The concert is going to be a company event though. The 25th anniversary of Inter Cars will be celebrated with a huge party in the National Stadium in Warsaw on 19th September. Besides other Polish artists, Roxette will also perform at the event! Probably, 2-3 songs only (or maybe 5-6?), because they are announced as “the icing on the cake”. Approximately 60,000 people fit in the stadium so it’s quite huge. Gala starts at 20:00, gates open at 18:30. According to the info on the website where the event is announced, concert tickets are free, but will be distributed by affiliates among their clients.
Mannheim! Mannheim left me a bit irritated, but certainly amazed. I was irritated because I (once more) realized that the perception of a concert can be totally different. While I thought that the Mannheim show was much better than the concert in Dresden, not everyone agreed on that. Most of the fans I talked to shared my opinion: Marie’s voice was outstanding, the band had their energy back after a well-deserved day off and most important: The audience was much more affectionate than in Dresden. But then there were a few who disagreed. So all you ever get in our reviews is, of course, a personal opinion.
The SAP Arena, though, wasn’t sold out, many seats were empty. Well – to everyone who decided not to go in the end: You missed a great show, the 45th on this tour. The best way to check if the show was good or not is, though, to talk to or listen to the no-die-hards leaving the venue. Yesterday I picked up words like “Es war so hammergeil” which can be translated as “This was so fucking awesome”. Other people were singing “The Look” while they made their way to their car with several hundred other spectators. The love and affection already showed during the show and once people start cheering, that band cannot stop to rock. It’s not the die-hards who make the show a success – it’s all the people in the back. Once Marie and Per got them they never let go. I witnessed this in Cologne, Hamburg certainly Berlin and now in Mannheim. “How do you do” is the one song that can turn a show in Germany – it never did in Dresden, but it did in Mannheim and the roof almost went off. It doesn’t matter that not everything goes right. Per missed his part in Joyride, Marie cursed a bit about some lyrics she had forgotten and the “99 Luftballons” intro to Joyride didn’t really make the people go crazy – but in the end this is a live band and this is what makes them so special. The sound was terrific – this band sounds damn tight and if we not already had gotten a live CD I would have begged for one at this very point. Yes, maybe, Roxette never sounded better live than between 2012 and 2015.
So, this show was definitely a success – and again I think my point is proved that there’s no better way to end the show than with “The Look”.
It’s hard to write review after review – this has been my fifth show of ten in total and I wonder what more is to come. I hope there are some more surprises hidden (Per’s white clothes, Almost Unreal *hint*).
MANNHEIM UPDATE! Thanx everyone for yet another hotblooded evening in Germany. We had a wonderful time just like we had in 2011! Day off tomorrow, then the mighty Stuttgart: The XXX-trek continues, folks! /P.
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: 99 Luftballons)
There’s only one question left after tonight’s show. When you already think you have seen a 100% show – what else is there? I can only say that my expectation for tonight’s show in Dresden weren’t high, just because I am right now very convinced that I already have seen the best show there will be in Germany, which is of course unfair, because it doesn’t leave any room for surprises. Surprisingly, I am not the only fan who thinks like that, but I am not the only fan either who definitely wants to be proved otherwise!
Photo by Kirsten Ohlwein
Anyhow, the Dresden show couldn’t repeat the magic that happened in Berlin – due to many reasons. One of them was the not very good sound (again). Since this was the first open air show I am certain things will get better at the outside venues. A proper soundcheck could help here maybe. The second reason is certainly the audience. Earlier today I read a comment of a guy who had attended the Berlin show and he wrote that audience and band became one soul and it felt exactly like that. In Dresden, however, this didn’t happen. It can’t happen every night, that’s for sure, but the Dresden people were too shy to show their true love and affection for Per and Marie. Less noise, less clapping, less “give us more”. The third reason can be seen as the one reason that always comes up when talking about Roxette: Marie’s shape on that particular day. First of all, she seems to have a cold (already noticed in Berlin, but it obviously appeared that the virus made her stronger in the beginning) which seemed to affect her a bit in Dresden. Then, either her mic was not loud enough again or it was her who didn’t sing loud enough. If you want my opinion – it’s not the mic. At the end of Listen To Your Heart Marie sang her heart out (loud, clear, touching, there was everything in it) and totally showed us her famous victory pose. She earned a lot of clapping for it – well-deserved. Then, on other songs you could barely hear her and sometimes I wondered if her mic was even on.
