Tour

Roxette XXX Tour – Antwerp, Belgium (Lotto Arena) – May 29 – #35

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Tonight it was already the 35th show on this tour. Last time Roxette played in Antwerp was 6 years ago, during the Night of the Proms happening in 2009.

The band hit the stage with much energy and got the huge crowd of Lotto Arena sing along already with Sleeping In My Car. Marie was on a high, acting much with the fans during the whole show and Per had his batteries fully charged, too.

The crowd was getting wilder and wilder and burst out in a la-la-la-loud sing along. Actually, the party audience made their voice heard all night. Just to quote some of their comments regarding how much they enjoyed the show: ”They still have it!”; ”Still top!”; ”Forever the best!”; ”Roxette is still rocking!”; ”Lots of respect!”; ”Man, I’m reliving my childhood right at this moment! They’re brilliant!!!!” etc. Great to hear all the positive vibes.

One die hard German Roxer, Astrid Lenhard even called her friend, another hardcore fan in Austria, Karin Lessjak (who couldn’t be there at the concert) when Marie and Dea performed Watercolours In The Rain / Paint to let her hear Marie singing via the phone at least. Emotional!

The great Anton Corbijn was there in Antwerp, too. The new monitor engineer, according to Per. Didn’t he mention in an interview that they might make a video for the upcoming single? Hm. Could it be that they will work together with Anton on that? Would be fab! What we know for sure is that he took photos during the concert. Hopefully, we get to see them soon.

After Mr. G found his lost password to Facebook or the internet connection in Belgium got better or just took his time off (it’s not too common he doesn’t post for more than 24 hours 😉 ), he posted this after the show:

ANTWERP UPDATE: Yeehaa! Fab evening in front of a pumped up crowd in a sold out Lotto Arena. Great vibe, lots of familiar faces everywhere. Thanx for making this yet another everlasting memory from Belgium!!!! And hey, now it’s Marie’s beeday!! Cheers! /P

It’s indeed Marie’s birthday already. Hip hip! Some Roxers had the chance to sing her Happy birthday after the show, when she was leaving. They made Marie very happy about it. She smiled while they were singing, waved and thanked the fans so much. She said: “You’re always the best, remember that!” Watch the video of it. Thanx for filming and sharing it, Gyöngyvér Simon!

Next gig is on Monday (1st June) in Dublin, Ireland.

 

Articles and photos

Instagram & Twitter: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11;

cuttingedge.be
frontview-magazine.be
nieuwsblad.be
concerts-review.over-blog.com

Videos

It Must Have Been Love
Joyride
Listen To Your Heart & The Look
Familiar faces and sing along talking before Spending My Time
Crush On You & She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
The Look + the end
several videos by After Event Productions

Instavideos:
Spending My Time
It Must Have Been Love
Listen To Your Heart
The Look

 

Setlist

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

Extra:
Listen To Your Heart
The Look

 

200 Roxette World related shows

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As we mentioned it in our latest review, Sandra Knospe celebrated her 200th gig in Amsterdam 2 days ago. 200! What an impressive number! Hard to beat it except if you are member of the band or at least the crew. 😉 It’s not only Roxette, but also Marie and Per solo, as well as Gyllene Tider, but most of the shows she attended were Roxette gigs. She followed the band from South America to Australia, but being a German girl, she of course went to the most shows in Europe. And why I use past tense here I have no clue… she followed the band from here to there and she’ll never stop. Well, she was truly born to follow.

When Sandra enjoyed her 100th show she surely didn’t expect she would have such a special treatment 100 concerts later. The crew offered her to see the venue from a different perspective and showed her around the stage. Then on the concert the band mentioned her anniversary. What a night!

Here are Sandra’s thoughts about her 200th gig:

 

A Rox gig with a different perspective

Amsterdam_01
Pic by Sandra Knospe

Another day another concert. After Rox had played in the famous L’Olympia just the other night it was Amsterdam’s turn now. Approaching the venue at around 5pm I have to say I was surprised to see way less people queuing in front of it than usually. There were two entries, one for people who had bought the expensive Early Entrance tix and one for the remaining concert visitors. I expected to see more “hardcores” in any of the queues, but I guess some just decided to come late since it didn’t make sense to queue the whole day with a normal ticket and no big chances of front row anymore. And other Roxers probably have decided to skip the concert completely and boycott the EE ticket policy from Live Nation. So maybe one doesn’t need to wonder that it felt a bit different outside this time. And in a way it continued inside.

The entrance for EE ticket owners was around 6.15pm and the others followed shortly afterwards. I can’t really tell how the entry was outside, because a friend of mine and I were lucky enough to get to see the stage from the other side of the fence while the doors opened. That evening I celebrated my anniversary of 200 concerts including Rox, P&M solo and GT and a very kind person suggested that maybe it would be interesting for me to see the things from a different perspective. And it was!! I am very happy and extremely thankful that we got this little special treatment!!

