 26th. The vinyl will be red and few copies of the single will be available (number not known yet). I have amassed several vinyl records over years and now I’m looking for a trusted company to buy my record collection.
The reason for this special release? ‘The Look’ reached number 1 in USA on April 8th, 1989. That is, 25 years ago!
Per and Marie celebrated this occasion yesterday night after Marie’s show in Stockholm and even got a cake for that.
But stay tuned, one more surprise seems to be on the way in this day.
Judith’s review
Today it was finally the day for concert that many were waiting for, expecting it to be a blast! And what to say, the concert was more than super! Marie was welcomed by a very very loud crowd and she had to wait a bit to start singing the first song. After that she was all smiles! The shouting and the smiles remained the whole concert.
After an amazing concert in Linköping I didn’t think this could be topped, but wow! The band did an amazing job, I’ve never seen Surjo move around so much before, Chris, watch out! 😉
Jokke was all smiles all the time, as were all of us in the audience. Jokke also delivered an incredible solo in Den sjunde vågen, which also felt longer than usual. It was simply great to see the band and Marie have so much fun with us, or the other way around.
The most touching song was probably the last one, Tro. It was the last concert for many fans and I could see many of us hugging and singing along. It felt as if the song had suddenly become a hymn for love and friendship. Not to forget to mention that fans had arranged to bring roses to give to Marie at the end. Everybody had one rose, at the end of Tro all of them were brought to the front and put on the stage. Micke collected them all and took them backstage for Marie.
There were also some familiar faces in the audience. Lasse Lindbom, Anders Herrlin, Mats MP Persson, Jonas Åkerlund and, last but not least, Per and Åsa, just to mention a few. Per posted on Facebook that they celebrated the 25th anniversary of The Look reaching #1 in USA at the after-show party.
Patrícia’s review
Åsa & Per at Cirkus – sorry for the bad quality pic… Check out Roxette Rosario’s pic, too 😉
As you could already read here and there, Marie’s gig in Stockholm was marvellous with many famous people in the crowd. Oh yes, with Per among them! Woohoo! We’ve been expecting him to appear at this concert, but we couldn’t be sure he would really come until we saw Åsa, Per and Jonas Åkerlund arriving together 1-2 minutes before 19:30. They found their places in the 10th row, on the left side, close to the exit. After many Roxers realized Per was there, we started clapping and he and Åsa waved to us smiling. After some minutes we repeated it. It was awesome to see him in the crowd, sitting among us. Besides them, there were many other familiar faces and now I’m not talking only about the hardcore fans. Mats MP Persson (who was sitting in front of Per), Anders Herrlin, Clarence Öfwerman, Dea Norberg (she even posted a pic on her Instagram), Marie Dimberg, Lasse Lindbom were there in the audience, just to name some of them, but there were many other famous Swedish people in the crowd. Also Oscar, Marie’s son was there, sitting in the 6th row, together with his grandma, Micke’s mum.
One could have thought that this crowd would make Marie and the band nervous, but no! They were in TOP shape and rocked Cirkus! The sound was perfect and Marie’s voice simply blown us away. She was smiling a lot and the audience was clapping so much that some songs had to wait to be started. I think there was no concert where they could start Så stilla så långsamt so late, waiting for the audience to be silent. Marie enjoyed it so much, you could see it on her face. She was shining!
I must admit that the audience was very good at clapping, they could even follow the rhythm Surjo and Micke showed by clapping themselves, but if you ask about how many of them stood up… Hm. We, the international fans (Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czecz Republic, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, The Netherlands, USA etc.) were sitting at different places in the crowd, owing to the not so funny mechanism the tickets went on sale in October. Some got tickets in rows in the middle, some in the front, some in the back, others on the balcony. We thought it was a great chance to animate the Swedish part of the crowd even more, since we could do a little of this ”job” in every corner of Cirkus.