The band seemed in top shape but also in need of some free time, a day off, some decent sleep, a lot of ginger tea and some tissues to clear the throat. There was a slight tiredness that could be noticed.
Photo by Kirsten OhlweinPhoto by Kirsten Ohlwein
Unfortunately, The Heart Shaped Sea was kicked off the setlist, because they decided to leave that one out on festivals. According to Christoffer they decided to cancel THSS, because they think people will be talking and not be interested enough.
So, this was all the negative stuff I can come up with. There are lots more positive things, of course: How do you do? rocked once again, this is a real kicker in Germany – no wonder, it was a huge hit in the charts back then.
Then, this band is just amazing – you can see how much fun they have on stage, how much they enjoy to play together, to make music, to improvise, to play the songs differently every night. This is a gift for all of us listening and I really hope it goes on forever. Roxette never sounded rockier. So, when we left the venue, one guy said to this friend: “Did you think they could rock like this?” – He obviously didn’t. Roxette still have the power to surprise, the power to rock and the power to make people rock with them.
Photo by Kirsten Ohlwein
And this is another plus: The setlist they are playing is much better than three years ago. Why? Playing Dressed for Success, Dangerous, Joyride, Listen To Your Heart and then END the show with The Look doesn’t leave room for discussions. With all the “Na na na nas” in your head you can nothing but smile and want to listen to Look Sharp! again as soon as possible. It’s good that there is indeed no ballad at the end, because it couldn’t end better but with the No. 1 killer song The Look. This works and it also did in Dresden.
Marie! She wants it, she wants to jam, to improvise, to rock, to be who she is – a true and committed singer. In Berlin I said to the girl next to me that I expect Marie to get up from her stool every second, because it looked like sh e was going to explode on it. The same goes for Dresden. She enjoyed the songs, she danced as much as possible while sitting, trying her best and making people simply love her.
Per! It’s him who does all the run and get closer to the audience stuff and he does it so well. Without this the show would be much more boring. This also includes the band – their performance on stage makes you wonder where to look first and how long and it makes you think that you miss too much of what’s actually going on up there.
BTW: We are also happy about a day off. Sleep is overrated, of course, but it helps to keep you going. And please bring either Queen of rain or Almost unreal and the white clothes for Per back!
DRESDEN! Oh yeah, the first ever Roxette show to take place in this wonderful city. We’ve been here once before doing some TV-show but not a proper concert. Revenge came tonight!!!!
Beautiful crowd, around 8500 people enjoyed the warm summer breeze and this humble but focused power pop combo from the swedish forests and beaches. We had a wonderful time, I know you did too judging by the smiles everywhere!!!!
Thanks for having us, Dresden, promise to come back!!! Day off tomorrow, some of us need that!!!! Cheerio, P.
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)
Watercolours In The Rain / Paint
Fading Like A Flower
How Do You Do!
It Must Have Been Love
Dressed For Success
Dangerous
Joyride (intro: Atemlos)
After more than a month break (since Prague) on my tour agenda, I got my proper dose of Roxdrug again. I always wanted to see Roxette live in Germany. In the country where they had their first successful steps outside Sweden and which is still a huge market for them. There is no tour that doesn’t include several German gigs. This time Germany gets 9 shows all in all. Impressive, isn’t it? I was curious about the atmosphere, how the crowd lives together with the band, etc. One could see several videos from earlier concerts and there were louder and more reserved shows, but being there in person, experience the happenings live is always different. After seeing vids from Cologne some days ago, I really prayed for an at least as fab crowd as the Cologonians were. Then Hamburg happened where Marie and Per, as well as the band were in top top top shape and the crowd was very loud from the first minute till the very last. So I started wondering what I could expect at the third German show after 2 wonderful gigs in this country. My prayers were in good hands tonite! What an incredibly amazing concert it was!
Marie probably got a cold, because she was coughing several times, even instead of one rocky ”that’s where I’ll meet you” in Stars and when BoJo came up on stage before The Heart Shaped Sea, when he usually brings Marie something to drink, now he brought a tissue as well. Poor girl! We all hope she gets over this cold very fast. BUT: don’t think this stopped her from being totally awesome! She gave 100% into her singing and her voice sounded extremely fab! Well, OK, some lyrics were missing, but she was again so professional getting over it and just smiling at this fact. She was all smiles during the whole show and flirting with cameras during the photographers’ time. She looked in the eyes of fans in the front which we all loved so much! She enjoyed the whole gig to the full! She said more than once it was ”great to see so many people here tonight!”
