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Rockbjörnen: vote each day until the end of July!

Jun 5

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Awards, Gyllene Tider, Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle, Roxette | 1 Comment

Rockbjörnen is a music prize in Sweden, divided into several categories, which is awarded annually by Aftonbladet. The prize was first awarded in 1979. Since 2010 they are focusing more on live performances.

 

Rockbjörnen history of Roxette, Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle and Gyllene Tider:

1982

Swedish band of the year: Gyllene Tider

GT_Rockbjörnen_1982

1986

Swedish female artist of the year: Marie Fredriksson

1987

Swedish female artist of the year: Marie Fredriksson

Swedish album of the year: Marie Fredriksson – Efter stormen

1988

Swedish band of the year: Roxette

Swedish female artist of the year: Marie Fredriksson

Swedish album of the year: Roxette – Look Sharp

1989

Swedish band of the year: Roxette

Swedish female artist of the year: Marie Fredriksson

1991

Swedish band of the year: Roxette

Swedish album of the year: Roxette – Joyride

1992

Swedish band of the year: Roxette

Roxette_Rockbjörnen_1992

1996

Swedish song of the year: Gyllene Tider – Gå & fiska!

2003

Swedish male artist of the year: Per Gessle

Swedish album of the year: Per Gessle – Mazarin

Swedish song of the year: Per Gessle – Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång)

PG_Rockbjörnen_2003

2004

Swedish band of the year: Gyllene Tider

Swedish album of the year: Gyllene Tider – Finn 5 fel!

GT_Rockbjörnen_2004

 

To the question ”Which Rockbjörn is the most fun to get: Band of the year or Album of the year?” – in a chat in January, 2005 – Gyllene Tider replied:

Album of the year, because it is very difficult for an old band like us to make a relevant and popular album, which in addition is good.

 

Well, Dags att tänka på refrängen would deserve to be the Swedish album of the year, wouldn’t it? It’s a pity there is no ”Swedish album of the year” category anymore, but there is still space for your favourite song from the album. And you know who the Swedish live artists of the year are and which the Swedish live band of the year is, right? Gyllene Tider’s tour has not yet started (only 1 month left!), but you might already have a thought which should be the Concert of the year. So, c’mon guys & girls! Vote HERE until you drop (but at least until 28th July ;) – each day)!

 

Here are the categories (it’s in Swedish, but here you have the English translation as well):

Årets kvinnliga liveartist = Female live artist of the year (it can only be Swedish)

Årets manliga liveartist = Male live artist of the year (it can only be Swedish)

Årets livegrupp = Live band of the year (it can only be Swedish)

Årets genombrott = Breakthrough artist of the year (it can only be Swedish)

Årets svenska låt = Swedish song of the year

Årets utländska låt = Foreign song of the year

Årets konsert (artist, plats) = Concert of the year (concerts only in Sweden are accepted)

Årets hårdrock / metal = Hard rock / metal artist of the year (either Swedish or foreign)

 

After filling it in, click on ”Nästa” (= ”Next”) and fill in your name (first name & surname), e-mail address, age (ålder) and if you are female (kvinna) or male (man). Reply to the control question, leave the tick at the first sentence (this way you won’t have to fill in the form again, as it saves your replies and you just have to click on voting the next time). If you want to receive info and offers from Aftonbladet, leave the second tick in, too. ”Tillbaka” means ”Back”, ”Rösta” means ”Vote”. That’s it. It’s much easier than it looks like. ;)

 

© All photos are from Aftonbladet’s archive.

 

 

 

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Roxette on Trigger

May 3

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Roxette | Comments off

Trigger Creative Conference is Sweden’s leading innovative conference for the music industry. Participants from all branches of the popular music community gather to share fresh and constructive thinking through discussions, debates and new working methods on how to help the future of the industry. The conference is going to take place during the Peace & Love festival, Borlänge (27 and 28 June 2013), where Roxette had a fantastic gig last year. But this is not the only connection to Roxette. The 2nd day’s theme is ”Do it the Swedish way” and the first topic is: The amazing Roxette revival and the use of social media in that. Presenter of it will be Richard Conlon, Senior Vice President Corporate Strategy, Communications & New Media at BMI, US.

We hope to get to know more about this presentation later.

 

Per_G_Borlange_2012_Cozycot  Marie_F_Borlange_2012_Cozycot

27th June 2012, Peace & Love Festival, Borlänge, Sweden     ©Cozycot.com

 

 

 

 

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Sven Lindström’s book about Roxette is out soon

Apr 25

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Roxette | 8 Comments

”Roxette – osannolika tur och retur” is the title of Sven Lindström’s book about Roxette’s unlikely return. It seems that the book is first being published in Swedish, but Sven informed The Daily Roxette earlier that it will be available in English, too.