We stood up already at Kom vila hos mig and we expected the Cirkus crowd being at least as cool as Göteborg audience was and following us, but not really. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people in the middle and on the left of the first 4-5 rows who were not willing to stand up, so people in the back could have thought it was still better to be sitting. We thought, OK, maybe at the next fast song they would realize how they should act when seeing how Marie loves this reaction and they see the security guys didn’t make us sitting.
Oh yes, talking about security guys – who were not present at any other shows so far – Atli, from Show Security Sweden was there too. You surely remember him and his team from the Gyllene Tider tour. I greeted him after the concert and he said the show was great, he liked it a lot.
Back to the concert: Så länge det lyser mittemot made us stand up and dance again. Then there were some more in the crowd who followed us, but the left side was still sitting, only clapping. Efter stormen was our next party song. It rocked big time again! There were Swedes sitting in front of me and it was such a good feeling to see them deciding: ”OK, maybe now we could really stand up” and they did so. C’mon, people! There is nothing wrong with it… Live it!
Den sjunde vågen was fabulous this time again and I always have a big smile on my face when I see Marie’s reaction to the fact she has to go off stage. It’s different every time, but always so lovely. After she left the stage, the guys went crazy. Christoffer even throw away his hat. Hat was grabbed up by Jokke when they also left the stage. I have to mention that I think Jokke was the best on this concert from the 5 I’ve seen. He’s a great guitarist! We couldn’t stop clapping and being loud to have Marie back on stage and some minutes later she appeared again for the extra songs. We didn’t sit down and Mellan sommar och höst was again the song that made even more people stand up. Even Per stood up towards the end of it. Hats off, Mr. G! We’re very proud of you! 😉 Then came Den bästa dagen and many of us had the feeling it was really the best day of our lives. Such a fantastic concert it was! And it hadn’t ended yet. During Tro we stood up again and there were roses in our hands. We’ve been holding them up and waving them during the whole song. Thank you very much for the great idea, Christina Tholander and Nina Wolfframm and also thanx a lot to Heartland Anne, who organized roses for many fans and even a heart-shaped bunch of red roses for Marie. When the song ended, we’ve been forwarding the roses to the front and Micke was collecting them, while Marie got one bunch of red roses from a fan, handed over by Micke N-S and Chris collected the heart-shaped bunch. It looked fab and Marie was so happy to get the flowers. Awesomeness! (You can see it here, in the video I embedded and on these 3 Instagram pics: 1, 2, 3.) Per was leaving his seat before Tro ended, but Åsa stayed until the end of the song.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TaE7m1E1Vc
After the concert, there was a celebration of the 25th anniversary of The Look’s becoming No. 1. on the Billboard. The celebration took place in a separated area of the restaurant at Cirkus. Everyone looked very happy and enjoyed their time there. Per’s comment on tonight’s show:
TUESDAY EVENING UPDATE: Had a blast at Marie’s gig at Cirkus in Stockholm. Wonderful concert and Miss Effe + band in top shape. Great to see so many Roxers making a lotta noise. Afterwards some press + celebration with old friends. As you probably know by now….The Look No 1 in the US goes 25! Thanx Warner/EMI for being great hosts! Cheers, P.
We’re glad you enjoyed it! We had a blast, too! Unfortunately, this was my last concert on this tour. I’m very sad about it, but I’m grateful that I could be a part of it and enjoy every second of 5 absolutely fabulous and exceptional concerts. Tack så väldigt mycket Marie & the band! By the way, can you believe that only 4 shows left from this magical tour? Impossible. We need a next tour soon!
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]
One could have thought that this crowd would make Marie and the band nervous, but no! They were in TOP shape and rocked Cirkus! The sound was perfect and Marie’s voice simply blown us away. She was smiling a lot and the audience was clapping so much that some songs had to wait to be started. I think there was no concert where they could start Så stilla så långsamt so late, waiting for the audience to be silent. Marie enjoyed it so much, you could see it on her face. She was shining!