WANTED – Complete Borgholm gig on DVD

The demand to see Roxette’s complete Borgholm gig(s), recorded on 25th-26th July 1989 is h.u.g.e. There is an evergreen discussion among Roxers since the ’90s and we just can’t conclude what might have happened to the recorded materials.

Collage of some WANTED pictures shared during the flashmob.

The discussion started again during the last days of December when Sandra Knospe came up with the idea to organize a flashmob to show how many of us want the complete Borgholm gig on DVD. The plan was to post one or more screenshots of the live scenes that are already available of the Borgholm shows. The idea was of course supported by tons of us Roxers. Sandra created a cool ”WANTED – Complete Borgholm gig on DVD” background pic on which anyone could insert their own preferred Borgholm live stills. Those who were more into completely ready stuff either reposted others’ pics or posted the well-known What Do We Want meme generated by Zoltán Dúl stating ”Who are we?” ”Roxers!” ”What do we want?” ”The full Borgholm-gig on DVD!” ”When do we want it?” ”For Christmas 2017!” Clear messages on both types of pictures.

We had been waiting impatiently for the time (2nd January) to come when we could all ”spam” Roxette’s Facebook page with our pics. If you check posts by others on the page, you’ll see that quite some Roxers joined the flashmob. We all love such happenings.

Later we got a little spam back from Mr. G. He shared some Memory Lane Monday pics on all the Facebook pages he is handling. At the same time, we could realize he saw the flashmob posts, but all he ”reacted” on them was sharing the old RXB article that collected those live materials which should be released one day, as well as posting the official video to Dangerous with the text ”Summertime at the Borgholm Castle. /P.” Oh. Yeah. THAT’s the summertime we would like to know more about. 😉

3 years ago Per posted on Roxette’s Facebook page that they were ”having discussions with EMI (Warner) about re-releasing all VHS/DVD Rox live + documentaries from the past. How about that? Maybe a huge box set? Rox channel on YouTube? Guess the hardest part is to find the stuff in the vaults….” A week later Mr. G was excited to post another update telling ”Hope to get most of the live VHS & DVD releases from the past out in the open (in top quality) for your insatiable eyes and ears to enjoy. It’s a little messy in the archives at the moment due to the huge EMI/Warner-merger but I’ve got new batteries in my flashlight! We’re on the case, promise.”

To help the team what to look for in the archives, Tomasz collected all possible live performances worth to release in an article.

It seems that the mess still couldn’t be sorted out completely, however, according to the rumor TDR shared there will be a DVD box including ”Sweden Live! (Norrköping 1988), Look Sharp Live (various 1989), Live-Ism (Sydney 1992), Crash!Boom!Live! (Johannesburg 1995) and Room Service (Stockholm 2001) from the Telenor webcast” without extras.

Last June when we interviewed Per, he still couldn’t tell us details about the DVD project. All he could share was his thought that ”the first things that should be made available are all those old live VHS-tapes and DVDs that’s not around anymore”.

Since most people nowadays don’t even have a machine to play VHS, it’s always nice to see old materials being released on DVD. Blu-ray is in this case out of the question, as those old tapes are probably not of real high quality for a BD release. But ”just” re-releasing old stuff is a bit sad. We are sure there is more to include.

Back to the original topic, Borgholm. What happened to the live recordings? Has there ever been a complete recording? Of both Borgholm shows and rehearsals maybe? Or was it just some footage we could already see in this or that video and on Look Sharp Live VHS? Nah… with such technology back then, shot by an American crew it’s impossible. There must have been a complete recording. Or if not complete, there is surely much more than what we could see so far. But where is that material hiding? Deep down in a cellar? Is it lost? Did the tapes get burnt? Or? Just for the record, we are happy with any raw cut material as well. It would look sharp as an extra in the DVD box. 😉 Haha.

Until we find out what happened (hope dies last…), you can still enjoy these videos and keep your fingers crossed: Listen To Your Heart, Dangerous, Paint, Dance Away, Cry, Silver Blue.

P.S.: Borgholm being such an important place in Roxette’s history, we are very happy about the fact that at least Per will play there this summer on his solo tour.

