Pelle Alsing

Göteborg was cooking tonight!

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For the setlist and collection of reviews click here.

Take my review from yesterday and multiply the blowing-away factor by at least 10! Göteborg concert was P-U-R-E A-W-E-S-O-M-E-N-E-S-S!

Before the concert we met Christoffer and he said we should be prepared for maybe not the best sound, because the acoustics of the concert hall are not the best as he knows it. However, we were sure they would do their best with the sound anyway and in the end, to me it seemed to be perfect. We also met Marie before the show and she said she is so happy that so many international fans are here to support her. She was in a great mood, smiling again all the time and she also said she tries to be better than she was yesterday in Jönköping.

One word: BAREFOOT! Now we know this always means a concert will be mind-blowing.

MF_GTB_03Some of us decided that whatever happens, we will stand up already when Kom vila hos mig comes. As we’ve been mostly in the first 3 rows, we all stood up and the rest of the audience realized it had to be like that, so they stood up as well. Great crowd it was! Everyone could see that Marie & the band liked it a lot, so we kept the energy high in the crowd and so did Marie on the stage.

She was acting much more, e.g. in Bara för en dag she made gestures according to the lyrics like ”… göra mej vacker och tvätta mitt hår, låta solen torka det …”. It was great to see her acting.

During Sparvöga the audience held up glow sticks (thanks Basia Konarzewska & Chrissie Roehrs for organizing it) and moved their arms to the rythm of the song. After the song Marie said it’s a fantastic crowd. She said that after several songs, since the audience indeed was continuously fantastic.

 

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Ett hus vid havet today was how it has to be, all the boats and seagulls were at the right place now and the ”Och göra som jag vill” (= And do what I want to do) line at the end was as effective as yesterday.

We stood up again when Så länge det lyser mittemot started and the whole audience joined us. We held up some letters to show Marie the words: KÄRLEK and VINNARE. She recognized it. KÄRLEK stayed there on the stage. Thanks to our RXB Team mate, Kirsten Ohlwein for organizing this and drawing the letters.

The biggest party was again at Efter stormen. Everyone in the front was dancing, jumping, singing along and in the back people were rather clapping. It was fab to see the crowd like this!

It was again Micke N-S who helped Marie going off the stage during Den sjunde vågen. Now talking about the crew, I must mention at this point the hilarious guitar changings of Christoffer. He is wearing a hat and when Jakob Johnzén, his technician comes up the stage, Jakob gets the hat to his head while the guitar finds its right place at Chris.

MF_GTB_02There wasn’t a long break before Marie came back to the stage. Micke was helping her to come to the mic stand. Aw, they are such a lovely couple! We’ve been already standing and also the rest of the crowd, so we were in the right position to continue the party during Mellan sommar och höst.

When we could hear the first notes of the closing song, Tro, I couldn’t and didn’t want to believe that this party was coming to an end. It was such an amazing night! Those who were in Växjö said it was very-very close to it. But one thing is sure: Göteborg crowd was the best so far! Marie confirmed it as well.

I must add that there were some changes in the lyrics here and there, but if someone doesn’t know them by heart, couldn’t recognize it. Marie handled it perfectly and she gave each song a great flow. Hats off!

 

 

After the concert Marie went straight to have a rest, but we could talk to the band. Jokke said the audience was amazing and the show was fantastic. Very similar to Växjö. Micke said it means so much to Marie that the audience is reacting like this and that gives her even more energy. He also said it was a fantastic concert and Pelle thought so, too.

Thank you, Marie & the band for the amazing experience and huge thanx for your cooperation, Göteborg!!!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifhaKPoUyzg

 

Next show is on 19th March in Uppsala. There will be a bit less international fans, but I hope the spirit stays like this. More of us are there in Halmstad on 21st March, so we are expecting a very similar energetic night then.

 

Being blown away song by song by Marie in Jönköping

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MF_Jokke_Ett_hus_vid_havetIt was a special concert from RoxetteBlog’s point of view, since 4 of the 5 RoxetteBloggers were there in Jönköping tonight. The standard review you will find if you scroll down on our website, but why I’m writing a separate review is because almost a month passed since the tour started, but my time has come only today. For me it was a very special show, because it was my first ever Marie solo concert. And it was just a perfectly fantastic first experience for me. Marie was in a very good mood, smiling all the time, even joking many times and doing funny facial expressions. One must love this woman!