Sven said in an interview in July, 2012:

It’s a pretty unlikely story, both about how they broke through, and how they came back a few years ago. There will also be an insight into the fans’ relationship to the band.

It is a dramatic story that this band has been through and I think it will be quite surprising when you see the big picture. They have done a trip like no band in Sweden have done.

 

Roxette – osannolika tur och retur

 

Overview:

The book tells the story of one of Sweden’s most successful bands of all time. It’s a story full of passion and drama, joy and sorrow, unlikely success and dark adversity.

We follow Roxette the whole way. The hobby project that Per Gessle hardly dared to believe in when he was dying his hair blond and Marie Fredriksson was Sweden’s most shining female artist. Worldwide success after the somewhat unlikely breakthrough came out of international pop hits like “The Look”, “Listen To Your Heart”, “It Must Have Been Love” and “Joyride” in the late 80s and early 90s. Tours, disc recordings and conflicts. The shocking news when Marie Fredriksson’s brain tumor almost gave the story a tragic end. The long and difficult way back. And then the almost neverending global comeback in front of celebrating and crying fans worldwide, a comeback unprecedented in Swedish music history.

”Roxette – Den osannolika resan tur och retur” broadens the understanding of a unique Swedish music phenomenon, treated often unfairly in their homeland and almost religiously worshiped throughout the world.

 

Bokus, CDON, Adlibris, and Bokextra have already listed the book (304 pages, hardcover) on their websites. Publishing date is 4th September, 2013.

 

Well, in Nordstedts’ autumn catalog we can see an English title in the list of content, so most probably All Roxers around the world will have the chance to read this promising book:

Lindström, Sven: Today Sweden, Tomorrow the World

© NordstedtsNordstedts_höst_katalog_2013_Roxette_sida_32

 

Johan Bylin and Roxette Cafe contributed to the article.

 

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Roxette live and documentary DVD postponed until late summer

Apr 14

Posted by Judith in Releases, Roxette, Tour | 4 Comments

Per Gessle posted the following message on Facebook:

Roxette Live+Documentary DVD/BlueRay update: Looks like we have to wait until late summer for release. However, it will include full concert + extended documentary + 90 min hilarious So, Christoffer!-vids. Maybe we should make the audio available on its own as well. It sounds terrific. We all agree that live albums are underrated! /P.

The DVD was originally schedulled for the first quarter of 2013.  The documentary was already broadcasted on SVT1 in December 2012 and a short version of the live DVD was also on SVT early January 2013.

But reading Per’s update, it seems that the waiting will pay off if really the full concert is included and an extended version of the documentary!

And YES, please, make the magnific audio available!

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Roxette at SnowpenAir – a Swiss Roxer’s diary

Apr 8

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Fans, Roxette | Comments off

You could already read and hear about those 3 hardcore Swiss Roxers – Cathérine, Karin and Jörg – who were lucky enough to enjoy Roxette’s soundcheck on 5th April and be part of a once-in-a-lifetime ROXperience last weekend. If you don’t know who they are, watch the soundcheck video (“HDYD soundcheck. Snowpenair….”) Per shared on Roxette Official, Facebook on 7th April. They are the ones who are jumping the most in the “crowd”. ;)

One of the 3 lucky fans – Cathérine Frei – has written her “diary”, which I thought is worth being shared with you to make it possible being part of the happenings via her stories. Here it comes. (Beware, it’s hardcore! ;) )

 

ALMOST UNREAL – A Roxette fairy tale in the Swiss Alps

What a fantastic, out of this world weekend trip! Words can hardly describe the experiences and feelings we had during those two days. One thing is for sure: Moments of such happiness make the world go round in everybody’s lives. For those among you who like Roxette fan stories, I have tried to sum up the vastness of all my impressions of those two days in early April 2013.

Day 1: Train ride and rehearsal

“Luck” is the first word that comes into my mind when I think of the experiences of the day prior to the concert. Extreme luck made one of the most awesome moments in my life as a diehard Roxette fan possible. Why had my two friends Karin and Jörg and me decided to stay in Grindelwald? I have no idea, it was more or less a random, and a very LUCKY decision to stay there and not in one of the other surrounding villages. We travelled there quite early, a plan of which I actually was not too fond of, but LUCKILY Jörg wanted to do that. If we had ridden up later, the opportunity would have gone. When we arrived there, LUCKILY Karin checked Facebook on her iPhone and saw Per’s post about their sound-check plans. So we quickly ran to the train station in order to hurry up to Kleine Scheidegg! LUCKILY, the whole gang was there, waiting for the next train. So, we experienced a train-joyride with Roxette. Up at the mountain, we placed ourselves just outside of the railway station, where you have the overview of the venue and the stage. We observed how the gang slipped down to the stage, which looked funny but stylish. Put ‘em on, put the big boots on? Forget it! Except Christoffer, they were all wearing light summer shoes. As an exception, I am merciful and defend Per with his own words: They are from the South of Sweden, they are not used to this. Check the respective video on Roxette Official if you want to hear this perfect excuse from the man himself.

