BAD KISSINGEN UPDATE! Yes, another great concert in broad daylight (to begin with). Really lovely crowd. The heat was silly (hey we’re from Sweden, we’re not used to these temperatures!!!!) + lots of strange mosquitos the size of Pelle’s cymbals flying around…… but nevertheless a fab show!!! We loved every moment of it, I think you did too! Thanx for stopping by. Day off tomorrow, Formula One qualifying in the UK….can’t miss that…… 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)
Watercolours In The Rain / Paint
Fading Like A Flower
How Do You Do!
It Must Have Been Love
Dressed For Success
Dangerous
Joyride (intro: Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer)
The first things that come to my mind when thinking about the Stuttgart show? Heat, 34°C outside, no air condition inside the arena, strange waiting lines outside by people who don’t know what a queuing order is, a door that opens much later than the other which means that half of the die-hard Roxers who waited there since 9 in the morning didn’t make it to the front row (things like that happen, yes, but it’s annoying, every single time), sweat, sweat, sweat, fainting people and more sweat.
Photo by Kirsten Ohlwein
How it’s possible that a concert can take place in an Arena without air conditioning when it’s THAT hot outside – I don’t know. It shouldn’t. It’s pretty dangerous to gather people in front of stage and not give them enough fresh air to breathe. This has to be said at this place. It’s not Roxette’s fault, of course, but it has to be said anyway. I have never seen any Roxer being that wet after the show. We looked like as we were in heavy rain but certainly not a concert. When somebody asks me in three years about the Stuttgart show 2015, I will most probably say: It was one of the best Roxette shows of the leg, but it was much too hot, really silly and dangerous.
Which brings me to my next point: the show! What a show! Wow! The heat most certainly did not affect the band and did most of all not affect Marie. She also had a hard time with the heat but her voice didn’t. This could have probably been the best vocal performance by Marie on this leg and it’s most definitely the second best show of the German leg after Berlin. Maybe the only reason why this show can’t top Berlin is that the last spark between audience and band didn’t catch fire. Don’t get me wrong – the audience was great, cheering, full of love and support and understanding, but Berlin is hard to top. It’s just a feeling, but what happened in Berlin is probably a “once in 100 shows” thing.
But Stuttgart comes close for sure. The band sweat their asses off, Per was soaked at the end of the show and he had even changed his shirt. Go figure!
Highlights tonight most certainly were Listen To Your Heart, Crash!Boom!Bang! and The Heart Shaped Sea which for me worked for the first time in seven shows that I have attended so far. Finally I could actually hear Marie. The song which is meant to be a duet found its way back to the duet. Thanks for improving this, guys!
Marie was in top top top shape, which means that some of her gestures and faces reminded of the 1994 Marie. There’s so much energy, determination and love for what she does in her and it totally showed today. She doesn’t have to stand or walk around to let it show. All she needs is her mic, a cheering audience and a good day. It was astonishing to witness these flashback moments. It’s all there in her and you get the most exciting concert when she has a day to show all this.
The whole band seemed even more energetic than in Mannheim, which also was a great show, but this one topped it for many reasons: audience, Marie’s top top top shape, the awesome sound that this arena provided (finally the music was louder again which meant we couldn’t hear ourselves singing which was different in Dresden and Mannheim) and an dialogue improvising Per who didn’t care about the heat and ran his ass off on stage. To say he was soaking wet is probably an understatement.
This show comes right after Berlin, no doubt. One of my highlights of the show was this dialogue:
Per: “We played here four years ago. Were you there?”
Audience cheering.
Per: “I was here.” (pointing at Marie) And you were here. I remember you.”
Marie: “And I remember you. Thank God.”
It says so much, it says a lot lot lot about Roxette, about everything around it, about Marie. Maybe it’s all you need to know when you attend a show.
STUTTGART UPDATE: Oh yeah! 34 degrees on stage and the whole arena was cookin’!!! Fab gig tonight, folks. Thanx for stopping by and making us sweat a bit…… Lovely to see so many people having such a good time. Loads of familiar faces in the front rows! Nice!!!! The Rox machine moves with ease to Bad Kissingen tomorrow. 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 (intro: Muss i denn zum städtele hinaus)
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)
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.