 

When she entered the stage we could already see she was barefoot again. So we could be kind of sure about the outcome, that it was going to be a fab show. Sitting in the front row  made you feel very close to her, actually, it felt like being on a private concert.

 

 

Så stilla så långsamt sounds awesome in this arrangement live. I saw some videos already on YouTube and already thought it sounded great, but hearing it live was amazing. Marie and Christoffer are magical in this.

Then came Kom vila hos mig. I was among the ones who from the very beginning questioned this tour being seated. Then I thought OK, maybe I’ve just never attended any concerts like this in the past and just don’t know how it is when you’re actually there. NOW I can tell it IS very hard to be sitting. At this song I felt like standing up, but as everyone was still sitting, I didn’t dare to. Too bad. This song just rocks too much. Both on the album and live.

Jokke_setlistIf you ask me, it was still hard sitting during Bara för en dag. I’m always amazed how Marie can sing this song live because of the fast parts. I can’t even read out those words so fast after one another. She rulez!

Det regnar igen, just like any other song from Marie’s best album, Den ständiga resan, is very much her. How she is feeling the song makes you have goosebumps.

Sista sommarens vals is also very much Marie. Of course, it’s the only song she wrote for her latest album, Nu! What I was missing in this song was a closer connection between Marie and Micke. Yes, sometimes I felt Micke was sitting too much in the back for that. And it’s of course not a complaint and I know it can’t always be the way it was in Tack för musiken show last December. Micke is fantastic on the piano.

I always liked Ber bara en gång, but it was just after I saw a video from this tour on YouTube when I started loving it. Should I mention it was hard sitting during this one, too…?

Sparvöga was again an awesome live experience. You can see how much Marie loves this song. All her facial expressions are showing it.

Then came some real funny moments in Ett hus vid havet. This is the song which is performed by Marie and Jokke. Jokke is standing next to her, also singing some part of the song. He has a great voice! From the videos it might not be evident for everyone, but he DOES have a pleasant voice. The funny moments: Marie messed up the lyrics, but was just smiling at it, mixing up boats and seagulls. She was looking at Jokke’s mouth to see what he was singing, but she just wanted to sing ”Och göra som jag vill” (= And do what I want to do). Who cares? Marie, you CAN do whatever you want to do! We were laughing so much at her reactions during this song.

Marie_JönköpingEtt bord i solen was one of the most touching songs. She said before she started singing that she wrote it when she got cancer. It made me remember how grateful we all have to be that she is still here, giving so much to us with her singing.

The next most touching song was Så skimrande var aldrig havet. I’ve never been a big fan of this song, but my Gosh… Marie’s performance left me breathless. Also her facial expressions during the song were undescribable. This song is just so much hers.

At some point, Marie said she is performing new and old songs during the concert, but mainly old ones. It was funny how she expressed herself. Ännu doftar kärlek is definitely one of the oldest, but also one of the best songs.

Then came Så länge det lyser mittemot. I don’t even have to mention it was hard sitting during this song, too…. So we stood up towards the end. Unfortuntaly, from row 4 no one else felt like this, but at least we had a party in the front and Marie and the band liked it.

I’m not sure anymore about before which song Marie wanted to go on with the next song, but everyone else was late, so she was laughing and said: ”OK, nästa” (= OK, the next one). The audience was also laughing out loud. Maybe it was before Om du såg mig nu.

And what we’ve been all waiting for, the real party came at Efter stormen. First we stood up in the front rows, then everyone else in the audience stood up. We’ve been dancing, jumping, singing along. At last!!! It felt incredibly good!

Again came a slower song, Den sjunde vågen. We had some more funny moments, which I also have on video. Check it out by clicking on the embedded video in the article. I started recording it from the lovely sound Marie made while taking a breath (we were smiling at it) and you can also see it wasn’t BoJo who helped Marie going off the stage tonight, but Micke N-S. It was such a funny part. After Miss Effe went off the stage, the guys went crazy with the guitars. They could have their rocking moments. Both Christoffer and Jokke could let their guitars bleed. Surjo might not be the craziest guitarist on Earth. To me he seems to be a calm and quiet person, but he is also doing a fantastic job back with his bass. Pelle is great on the drums, we could get used to it during the Roxette tours. There is a plexi glass in front of his drumset since Malmö concert and this probably provides an even better sound. The sound was fab.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TkjyZleW24

Marie didn’t let us wait so long and she came back to the stage after about 2 minutes. It was just a very short break. We felt she really wanted to be on stage again. And oh yes! The first extra song is Mellan sommar och höst, my all time favourite MF song. It rocked big time and the whole audience was standing again. Front rows were even dancing & jumping again. Woohoo!