They started rehearsing with Dressed For Success, and we were singing, jumping and clapping up there, at the mentioned place. Surprisingly, the festival ground was accessible, but decent as we are (supposed to be), we did not dare to go down, closer to the stage. We feared maybe they would feel disturbed by us. A bit later, a few skiers and two other spectators were sliding down and stopped a few meters in front of the stage. Bojo was around and tolerated it, therefore we had the impression it was alright to go down. Nothing could stop us anymore and we literally jumped down that snowy ground, while we were singing and shouting. We all must have looked extremely silly. The three of us celebrated Roxette’s sound-check, which was actually an entire rehearsal, just a few meters away from the stage, jumping, dancing, singing, going crazy. It was unbelievable. And it was reassuring to see Bojo’s grin in his face when he watched us, so we knew that what we did was fine for them. As they rehearsed for almost an hour with actually no real breaks in between the songs, it almost felt like a small concert without a crowd but with tons of space for jumping and dancing in the snow. I thought I was dreaming, it felt like everything was surreal. Here are three funny or interesting details of this rehearsal:

«  Per once said “thank you”, but we could not figure out if it was out of sheer routine or if it was directed to us. I assume the first mentioned is the case ;-)

«  Before Perfect Day, Marie said: “This is a test (for) Perfect Day”. It sounded a bit as if she wanted to say that she’s not fully convinced that it will work out fine. With no reason – she sang it like a goddess.

«  The rehearsal ended quite abruptly with the transition between How Do You Do and Dangerous, of which we were not so sure if it worked properly or not. Maybe that was the official rehearsal version ;-)

Later, we took the Roxette-Express back to Grindelwald again. On that evening, we were completely over the moon and floating through space.

 

Roxette_Snowpenair_soundcheck_Karin_Rubischung_05042013

  ©Karin Rubischung            Snowy soundcheck, 5th April, 2013

 

Day 2: Concert

We could not act any different than taking the first train up to Kleine Scheidegg, arriving at 8.00 am, what enabled us to capture the pole position at the ground entrance. Of course it was cold, but we were not freezing, so it was much more pleasant than expected. At the time of entrance, also known as the heart-attack moment, we fortunately managed to run down the snowy ground to the stage fast enough to position ourselves exactly where we wanted, “front-row middle-left”. I am very pleased to say that I also enjoyed two of the other acts, which played before Roxette. Hanery Amman, a Swiss rock and blues singer / songwriter / piano-player veteran, was really entertaining and his music was spreading good mood and a warm, lively atmosphere. One Republic was strong as well, I liked their performance, they seem to be versatile and talented musicians.

Then it was time for our darlings to hit the stage! I stop narrating in the chronological style at this point of my text, since everything that would follow now would be a repetition of hundreds of other Roxette concert stories. I guess my writing skills are not sophisticated enough for inventing new ways to describe the enthusiasm that every diehard fan knows very well. Therefore, let me just stress one thing in particular: It was more than obvious that Marie, Per and the whole band were extremely excited to play together again. Sheer joy, fun and happiness were visible in all their faces throughout the entire gig. Per was smiling and radiating like the sun. Same with Marie, her smile was breath-taking. After Perfect Day, she was very moved, fighting with tears. The atmosphere on stage led to a great magic between the band and the audience, so that also the less dedicated fans and other visitors were evidently simply captivated. As far as I could judge it from the front-row, the main part of the audience sang along very loudly and fervently. It was noticeable that Marie, Per and the band absolutely loved this moment, on that stage, at that snowy gig, here in beautiful but foggy Switzerland. But it is clear: There is only one sun in our solar system, and this sun had to be Roxette in this moment.

Cathérine Frei, Zurich, April 8th, 2013

 

Roxette_Snowpenair_gig_Karin_Rubischung_06042013

  ©Karin Rubischung                   SnowpenAir gig, 6th April, 2013

 

 

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Roxette rocked SnowpenAir

Apr 6

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Roxette | 8 Comments

Roxette arrived to Switzerland on 5th April and went to the venue in the afternoon. Some VERY lucky fans had a chance to hear and see the soundcheck. Even Per stated it on Facebook:

Wow! We love this place. Had a great soundcheck in front of serious winter lovers/Rox fans and it all felt like the tour was still going on. More to come tomorrow.

Fans reported that Roxette were in top shape like there was no break. Per had the same opinion:

The band looks like they just came back from Mexico last year!