Per was in extreme bouncing mood, sometimes running across the stage, sometimes jumping in circle and our charm school guy had thousands of sexy moves and flirting looks tonight. He was also ”kicking” Chris in the ass at least 3 times during their guitar playing.
Chris was very much on a high with his absolutely fab guitar solos and the local song he played kicked ass! The audience loved him!
Magnus was quite reserved and he didn’t look like he was in a good mood during the first few songs, but he started acting with us from Dressed For Success and we loved it so much. It felt like he started really enjoying the show since DFS. During their usual discussion with Per, when they talk about him being a viking and he was lip-syncing to Agnetha in ABBA songs, he mentioned that he saw Agnetha and Frida on the Berlin Pride and it was nice. Regarding his fave album he said: ”You in the front already know which my favourite album is!” Of course, we know it’s not Have A Nice Day, but Baladas en español. He did a little voting exercise asking the crowd to put their hands up which their fave album was. He asked Look Sharp!, Joyride and Baladas en español and the latter one won! But of course, Per insisted on playing a song from Have A Nice Day and yes, it was Crush On You. Damn hot performance it was!
When Per started with the teaser to How Do You Do!, the crowd went c.r.a.z.y. and we started singing the song ourselves. Per was so amazed and satisfied his facial expression was priceless.
Before It Must Have Been Love Per said to Marie: ”Huh! How are you, Marie?” She replied: ”It’s sweaty!” Per told her: ”It’s very warm, isn’t it? This is Germany. It’s much warmer than Sweden.” Then they started to play the once-crappy Xmas song (which is so not true that it has ever been crappy) and Marie missed a part of the lyrics and looked at Per for help, but he couldn’t help her out. They both were smiling like hell and Per sticked his tongue out. Both of them were so cute! It didn’t really matter that they couldn’t go on with the lyrics, we helped them with our singing along anyway.
Before Dressed For Success Per said: ”OK Berlin! It’s Saturday! It’s party time!” And they made the whole arena catch the Saturday night fever, stand up on their feet and dance!!! The crowd was a fantastic one from the beginning with their singing along and clapping, but from DFS and then on they never stopped partying!
Flying Christoffer & Magnus. Photo by Patrícia Peres
There were many international fans (besides the German Roxers of course, there were fans from Australia, Hungary, Poland, Norway, Spain, Bulgaria, Russia, etc.). We were prepared with many balloons, so when the magic word left Per’s mouth, all of them were up in the air and the crowd enjoyed playing with them so much.
When the band left the stage after Joyride, the crowd went crazy again, craving for more. They didn’t keep us waiting so long and when they came back on stage, Per shouted in the mic: ”So, are you ready for more?” and they started playing Listen To Your Heart. Marie while singing the word ”goodbye”was waving like really saying goodbye. Well, soon it was the end of the gig with an incredibly energetic The Look.
When waving goodbye at the end of the show, they just couldn’t believe how fantastic the concert was and the crowd didn’t want to let them go off the stage. Marie and Per were standing there much longer than usually, waving and Marie was blowing many kisses to the audience. Then they started walking and turned back before they left the stage, to wave one last goodbye. Marie even said to Per ”it’s amazing!” It was actually amazing x 3! People leaving the venue, talking to each other said ”What a concert!” Tons of them.
Since the next show is in Dresden without a day off and the trucks should have been packed fast, Micke N-S already started packing the stuff during LTYH. The short videos during the concert were filmed by Micke Lindström tonight.
Anders Roos, the fab photographer of the upcoming Roxette XXX tour book was taking tremendous amount of pictures both of the crowd and the happenings on stage, as well as during the building up the stage, etc. He already has several thousands of photos from which it is probably very difficult to choose only some that would fit in the book. This time he even asked Micke N-S to fix a camera onto Magnus’s Blue Swede Sex Machine. Would be great to see the result one day.
BERLIN UPDATE: Danke!! What an evening! A truly unforgettable Saturday in this mighty city. What a crowd! So much energy we forgot that this was the third show in four days!!!!! Unbelievable to be on stage with almost 11.000 Roxers in front of us!!! Thanx a million. Still got an andrenalin rush!!! Wow. /P.
No rest for the wicked! Next stop is Dresden in some hours (28th June).
