Patrícia Peres

After a sold-out show in Viborg, Denmark, the Roxette gang landed in Munich, Germany for yet another sold-out gig.

Tollwood Summer Festival takes place in the Olympiapark. You could enter the festival area anytime, but gates to Tollwood Musik-Arena, the arena where the concerts are held, opened only at 18:00. There were long lines at all three entrances, despite the fact that it started raining heavily several times.

While queuing, we could hear the soundcheck at around 17:00.

After entering the venue, we realized there was a merch stand inside the arena. This was the first place on this leg of the tour where you could buy merch.

The arena was actually a big tent and it was so hot inside that you could feel like you were in a sauna. The concert was set to start at 19:00 and special guest Moss Kena warmed up the crowd that was clapping loudly for long until 20:15 when Roxette entered the stage.

The setlist was the same as in Viborg, there was only one extra song, Queen Of Rain at the end.

After SIMC, Per greeted the Munich crowd and said it’s always a treat to be here and great to see so many people. He said it’s hotter here than in Sweden. Haha. The crowd was laughing. It was really like a sauna. PG said they would play some of their favourite Roxette songs and asked the audience to sing along, no matter if they knew the lyrics or not. Then he turned to Chris so that he could start the next song, but Chris pointed at Lena and then Mr. G realized that he forgot to introduce her. Per introduced Lena as a new member of the Roxette family. The crowd cheered for Lena. She greeted the audience too and said “Mir geht’s super”. The crowd cheered for her even louder. She continued saying it’s her first time in Munich, so she feels like a virgin, touched for the very first time and she likes it. Then Chris started playing DFS.

After DFS, Per said ”OMG, you’re on fire!” to the audience. So he slowed down a bit and after explaining that the band went to Capri to record this album in the ’90s, he started to play the title song, CBB.

SGNO kicked off the roof, but after that it was time to slow down a bit again. Lena dedicated IMHBL to Marie and the audience cheered.

HDYD was a hit and so was Dangerous. Then PG introduced the band. Magnus had his I Got You (the James Brown song) moment again, Clarence started to play Neverending Love and the crowd was singing along. Jonas, the good old Roxette member, who took an almost 20-year break, got a very loud and long cheering from the audience. On backing vocals and some funky tambourine there was Dea, one of Per’s favourite singers. On drums, a new kid on the block, Norpan Eriksson, an amazing guy. And last, but certainly least, the last living hippie in Sweden and probably in all Scandinavia, Christoffer on lead guitar. As the intro to Joyride, Chris played In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus. The Munich crowd was extremely happy to hear it.

After Joyride, the band went off stage, but the crowd didn’t stop clapping for a second until they came back again after a longer while. Mr. G changed his shirt, the black one to a white one and came back with Lena only. They performed Spending My Time as a duet without the band. Per said he wrote it on the very same afternoon as Joyride, it was a busy Tuesday. Haha. After the song, reacting to the crowd’s loud sing along, Lena said it was pure magic.

LTYH was the next encore song and here I have to mention that I just love the tribute to Pelle here. There is that drum part kept in it the way Pelle played it during the past years with Roxette. Always amazing to hear it.

We thought the gang would finish the set with The Look. After TL, Per thanked the audience for coming, wished them a fantastic summer and he said he hopes to see them again somewhere down the road. He asked to take care of each other and stay safe and sound. And then instead of taking a bow, they performed QOR as the last song. Wonderful!

The whole concert was simply magical! The crowd was fantastic, they were singing along to each and every song very loudly and clapping along as well. The band rocked big time and Per was on a high despite the strong heat. Lena is gaining more and more self-confidence, and even if these songs are not in her DNA, she performs them outstandingly well. In Munich there were many hardcore fans from different countries. There are big Marie fans among them and they mentioned that they like the fact that Lena doesn’t want to imitate Marie. She is doing her own thing and that makes the show enjoyable even for them, so they don’t have to compare Lena to Marie all the time. She is doing a fab job and has an awesome voice.

At the end of the show, not only Per threw his remaining picks from the mic stand, but also Norpan threw his drumsticks to the crowd.

Setlist

1. The Big L.
2. Sleeping In My Car
3. Dressed For Success
4. Crash! Boom! Bang!
5. Opportunity Nox
6. Fading Like A Flower
7. Almost Unreal
8. Stars
9. She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
10. It Must Have Been Love
11. How Do You Do!
12. Dangerous

Band presentation

13. Joyride

Encore

14. Spending My Time
15. Listen To Your Heart
16. The Look
17. Queen Of Rain

Next stop is Madrid, Spain on 27th June! Check out all the tour dates and links to ticket sales sites HERE!

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres. More photos HERE!

Per after the show:

WOW! Truly amazing gig tonite in Munich. So much love + so many loud voices, I’m speechless! One for the history books for sure. Extremely hot in the arena (especially for old retired ppl like me) but my God, can’t thank you enough for your support! Lena was on fire and so was the band. I’m in good hands, hahaha! Thanks everyone!

Lena after the gig:

Hot tent in Munich yesterday!! Amazing audience! A lot of sweat and joy!! Thank you so much!