 

Those serious winter lover Roxers were already there at the venue early this morning, to be able to reach the front row and they made it! SnowpenAir was reported to be sold out: 9000 tickets. First there was MC Juli, Hanery Amman, then came OneRepublic at 13:30. At 15:30  Roxette hit the stage.

We hoped for a certain coat to appear on this gig and when our RXB team mate Kirsten wrote a Facebook status after the show started: ”MaTaH coat!!!”, we all were very happy. We asked her about Per’s outfit, too and then let her enjoy the show. ;)

The gig lasted for about 1.5 hour. Roxers say it was an amazing, awesome, fantastic show, so fans had a blast! According to the photos we’ve seen so far and Per’s post, Roxette had a blast, too and they looked HOT HOT HOT!

Thanx for a fab afternoon delight by the ski slopes here in Switzerland. Wonderful reception, and Hey! This band works like clockwork!! First gig in six months, only less than an hour soundcheck yesterday and and almost everything works. Amazing + purrfect. Thanx everyone for your support, always nice to see familiar faces in the first rows!
Cheers + see ya next time! /P&M

 

Marie_Snowpenair  Per_Snowpenair

Photos by M. Lopez
http://liveit.ch/roxette-am-snowpenair/

 

Setlist:

  1. Dressed for Success
  2. Sleeping in My Car
  3. The Big L.
  4. Spending My Time
  5. Stars
  6. She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio)
  7. Perfect Day
  8. It Must Have Been Love
  9. 7Twenty7
  10. Fading Like a Flower
  11. Crash! Boom! Bang!
  12. How Do You Do!
  13. Dangerous
  14. Joyride (band presentation before Joyride and local song: “Kiosk”) /only some fan balloons, no beachballs in the snowy mountains/
  15. Listen To Your Heart
  16. The Look

 

According to Berner Zeitung, they fly back to Sweden this evening. Hopefully, the internet connection will be perfect in Sweden and Per will post tons of videos and pics from yesterday and today.

 

Thanx to all the Magic Friends who were keeping us updated, especially to Kirsten Ohlwein, Mandy Sedgwick, Karin Rubischung, Jörg Zimmerli and Natalie Natalie.

 

Articles and photos:

Berner Zeitung (article + photos):

http://www.bernerzeitung.ch/region/thun/9-000-Besucher-am-Snowpenair-/story/12551843

Live it. (awesome photos):

http://liveit.ch/roxette-am-snowpenair/

Jungfrau.ch (article + 1 photo):

http://www.jungfrau.ch/nc/en/company/media/releases/detail/archive/2013/04/article/roxette-begeistert-am-snowpenair-1542/

partyguide.ch (beauty pics):

http://www.partyguide.ch/events/snowpenair-kleine-scheidegg-2013-04-06-268181/pictures/1/338224

Der Bund -  KulturStattBern blog (article):

http://newsnetz-blog.ch/kulturstattbern/blog/2013/04/06/sturchlig-am-snowpenair/

SnowpenAir FB page (photos):

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.570345832999712.1073741827.109469035754063&type=1

Jungfrau Zeitung (article + 1 photo):

http://www.jungfrauzeitung.ch/artikel/124226/

Der Bund (article + 1 photo):

http://www.derbund.ch/kultur/pop-und-jazz/Nostalgische-Stimmung-im-Hallenstadion/story/15725245

konzertbilder.ch (photos):

http://konzertbilder.ch/bild/25653

ireadup.com (beauty pics):
http://www.ireadup.com/music/photos/photo.aspx?eventid=3727&overview_page=1&page=1

some of the ireadup.com photos in high resolution:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/intlekofer/sets/72157633200961425/

 

 

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Roxette rox at SnowpenAir in 1 week!

Mar 30

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Roxette | 1 Comment

Roxette will appear on stage for the one and only gig this year on 6th April. SnowpenAir concerts are a true Swiss tradition. Marie, Per and the band will perform at 2061 m above sea level at Kleine Scheidegg amidst the stunning scenery of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains. It’s the 16th time the event is organized.

Programme:

10:30     Concert area opening

11:00     MC Juli

12:15     Hanery Amman

13:30     OneRepublic

15:30   Roxette

 

ROX_SnowpenAir

 

Looking at the SnowpenAir setlists of past years and taking into consideration that Roxette had a shorter setlist for festival gigs, they will most probably perform appr. 15 songs. At least they had a 15-song setlist in Ischgl, Austria in 2011. Let’s see what happens.

It’s written on the event’s website that ”DJ Alex der Skihüttenkönig” provides entertainment from 10:30, between the acts and after Roxette. So, it seems there will be no PG mix tape before Roxette or the DJ takes a rest during those appr. 30 minutes before the main act. :)

The event is nearly sold out, but there are still some tickets available.

