Media

Gessle’s concert on the Swedish radio P4 [on November 14]

by

I know it’s difficult to think about our idols’ solo careers at the moment when so many things are happening in the rox-world, but I have to remind you that tonight on P4 Live Per Gessle’s Cirkus concert from May 2009 will be broadcasted as well as the new (hopefully) interview with the Man.

According to P4 website, the radio station has recorded both concerts on May 9th and 10th.

LISTEN

Don’t know what is happening, but P4 does not broadcast the concert.

Edit 1: 11-minutes interview with Per Gessle on P4.

Edit 2: From Gessle.com: Something has gone wrong, P4 is not airing Per’s concert, but a Ted Gärdestad tribute.

Edit 3: The concert will be broadcasted on November 14. P4 apologized for this problem.

NOTP tour: Antwerp, October 23, concert #1

by

We need your help. Each and every concert will have a such topic. If you find something connected with this particular gig, post it in the comment section. Thanks for your help and cooperation!

Photos: (c) Kirsten Ohlwein.

Follow this link to find many photos from Showbizzsite.be taken by (c) Edwin Houdevelt

http://twitpic.com/mmdq8 (Before the opening)

http://proms.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/show-roxette-2.jpg?w=420&h=248

http://www.kempenactueel.be/component/phocagallery/category/104-proms

Jakke16.be

Flickr.com

TheTopOfMusic.be

Picasaweb by Ashton Reports

Per Gessle’s comments:

Cheers from Antwerp. Great gig tonite, wonderful crowd, we felt very welcome. Marie’s very happy despite bad throat (penicillin). I loved it

Chris still sick. He was a brave man, beautiful playing as always. My guitar was out of tune during The Look but.. hey… can’t win ’em all! 7 hours ago

Official videos:

The look (live)

Thank you

Fans stories:

FIND YOURSELF ON THOSE PICTURES

KIRSTEN

You can follow her twitter reports from the concert here. Some excerpts:
Kirsten standing in the queue with some Brazillian and German friends: http://twitpic.com/mli1v
“WICF Marie in blue, wow. Problems with the text it seems. Great. OMFG. This voice.”
“She sang ‘halfway through the night’ three times in a row. But honestly: who cares? Per is rocking in a suit.”
“OMFG! The audience rocks with Rox. Fabulous. Get your tickets ppl. LTYH was more than a blast!”
“Pics and recording later tonight. At around 2.30 I think. Haha. Tried with the cell, didn’t work.”
“Chris got stomach flu. MF was nervous but she did great after WICF. LTYH was a blast!! And Per came out later.”

SIFO-DYAS (Source)

Tonight I saw the first of many “Night of the Proms”-concerts in which classic music and modern music is played in a random order. Tonight I saw John Miles with his fabulous song “Music” amongst a few others, Toots Thielemans: probably the most famous Belgian artist ever who worked with famous people such as Sting and Steven Spielberg and who became one of the best harmonica-players ever, OMD (some mediocre British band who only have one good song, I believe, which is Anola Gay), the female lead singer of the Dutch Gothic band called Within Temptation and one of the best of the evening was a Hungarian duo of identical twin brothers who’s name was the Katona twins. They were absolutely fantastic with playing their guitars.

But for me personally, the cherish on the cake was ….. the return of ROXETTE!! Ever since their lead female singer Marie Fredriksson became the unfortunate victim of a sudden case of cancer, it was to be believed that the band Roxette was gone forever. More disturbingly so was that Marie might not even be the same person anymore … IF recovery was an option at all …

To see Marie Fredriksson perform live again was so hauntingly beautiful that I immediately started crying with their first song (which incidently is the beautiful, violin-driven “Wish I could fly”). I have never cried like that for a person who’s basically a stranger (read: non related) and the last time that I did cry like that was when I lost both my grand-fathers.

Did anyone of you ever experience a moment where you start to cry for someone whom you’ve never really known, but because of your undying respect for this person, their sad moments make you all sappy …

I’m not ashamed to admit that Marie Fredriksson is truly my number one Female Artist éver! She’s awesome and touching with beautiful ballads and extremely cool in singing poprock-songs.
Per (the male lead) on the other hand writes most of the songs and the guy is God in writing catchy poprock-tunes, as far as the live aspect goes for Roxette, it’s definitely Marie who does that! LOL!

Thanks for reading all the way through and leaving me with your opinion; in case you’re interested.

YouTube Clips:

NOTP official report

Entrance on the stage
Wish I could fly by Kiwein1
The Look
Joyride
It must have been love
Listen to your heart by Kempelactueel

Taken by Kirsten:
The Look | Joyride | Listen to your heart

Media reports/reviews:

NieuwsBlad.be (or:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ6BBWlw4pI

The review of the very first concert was published on Aftonbladet. Translation was published on TDR.

Kempenactueel.be (photo + LTYH)

Skynet.be (“Listen to your heart” & “Joyride” excerpts)

DeRedactie.be

Den Brabo

Thanks Project_Z and RoxAna for the links!

NOTP Countdown: Interview and impressions

by

After the full rehearsals yesterday, NOTP producer Jan Vereecke looks very impressed by Marie’s big metamorphosis on stage. He writes on his blog:

I think I’m perhaps most impressed by the rapid metamorphosis of Marie from Roxette: at the first rehearsal a little withheld, but now very strong, certainly the vocals – that bodes well for tomorrow.

I also believe we have no idea of what an emotion the Swedish guests will express when Per and Marie stand on stage. No doubt welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd… There will be many wiping tears away tomorrow …

(half-automatic translation by Google and me 😉 )

Then there’s an interview with Per and Marie in Belgian paper “Nieuwsblad”. We’re hoping for a proper translation or summary of that. Just a teaser: Album. Recordings in hotelroom. Please leave your comment! 😀

Also an interview on Belgian radio JoeFM this morning.

Thanks Project_Z for the news tips! Sources: Jan’s blog | nieuwsblad.be (both in Dutch)

Edit: R2R user spyboo provides us a short summary of some interesting parts.

Roxette have a full recording studio in their hotelroom, so they can jam and work on a new album. Marie has kept singing during her illness, as it keeps her strong. After the small concerts she gave last year, she felt the need to come back with Roxette.

Per has a lot of respect for Toots Thielemans (87 year old Belgian musician, who’s also playing at the Proms). Next to the shows and recording, they are just going to enjoy the time. Per thinks about buying some diamonds and going to the zoo with his son, as they have a new baby elephant here.

Edit 2: Check out the full translation by Project_Z in the comments!

Edit 3: The scan of this article was sent to us by Wim Van Beeck. Thanks!

Scan from the newspaper.