Then came Den bästa dagen and when Marie messed up the lyrics, the audience helped her singing out loud and she thanked it while she was smiling. It is always so heart-warming when the audience helps her like this. Those who already attended some other concerts during the tour, said it was the first time during this tour when the audience helped like this.

Why do all good things come to an end? The last song was of course Tro. Yet another song which is very much Marie. Towards the end of the song we held up some letters so she could read the word: VINNARE (= winner). She is! And we are also winners to have her! Thank you so much for all what you are giving to us, Marie!

After the concert fans were heading to the hotel where we thought Marie was staying and when Marie and Micke came we had a small chat with them. They said it was a great show and thanked to us for that. They also said it was hot in the theatre, but we said they could only thank it to themselves.

Then came the rest of the band, Chris, Pelle, Jokke and Surjo. Chris said from the stage the beginning of the concert seemed to be so-so, but the energy was rising and rising. When I said there is not so much space for Chris and Jokke to play the guitar like what we are used to how Chris plays it on a Roxette tour or Jokke in his own band, they said it’s fine like this. And it IS fine like this. The focus is now completely on Marie and we love it. But we also love the band. They sound great together!

God! I’m sooo grateful I still have 4 concerts to go! Tomorrow Göteborg!!!

 

Interview with Marie Fredriksson before the tour

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Helsingborgs Dagblad (Björn Gadd) did an interview with Marie before the tour starts today in Helsingborg. They asked her what comes to her mind when she looks back on her career. She says:

Time flies when you’re having fun. I am so happy and grateful for everything I’ve been through and that I can still keep on doing what I love most of all.

To the question what she gets her energy and inspiration from she replied she’s at home as much as she can. She can’t wait for spring to come, listening to the birds. She doesn’t like winter.

650x573_MF_tour_2014She talks about how difficult it is – after her illness – for her to write lyrics to songs, she usually starts with the music. She is very proud of Sista sommarens vals, the one and only song she wrote for her new album, “Nu!”.

About Per Gessle she says he has been a great support for her over the years and when it was the hardest time of her life. He is a very dear friend to her and they have a very good sister-brother relationship. Marie is happy that Per wanted to write a song to her in Swedish. That song is Känn dig som hemma.

Ms Effe says she likes Kom vila hos mig very much on the new album. That was one of the first songs Micke wrote for the album.

She says to Helsingborgs Dagblad she wants to pull the audience in up-tempo songs and wants to convey proximity in ballads during the tour. She thinks each tour is something new, every audience is special. It means a lot to her to tour in Sweden again after so many years.

She wanted to start the tour in Helsingborg, as she feels like home there. It’s extra fun that now Jokke Pettersson, her nephew is in the band, too, next to of course, Mikael Bolyos. Pelle Alsing, Christoffer Lundquist, as well as Surjo Benigh are also in the band.

To the question what comes after the tour she replied she always tries to take one thing at a time and now all the focus and energy go for the tour.

Then we’ll see what happens.

TV4 met Marie during the rehearsals

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TV4 met Marie and the band during the rehearsals and did a very short interview with her. In the video we can most probably see the final design of the stage and the final outfits.

Ms Effe says in the interview that her head is spinning, but she’s very happy about touring in Sweden again after so many years and it’s gonna be so much fun. She takes it easy. Lovely to see her in such a good mood in the video.

You can hear Bara för en dag in the clip, so this song will surely be performed during the tour. It sounds goooood! A bit less than 5 days left!!!

CLICK HERE or on the picture to watch the video!

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Roxette LIVE – Travelling The World

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I never thought I would buy something what is able to play a Blu-ray because of Roxette and not because of my fave actors. I also never thought I would buy it earlier than an LP player… But it just happened. And it was all worth it. Actually, the long long long long long waiting for the DVD / Blu-ray / CD was worth it, too.