The weather may be cold on top of the mountains, but Roxette had proved it many times before that they are able to warm up the athmosphere already by playing the first chords and singing the first triple yeah. One more thing is 100% sure: you’re not going to meet Mr. Gessle on the ski trail. ;)

 

 

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It all started with Roxette

Feb 27

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Fans, Roxette | 3 Comments

Maybe you all know Jacob Wallgren, a Roxette fan and great collector. Maybe you already asked a list of items from him or met him on a gig. He’s a Halmstad guy who is now starring in SVT’s “Antikrundan” program. A short SVT article says that he started collecting vinyl records when he was 9 years old. He says it all started with Roxette. Today Jacob has one of the largest collections in Sweden of more than 30,000 items. The video is a great promotion for Roxette and nice to watch for all the fans and vinyl collectors. Now I’m just wondering who the biggest record collector in Halmstad is. ;)

 

 

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Marie Dimberg is on the top

Feb 20

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Roxette | Comments off

Musikindustrin.se sent questionnaires to 100 key people of the Swedish music industry and then listed the 21 most influential women in Sweden’s music world. Marie Dimberg has ended up at the first place on this list. Congrats to her!

Marie Dimberg_2013  © Jonas Ekströmer

 

She says to gp.se:

I feel very honoured. I was very happy and surprised, but being influential is nothing I’m thinking about all the time. I’m just trying to concentrate on doing my job as good as possible.

 

The music industry is dominated by men, which is not new. Ms. Dimberg says to gp.se:

A good mix of men and women would be necessary regardless of industry.

 

During her 13 years with EMI she held the positions of Head of PR, Marketing and Vice President of EMI International in London to mention a few. She founded D&D Management more than 15 years ago and runs it successfully. Marie Dimberg played a major role in the creation of Roxette and she’s still the manager of the Swedish duo.

Regarding Roxette becoming popular worldwide she says to gp.se:

It was an amazing adventure and a privilege to be involved. We woke up in one place and were having lunch at another then fell asleep somewhere else.

 

There are many great artists – besides Roxette – managed by D&D: Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle, Jonas Åkerlund, Peter Jöback, Agnes, etc.

If you are interested in who else is in the most influential women’s Top21, you can check it here.

 

 

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Gyllene Tider enters the soccer world

Feb 20

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Gyllene Tider, Per Gessle, Roxette | Comments off

As Gyllene Tider published the news on Monday, they are going to sponsor 2 Halmstad soccer teams: Halmstads BK and IS Halmia. Per Gessle is already a major sponsor of Halmia since many years.

Gyllene Tider is divided into two soccer camps. Per, MP and Göran are supporting Halmia, while Micke Syd is for HBK. 3:1 is not a bad result of a ”match”. Oh, we didn’t forget about Anders: he prefers fishing. ;)

Micke Syd gave a short interview to Sveriges Radio yesterday talking a bit about the sponsorship. Listen to it here.

Jersey of HBK is blue and will have a red Gyllene Tider logo, while red-white Halmia jersey will have a blue logo on the back. Aftonbladet showed a montage of the HBK jersey. It won’t look like this, but you can have a look at how blue and red fits together. Halmia’s jersey you could already see several times on facebook, Roxette Official. ;)

 

HBK Halmia

© SCANPIX / Aftonbladet                                                                 Photo taken from Roxette Official’s facebook page

 

Update: Halmia’s jersey will look like this:

GT_Halmia

Photo was shared on Gyllene Tider’s facebook page.

 

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Marie is also busy working in the studio

Feb 13

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Roxette | 1 Comment

Mr G seems to be too busy with his Gyllene Tider project to post these news on Roxette Official, but from this roxette.se message we can see Marie is also busy working in the studio, which is great news. So far we heard rumours regarding her project, but this is the first official news about the fact that she’s preparing something for us THIS YEAR. :)

 

2013-02-12

Hello all Roxers out there!

Marie and I are taking some time off from Roxette at the moment after this huge world tour and two new albums in 19 months!!! Phew!

I’m in Christoffer’s farmhouse recording a new Gyllene Tider-LP (yep, that’s what we do!). It should be out in the open later this spring 2013. Marie is also busy working in the studio making magic moments to be revealed later this year!

However, we’re slowly but surely preparing a bright Roxette future with a live BluRay/DVD as well as tour documentary coming out before you know it!
We hope you want to stay in touch and communicate with us via our Facebook-page; Roxette Official.
I’ll try to post new and interesting stuff for your hungry hearts almost every day! See y’all soon.

Lots of love from Per (& Marie).