 

Roxette filmed a very cool thing at X-Level Studios

As Per posted about it some days ago, Roxette was on a secret mission at X-Level Studios. However, the studios got a new name, it’s the earlier EMI studios in Skärmarbrink, Stockholm where Roxette, Per, Marie and GT worked a lot over the years. The legendary studio complex has been regarded as Sweden’s top music studio for 50 years and been a prime location for some of the biggest music names in the world.

Roxette_at_X-Level_Studios
Pic by X-Level Studios

You could see the pic attached to this article earlier as it was spreading on Instagram and now X-Level Studios shared it on their FB page stating:

Roxette (who recorded most of their albums here) were back to film a very cool thing that is coming out soon.

Roxette Cafe did a little investigation and found out that Legends Of Rock did a live recording at X-Level Studios, kind of an exclusive show for 50 guests. They filmed it together with interviews with the band members and planned to release it as a CD/DVD package. This is said to be the first concert in a planned long series by X-Level.

Can the stuff recorded by / for Roxette be related to that series? It will turn out soon. Again this word ”soon”. Well, Legends Of Rock recorded their thing in April 2013 and at the end of 2014 they were still only planning to release it. Maybe it’s already out since then.

So this ”soon” seems to be Per’s soon again. But since there is a new single release soon, then a new album release soon, then (or even earlier) the Roxette Diaries movie release soon, we can just put this X-Level Studios recording on our list of soons. It’s a pretty eXXXciting list anyway, isn’t it?

Gyllene Tider’s DVD entered the charts at No. 1!

Gyllene Tider’s Dags att tänka på konserten DVD was released on 23rd July and so it’s the first week we can see it on Sweden’s DVD charts. Entered at No. 1! Fantastic news!

GT_DVD_1st_week_No_1_20140731

 

Here is a little charts history with all the other GT DVD’s.

 

GT_25_DVDGT 25 LIVE! En scen vid en plats i en stad (2004)

Released: 24th November 2004

Entered the charts: 3rd December 2004 at No. 1

Weeks on the charts: 40

No. 1: for 9 weeks in a row

Certificate: double platinum

 

GT_Karaoke_hits_DVDKaraoke Hits! (2004)

Released: 23rd July 2004

Entered the charts: 8th October 2004 at No. 9

Weeks on the charts: 20

No. 1:

Certificate:

 

GT_Atertaget_DVDÅtertåget (1996)

Released on DVD: 28th July 2004 (VHS release date: 17 November 1997)

Entered the charts: 6th August 2004 at No. 1

Weeks on the charts: 10

No. 1: for 4 weeks in a row

Certificate:

 

GT_Parkliv_DVDParkliv! (1981)

Released on DVD: 29th September 2004

Entered the charts: 8th October 2004 at No. 3

Weeks on the charts: 5

No. 1:

Certificate:

 

In case you haven’t ordered your Dags att tänka på konserten DVD yet, you can do it at these links: Bengans, Ginza, CDON.

 

Update on 7th August: DVD is still at No. 1, for the 2nd week in a row.

Update on 14th August: Still No. 1, for the 3rd week in a row.

Update on 21st August: DVD is at No. 2 this week.

 

Gyllene Tider – Dags att tänka på konserten – DVD is out!

We had to wait a year to be able to relive the sommartider of our lives, but now here it is! Gyllene Tider’s Dags att tänka på konserten was released on 23rd July. I would say it was worth the waiting. Even if it’s ”just” a DVD (I mean no Blu-ray around – who knows why…), the quality is great and what we can see on the DVD is simply fantastic. It contains a complete concert (24 songs, 1 hour 36 minutes), a documentary (1 hour 6 minutes) and 3 videos. Photos on the cover and in the DVD booklet are by Anders Roos. He’s the photographer who took those amazing shots for the Alla tiders Gyllene Tider book, which was written during the tour.

 

Concert

The stage scenes are from Skövde, but the crowd scenes are mixed from 2 concerts. Besides Skövde, some crowd cuts are from Eskilstuna, so if you were there at the last 2 concerts of the tour, there is a high chance you will see yourself.