As per the Blu-ray, I like how it looks like. I mean not the front cover, but how it is structured, the way the CD and the Blu-ray disc are placed in the case. Well, too bad that all the DVDs and Blu-rays seem to be produced in Germany (or at least most of them), since now we are all having this unnecessary and not too sexy stamp on the front cover. When I first saw it, I hoped it was a sticker which I could easily remove, but unfortunately, it’s printed as part of the design…

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I started with watching the Gessle cam stuff & the guitar tech’s secret life from the Blu-ray as I thought most of the other 2 parts I already saw on TV last year.

The Gessle cam videos are still fun. What I like the most is that on the Blu-ray they, of course, have much higher quality than what we can see on Facebook. Even if you already saw most of them (yes, there ARE new ones), you can smile and laugh at what the guys & ladies are doing in the studio or backstage. Per was wrong when he corrected us that the ”So, Christoffer?” part is not 3 minutes, but 30. It’s really ”only” 3 minutes, but it’s a hilarious mix! 🙂

Then comes 12 minutes of ”Studio Work” from the recordings of ”Travelling”, the album. Scenes are from AGM and Atlantis studios with Clarence, Christoffer, Magnus, Pelle, Marie and Helena. Oh, and of course, Per. But you can mainly hear his voice and see him not too often. We got used to this during all these years.

The 3rd Gessle cam video, ”Travelling” is the longest, almost 30 minutes. It’s from several countries: backstage, soundcheck, food, some ”Jesus loves you!” and some more ”So, Christoffer?”, Clarence & Pelle & Magnus ice skating, band, Marie & Per, crew, etc.

The 4th extra is a 5-minute-long video of ”Mikael Nogueira-Svensson – The secret life of a guitar tech”. Micke N-S took care of the gear of Per, Pelle and Magnus during the tour. He’s talking about his job and shows interesting things backstage, like the Blue Swede Sex Machine is having problems all the time. He says he’s like a nanny for the musicians. 🙂 While talking, he is restringing a guitar.

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After these videos I watched the documentary, ”It All Begins Where It Ends – The Incredible Story Of Roxette”. Most of it we could already see last year, but finally, Helena and Dea got their well-deserved part in the docu. Actually, this is the only difference I could notice. And it’s great as it is. No changes were needed besides the backing vocalists’ part. Oh, yes! Another important change is the subtitles. The English subtitles work well.

 

 

 

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”Roxette LIVE – Travelling The World” I saved for last. Chris did an awesome job with the live mix, but we already said that when we saw it on TV. At the same time, I still get dizzy from the constant cuts and I thought a year should have been enough to change them, but Favela kept them as we saw it in the TV cut of the live stuff. No clue why. Whatever. Crowd scenes are still mixed, but at least those confusing titles with mentioning cities and countries are gone. There are now more relevant scenes between the songs than what we saw on TV: backstage moments, fans running to the front row, the drum kit getting dressed for success, etc. Besides these, now it’s more like a real complete show. Awesome to see those 9 songs too, which were not in the TV cut, but made it to the DVD. This way we can enjoy e.g. Marie’s touching performance of ”Perfect Day”, some more of Per’s left leg dance in ”How Do You Do!” and their lovely moments in ”Things Will Never Be The Same”. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts are cut out from the final ”It Must Have Been Love” part, however, Marie and Per are still cut in from the video clip twice. But that’s fine. Getting this front row feeling and reliving the moments of the tour, one starts / continues longing for a new tour.

 

Last but not least, I love having the songs on a live CD, too. Some fans hear Marie from far away or have other problems with the sound on the CD, but my ears are not too sharp for that I assume, since I’m fine with the sound itself. One funny thing is that the preview pic of the live CD is not the final cover, but another sleeve we saw when we were guessing which the final design could be. If I have to choose between the physical release and the digital one, I go for the digital because of having ”Silver Blue” and ”Church Of Your Heart” as bonus tracks there.

All in all, if you ask me what took a year to release this material after we could see most of it already in December 2012, I’m not sure I could tell you. Maybe choosing what to include in the extras from the tremendous amount of Gessle cam videos was a bit time-consuming or doing the subtitles. No clue. But it doesn’t really matter now that it’s in my hands and I could watch it and listen to it. I could do it 24/7. More than that, I want a Roxette tour! NOW!