 

Sooo, it seems that the gap on the schedule of what to expect in 2013 will be filled with some Ms Effe project. ;)

 

 

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Interview with Favela team: We are happy with the result

Feb 9

Posted by Tomasz in Interview, Releases, Roxette, Tour | 4 Comments

FavelaDo you remember when we asked you to send us your questions to the Favela production team responsible for the latest Roxette documentary and concert? So here’s the outcome…

About Favela:

Most of the fans haven’t heard about you until you started working with Roxette, however, Favela was founded in 2008. We know you have done a live broadcast from Kent’s release party in New York. Have you done any productions for other artists before? If yes, which ones?
We are a relatively small production company which works very widely but has a passion for music. Except the Kent production that you mentioned, music wise we have produced/directed for Sissel Kyrkjebö: Live at Dalhalla, Hellacopters: Live at Debaser, Glasvegas – “Shine like Stars”, Madrugada: Live at Spektrum Oslo. We have as well done live productions at Way Out West and Where the action is with Swedish artists such as The Hives and Mando Diao as well as international acts as Foo Fighters, Queens of Stoneage, Dirty Pretty Things and many more.

About working together with Roxette:

How did your cooperation with Roxette start? We know you were also responsible for two Roxette videos: “Way out” and “Speak to me”. Is this correct?
It all began with Mattias Holmer, now producer at Favela. He filmed Per Gessle’s Party Crasher Tour at Cirkus in Stockholm 2009. The idea started in his head the day Marie walked on stage. We started to talk about the project in the beginning of 2010. After that we have done the videos for “Way out” (partly shot during sound-check in South Africa) and “Speak to me” and two electronical press kits – for the Charm School and Travelling albums.
Read the rest of this entry »

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Front row feeling in front of your TV

Jan 3

Posted by Patrícia Peres in Roxette, TV | 14 Comments

After the premiere of Roxette’s new documentary ”It All Begins Where It Ends”, now we could watch the TV cut of ”Travelling The World – Roxette Live 2012” premiering on SVT1 today.

We got a nice taster when we saw the live scenes in the documentary and from the Joyride teaser shown on SVT Play, so we had some images in our minds how the whole concert film would look like. Favela (the filmmakers) shared the info some hours before the premiere that TV version consists of 11 songs from 11 cities, filmed in Argentina, Germany, Chile, Brazil and Sweden. Besides these countries, South Africa also appeared in the film.

Now seeing this 58m 12s long version we could relive the gigs – in the front row. Enjoy it here!

One thing is definitely strange in the film: the constant cuts coming too fast after one another, breaking the flow of the songs a bit (mainly in It Must Have Been Love with scenes shown even from the video clip). However, all the incredible camera angles (e.g. the one used during She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio)), the fantastic sound, as well as those many happy and familiar faces on and off the stage make it bright, even though the colours in the film are not that saturated.

Regarding the DVD version, it may be a wishful thinking, but we write it in the name of many, many fans that it would indeed be great to have all the 26 songs* ever appeared on the setlist during the tour. If we can’t get them in video format, then at least on a bonus CD, as the sound is amazing indeed. Chris did a fantastic job mixing it.

*Songs played live during the tour in alphabetical order (the songs appearing in the TV cut of the concert film are in bold – the number next to them shows their sequence; places mentioned in the film before all songs are most probably referring to the crowds, as stage scenes are from South America; however, crowd scenes also seem to be mixed, not just from one venue during one song):

  • 7Twenty7 (5) – Hamburg, Germany
  • Church of Your Heart (11) – Mar del Plata, Argentina
  • Crash! Boom! Bang! (6) – Berlin, Germany
  • Dangerous
  • Dressed for Success
  • Fading Like a Flower
  • How Do You Do!
  • It Must Have Been Love (3) – Cape Town, South Africa
  • It’s Possible (4) – Rosario, Argentina /SPECIAL version ;) , as Per is singing ”There’s something very SPECIAL about you” instead of ”There’s something very DIFFICULT about you” after the ”do do”-s/
  • Joyride (7) – Neuquén, Argentina
  • Listen to Your Heart (10) – Santiago, Chile
  • Only When I Dream
  • Opportunity Nox
  • Perfect Day
  • She’s Got Nothing on (But the Radio) (2) – Córdoba, Argentina
  • Silver Blue
  • Sleeping in My Car (1) – Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Soul Deep
  • Spending My Time (8) – Göteborg, Sweden
  • Stars
  • The Big L.
  • The Look (9) – Stockholm, Sweden
  • Things Will Never Be the Same
  • Watercolours in the Rain
  • Way Out
  • Wish I Could Fly

We are curious if a list of all concerts – not just the ones where the shootings took place – will also appear on the DVD to show the world at least this way how big the Neverending Tour was.

We’ll get to know it latest when the DVD is available – hopefully this March, according to Per’s earlier comment.

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If you had one wish, what would you change in the “It all begins…” documentary?