What I felt when watching the concert was that I was there in Sweden again, on a summer night, being part of a loud crowd, seeing 5 energy bombs on stage. And it left a constant smile on my face during the whole show. Judging by what I saw, Skövde concert must have been one of the Top5 most energetic gigs. From the 2nd song the crowd was more reactive and I must say it’s amazing to see everyone doing the coreography Micke Syd shows during Min tjej och jag. When you are in the crowd in the front you can’t see such things and it must feel so great to see this reaction from your crowd when you are on stage.

Another fantastic thing to see is young and old (let’s say from 15 to 70) singing along to old and new GT songs. It’s unbelievable what music, THIS music can do to people.Too cool!

Camera angles are great, too. Grumpy Productions did a fab job. You might remember the posts (1; 2) on Gyllene Tider’s Facebook page about the camera techniques they used in Skövde. Looking good!

I left it for last, but it’s definitely one of the most important points: T.H.E. S.O.U.N.D. I.S. P.U.R.E. A.W.E.S.O.M.E.N.E.S.S.! Hats off to Christoffer Lundquist who did the mixing! So now we are in need of a live CD! Anyway, wasn’t it the case that we get one? Hm.

Documentary – Gyllene Tider sommaren 2013

It’s the same that was broadcast on TV4 last December. A fantastic one! You can read my review of it if you click HERE. Love to have it on DVD.

Videos

Man blir yr and Det blir aldrig som man tänkt sej are the official videos we already saw. Regarding Allt jag lärt mej om livet (har jag lärt mej av Vera), even if I didn’t really expect that it would be an unknown video, something new, it would have been a nice surprise if it weren’t the Humorgalan performance from May 2013.

 

One more thing I must add is that towards the end of the concert part I felt the same I felt at the end of each gig last summer: I don’t want this come to an end! But the good thing with the DVD is that you can play it as many times as you wish. This one is definitely something I’ll play several times in my life.

If you haven’t bought / ordered your copy yet, do yourself a favour and get yourself this DVD. If you attended any of the concerts, the reason why is to relive those magic moments. If you couldn’t attend any of the shows, you’ll have the chance to jump and sing along in front of your TV now. Here are the links from where you can order the DVD: Bengans, Ginza, CDON.

 

GT_DVD_front  GT_DVD_back

Here’s the list of Roxette concerts we think should be released

We all got very excited when Per Gessle posted these two posts on the Roxette official Facebook page on the 17th and 25th of January.

FRIDAY UPDATE: Having discussions with EMI (Warner) about re-releasing all VHS/DVD Rox live + documentaries from the past. How about that? Maybe a huge box set? Rox channel on YouTube? Guess the hardest part is to find the stuff in the vaults…. /P. [Post by Roxette Official.]

SATURDAY UPDATE: For your info: Hope to get most of the live VHS & DVD releases from the past out in the open (in top quality) for your insatiable eyes and ears to enjoy. It’s a little messy in the archives at the moment due to the huge EMI/Warner-merger but I’ve got new batteries in my flashlight!. We’re on the case, promise. /P. [Post by Roxette Official.]

At this point all comes down to a simple question: what to release. Or to be even more precise: what Roxette have rights to release and is in a decent audio/picture quality. Per admitted hismelf the hardest part is to find the stuff in the vaults. We have decided to compile a simple to-do, to-find, to-release list, in case Warner forgets how many great concerts Roxette recorded in the past! Let’s do the proper research together – in case we missed something, please drop us a line or two here in the comment section or on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/RoxetteBlog), so we might save a pearl or two from being forgotten 😉

With numbers (1, 2, 3…) we marked official VHS/laser disc/DVD releases, with letters (A, B, C…) – TV performances/internet broadcasts that could be counted as full scale gigs. For obvious reasons we have excluded all unprofessional, private and bootleg recordings as well as other single TV performances (playbacks or live). We didn’t count in one or two first songs from concert reports on TV as it’s a usual thing that journalists have access to those from each concert (as long as there are cameras in the arena). We are here for live experiences – ONLY!

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