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: Pack die Badehose ein)
Oh, what a night. Late June, back in 2015. What a very special time for me, as I remember, what a night. Hypnotizing, mesmerizing me. She was everything I dreamed she’d be.
Photo by Kirsten Ohlwein
Oh yes, it’s definitely time to quote The Four Seasons (especially here in Hamburg) after tonight’s Roxette show in O2 arena. There’s no better way to describe this night.
After a very smooth entrance and nice security guys in front of the venue we had to experience some very silly rules when we got inside: we weren’t allowed to sit down, we weren’t allowed to hang whatever over the fence, we weren’t allowed to take photos during the first song, which is funny, because the security guys told everyone in the first row about it and obviously expected us to spread the word among the rest of everyone in the standing area. At least we were allowed to breathe, sing, get the balloons ready, dance and have fun – and how much fun we had.
Compared to Cologne, this band got even better. Marie was definitely in a top top top shape, she jammed, improvised and finally revived Hey Jude during The Look. Oh, it was the moment she started to hum the Hey Jude-na na na’s when I realized how much I had actually missed it. If she continues like that everyone will have lots of fun. Per also rocked the stage once again, gave everything he could which we could judge by his sweaty face very soon.
Christoffer surprised the Hamburg citizens in the audience with his version of “An der Nordseeküste” as Joyride intro and people even started to sing while he played and they obviously sang loud enough to make Marie wonder about that particular song. I had actually expected this to happen with “Viva Colonia” in Cologne, but this one was definitely better. We expect a very rocky version of “Berliner Luft” on Saturday, btw.
Photo by Kirsten OhlweinPhoto by Kirsten Ohlwein
During “Sleeping In My Car” it seemed the sound was rather bad, but it was only minutes later when we finally could actually hear them singing. The Hamburg show on June 25th 2015 definitely was one of the best shows during the European leg – voicewise, musicwise, energywise, audiencewise. Can things get even better?
It didn’t make much sense to turn the heads around when you were in the front row. Unfortunately there weren’t so many hands up in the air right behind us, but the audience on the seats made quite a noise and it boosted the band to new heights. Keep the whistles, shouts and claps coming, folks. They want it, they need it and we can easily give it.
Funny side fact: German radio station NDR 90,3 broadcast a special show about the concert between 22:00 and 00:00 and while we waited in the car to leave the parking lot we just tuned in when the host said they are about to play some live song directly from the arena – what followed then was the Travelling live version of It’s Possible. But they had vox pops from the people leaving the arena when the show was finished – everyone very positive, very touched by Marie, very happy and very thankful, one woman even said she feels it is an honor to hear Marie live again. So sweet!
HAMBURG UPDATE: Oh yea! Awrite! Supergig tonite at the O2 World in Hamburg. Thanx all you approx 8000 ppl showing up. We had a perfect Thursday!! Thanx for all your singing along + your support, let’s continue this German tour like tonight!!!! Cheers, P.
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 /w Nordseeküste
nheim show was much better than the concert in Dresden, not everyone agreed on that. Most of the fans I talked to shared my opinion: Marie’s voice was outstanding, the band had their energy back after a well-deserved day off and most important: The audience was much more affectionate than in Dresden. But then there were a few who disagreed. So all you ever get in our reviews is, of course, a personal opinion.
e 45th on this tour. The best way to check if the show was good or not is, though, to talk to or listen to the no-die-hards leaving the venue. Yesterday I picked up words like “Es war so hammergeil” which can be translated as “This was so fucking awesome”. Other people were singing “The Look” while they made their way to their car with several hundred other spectators. The love and affection already showed during the show and once people start cheering, that band cannot stop to rock. It’s not the die-hards who make the show a success – it’s all the people in the back. Once Marie and Per got them they never let go. I witnessed this in Cologne, Hamburg certainly Berlin and now in Mannheim. “How do you do” is the one song that can turn a show in Germany – it never did in Dresden, but it did in Mannheim and the roof almost went off. It doesn’t matter that not everything goes right. Per missed his part in Joyride, Marie cursed a bit about some lyrics she had forgotten and the “99 Luftbal
lons” intro to Joyride didn’t really make the people go crazy – but in the end this is a live band and this is what makes them so special. The sound was terrific – this band sounds damn tight and if we not already had gotten a live CD I would have begged for one at this very point. Yes, maybe, Roxette never sounded better live than between 2012 and 2015.