Dec 31

Posted by Tomasz in Fans, Releases, Roxette, Tour, TV | 3 Comments

We were able to talk about positive sides of the “It all begins where it ends” documentary. As there is no real negative ones :-) , we have decided to put the question differently – is there anything you miss in the show? If you had one wish, what would you change in the documentary? More interviews from band members, more soundcheck shots. Are there any tour mysteries that still remain unfold? As Favela production team has over 800h+ of materials, so they are surely able to answer many of our needs… Let’s see what our Facebook fans wrote:

Thomas Lawrie-Clark

Would love to see some more Marie studio footage / sound checks. Wonder if anything was rehearsed and not performed?

Ricardo Acosta Hernandez

Maybe some other music celebrities could have given their opinions about Roxette’s past and come-back, such as Abba, Loreen, Ace of Base, Europe…

Anderson Trevisan

More studio images, less live shows, no 7twenty7, even being a good song, more references to Travelling Album, less fans interviews… and the best of Argentinian fans is their energy during the shows, but it was not explored enough.

Patrícia Peres

If I have to state something I miss, it is at least some words from Helena and Dea, as they also had a very important role in this miraculous tour. As Per said, hopefully there will be more of them, too on the DVD. Crew worked hard during the whole tour, so it would be great to see more of their work, too. Some more scenes with how the guitars are prepared for the show or how the lights are up and the stage is built. I mean not showing these for long minutes, but a bit more. One more thing has just come into my mind: there are many Mikael B. parts, which I like a lot and it is totally understandable why he appears in the docu. What about Åsa? Will she appear and talk in the DVD version?

Fabio Deluca

I miss a few words from Helena or Dea, don’t know why they were not interviewed at all. Or from people who collaborated with Roxette in the past (Isacsson, Benckert, Suurna, Corbijn, Åkerlund, Kjell Andersson) talking about their experience and memories. Something more focused in the group and less in the fans. Fans stories are ok, but they tend to repeat the same words again and again.

Cristian Solera

I’d like a little more about the recording of the albums, and more diversity of fans stories (different countries for example).

Chrissie Roehrs

Åsa..yes..where was she? And a short clip how all these logistics are working would have been nice as well. I think on the Mazarin DVD there was a fast motion how the stage got built. That was cool. Well..all in all I think we have to see this documentary as a short summary for the TV stations. I am really really looking forward for the extended version.

Olya Khmarenko

It would be better to make cut from more countries, to avoid those “holy wars” between fans, who were not mentioned, that we experienced some days ago. And also it would be nice to mention in what way the band can have influence on organizers of concert, who negotiate on which stage concert will take place and where fan-zone will be located. Because in Kiev we had sitting parter (ANNOYING!!) and veeery uncomfortable fanzone, and band also told that it was awful. So couldn’t they make it strict condition for organizers? How it all works?

Read the rest of this entry »

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Our personal Roxette highlights 2012

Dec 30

Posted by Judith in Editorial, Fans, Roxette | 1 Comment

itallbeginswhereitends

I got used to writing down a kind of retrospective about my personal achievements and failures some time ago. Besides bringing some memories and smiles (or tears) back, it boosts your ego a little bit and reminds you of what you achieved, how you changed or what you learnt after a not so positive moment. All in all, a good thing to do that leaves a sweet taste in your mouth.

So I proposed the RXB team to pick up our personal Rox-highlights of 2012, since we had so many articles and there have been mostly ups in 2012 again. It means, at least for me, to go back to my memories and pick up the most special moments.

Judith:

My #1 is definetely Roxette in United States, specially New York and Boston. It was a very special trip for me, first time in US, and and two amazing concerts. New York specially left me with my mouth open more than once (more than one standing ovation and everybody singing along!), a very special short chat with Marie and being able to share this with my loved one and many dear friends. It will always be in my heart and mind.

Next highlight kept us waiting almost until the end of the year, but it was worth it: It all begins where it ends, the Roxette documentary. It premiered on Swedish TV channel SVT on December 26th. Many memories of great times spent with my Roxer friends, many familiar faces, also many tears when going back 10, 8, 6 years in time. But again what remains are a lot of smiles, fun and love.

And as they say, last but not least, and after a lot of thinking: Travelling. And all what the album means. Roxette on tour, us travelling around the world, a 2nd album in 2 years, the smiles, Marie’s victory “yesss!” gesture every night on stage, and all the magic moments we’ve spent together.

Looking forward to 2013, which looks very promising. Some, but not all, are rumours, picked up by fans from Per and Marie during the tour, or comments by Per here and there on the net: the live Roxette DVD/ Blu Ray and the documentary to be out hopefully the first quarter of 2013, a book about Roxette, then the more uncertain Per’s projects (will it be Per solo? or GT?), Marie’s projects (solo album, tour?), some more (hopefuly white) wine to be added to the Gessle Selection…

So let’s just sit back, enjoy the good memories and relax. And to all of this I can only say “Cheers! and happy 2013!” while holding a glass of Furet. Delicious I must say. And if you haven’t already, go and read all the interviews on TDR with Marie Dimberg, Christoffer, Pelle, Clarence and Per!

Kirsten:

Thinking about 2012 I can only think of one Roxette-related highlight. Due to my new job, less free days, less money and an illness that makes it hard to feel as good as when I was young – it wasn’t easy for me to follow my favourite band around the world. This is kind of ironic, because since 2002 my biggest wish was Marie being healthy again and for Roxette to go on tour again (and me with them). Now, that they did it – I couldn’t follow them. That’s the way life goes.

Nevertheless, I saw two shows in 2012, the one in Amsterdam and the one in Kaiserslautern. And the whole day in Amsterdam is definitely my Number one, the top of the list. We were all waiting at the airport for the Stockholm plane to arrive. Finally, when the doors opened and Marie came out, everything wasn’t as it usually is. We had all the time we wanted to say “hi” and give her our presents. And Marie hugged nearly everyone who was around – with a big smile. I was one of the lucky girls who got a “hello again” and a hug. I enjoyed that moment a lot – and those three or five seconds mean more to me than a signed CD or vinyl.

My second highlight is – must agree with Judith – the Roxette docu. I watched it only some minutes ago and I didn’t want it to end. But as we all know: It all begins where it ends. So it MUST go on some day.

Patrícia:

My highlight #1 is definitely Amsterdam. Actually, so far I had the 2 best days of my Roxer life there. On one hand, it was very special to me, because that was the first time I met those many nice Roxers in person, whom I got into contact with via Facebook. It seems to be a cliche, but Roxette IS connecting people indeed. On the other hand, I met Marie and Per and the band in person. Kirsten already wrote about the Marie moments, so I won’t repeat how lovely she was with all of us at the airport. The fun we had while taking the group pics with Per was unforgettable. He was in an extremely good mood, smiling all the time, which made the group pics even brighter. Even the one that was taken by Christoffer after having some problems with the zoom. The gig was FANtastic and I’m happy that Colin made the documentary in Amsterdam, so I have something more to save in my memory regarding that magical night. I said 2 best days, as the day after the gig I met Marie and Per at the airport again. They were still all smiles and took their time with us before they were leaving for the Kaiserslautern gig. I had a chance for a small talk with Per, which meant so much to me. These are the experiences one can save in his/her heart forever and smile anytime thinking about these moments.

Highlight #2 for me is Gdansk. That was the last gig for me and for many other Roxers during the Neverending Tour. What a gig it was! I enjoyed it to the full and it was so damn good to see that Per & Marie + the band enjoyed themselves on stage, too. They were all smiles during the whole show, even when we messed up Spending My Time. Better say, we didn’t mess up the lyrics, but when it would have been OUR turn to sing, we just wanted to shout ”Roxette!” and clap our hands and be happy to have them. Then we realized this is not what they expect from us, so we started to sing at last. There was real magic in the air all night!

My highlight #3 won’t be a surprise. It’s the documentary. I could watch it 24/7/365 and I just want more of this beauty, so I can’t wait for the DVD to be available. Actually, I can’t wait for anything that is waiting for us in 2013.

I stated it many times already, but I have to say it again: Roxette is worse than any drugs, but this drug is the one I’ll never give up on.

Tomasz:

2012 was more of a continuation of what Marie and Per did in 2011. I did not expect much, but it turned to be a good year. Or even an amazing one comparing to drought era 2003-2010. I have never been travelling much in my life, so getting the TRAVELLING album and the second Polish gig ever in Gdansk/Sopot were a clear sign – “this is the way you should follow”. Meeting new people down the road was also exciting – fans from various corners of the globe came to celebrate Roxette in Poland – my one and only “holy mass” this year. Some new PR activities for the duo were done on the Polish soil, some interviews given, few releases sent – business as usual. How odd and how brilliant at the same time!

Among all goodies released this year we could find also wine bottles (bought, but not tasted… yet), books (psychology of psychos who we certainly are), TV shows (it’s only playback), interviews and THE documentary. 58 minutes of a high quality pleasure and with long Marie interview parts. The best decision taken this year was to do this documentary in Swedish – finally Mrs Bolyos could speak up her mind. Thanks a lot, dear Favela film makers!!

Hoping 2013 will be even better for all of us – we’ll be drinking new wines, listening to new albums, working new overhours to afford new tours and annual visits to Stockholm. “Just like fireworks in the sky, watch the sky!”

We wanted to post some list of numbers here but we’ve written so much already.  So after more than 300 articles and 850.000 visits this year, just one last thing: thank you for your support, for reading us, sending in news, the nice face-to-face talks we had and sharing this one thing that connects us! And thank you Per and Marie and co for another fantastic year!

Ah, and we are glad Patrícia joined our team!

Have a great 2013!

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