After that my friend and I found our places in the front and we were eager to see the show. Some chit chat with people around us and then Eskobar started to play. As a fan who has seen a few shows you can already sense during the supporting act what mood the crowd is in and if they will get infected by the vibe and atmosphere on stage. At least to 90% you can guess that already before Rox enter the stage. And this time it felt as if it would be a bit of a tough job to get the crowd into it. And it turned out to be like that. Of course Rox got a warm welcome when they finally entered the stage and people surely clapped and sang along to the choruses of the oh so well known hits, but in between it felt a bit quiet and the enthusiasm was, well, let’s say limited compared to all other shows of this leg so far. But that only goes for the audience. On stage the glorious 7 had a top night. Marie delivering a great performance, Per bouncing, spinning and dancing around. Lyrics where they belonged. Only Per with a cock-eyed brain once, when singing this line twice in a row during “Crush on You”. And speaking of Per I have to take the opportunity to mention here that there is a noticeable change since this leg in the way Per interacts with the audience. There is much more contact with the people in the front rows than before. Keeping eye contact for more than just a millisecond and checking out the first few rows quite often is not that usual for him. It feels nice to see him being so relaxed and acting and reacting to the crowd in a more open way on stage. And it’s not just me who has noticed it. So whatever has happened that made him change this I hope he keeps it and I am sure all other Roxers hope that, too. Because it adds some extra kix to every gig.

The band was in top shape as well. What I really like a lot is that meanwhile the short dialogues on stage are alternating. It’s not always the same every night and it looks and sounds more spontaneous and not that practiced anymore. Really funny. They should keep that. It adds a lot to the atmosphere. And if not for the normal concert visitors then for sure for the hardcore Roxers. OK, I have to admit I am probably not very objective now since I got a little extra mentioning on stage that night. And THAT surely made my anniversary even more special!! So unexpected and freaking amazing. You simply have to love them all. Not only for the music. But before going into raptures now I’ll rather stick to the review.

I enjoyed the concert to the full and the energy and mood on stage made it exciting for me. So after the gig I was all smiles. The only question I’ve asked myself was “Would it have been different audience wise without EE tix?” I tend to say yes, because I think more hardcores would have shown up and been in front row, partying and jumping all the time. But with 150,-€ per ticket one simply has to cross out some shows when you have planned to see them more than just once during their tour. So I really hope that EE ticket policy won’t become a regular thing. But that’s just my personal impression. And even if most of the visitors weren’t physically active, the general opinion of the people who were standing next to me was positive. They all enjoyed the concert. The only thing some mentioned was the feeling that the concert was too short. Well, what can I say? Surely, I agree on that and all of us would love to get more than 17 songs on a gig, but nevertheless, we enjoyed what we’ve got to the max. So thanks for playing and cheers to the next 200!!

 

The audience could have been more active, but anyway, even if there is a standing still crowd, you can always be sure there is at least one person jumping in the front during the complete show. And it’s Sandra Knospe. Indeed, to the next 200, Sandra!

Roxette XXX Tour – Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Heineken Music Hall) – May 27 – #34

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After an exceptional show at an exceptional venue in Paris, Roxette performed in Amsterdam last night. Amsterdam. A magical place that rewrote Roxette’s future in 2009. In 2012 the band did a sold-out gig at the same venue as they played yesterday, at Heineken Music Hall. It was quite crowded this time as well.

You couldn’t tell there was no day off between 2 concerts. Everyone on stage gave all their energy into the show and enjoyed it to the full. Marie was in top form and Per was bouncing around like hell. The band was also animated, playing all the tunes with much enthusiasm. The crowd was rather reserved when it came to jumping and dancing, but their clapping technique was in top shape and they showed they knew the lyrics to all greatest hits.

You surely remember what happened during the Prague show, when Sandra Knospe had her birthday. Well, yesterday she celebrated her 200th gig (w.o.w.!), so she got mentioned on stage again before Crush On You, thanx to Magnus. To the next 200, Sandra!

As you could read the sad news, a great drummer working together also with Roxette and Per in the past, Christer Jansson passed away. Many well-known Swedish people posted about it and that he’ll be missed. You could even see a post on Roxette’s Facebook page. They decided to have Christer on stage with them last night, so Micke N-S placed a picture of him next to Pelle’s drum set. Nice gesture.

Per & Marie after the show:

AMSTERDAM: Yeah! Wow! Great evening with a most wonderful crowd + band! Thanx everyone for making this yet another Dutch Paradise taking place!!!! See you soon!!!! /P&M

Next gig is on Friday (29th May) in Antwerp, Belgium.

 

Articles and photos

Instagram: 1; 2; 3;

Heineken Music Hall: pics on their website; pics on their FB page
Mojo Concerts
muziek.nl
contactmusic.com
concertcamera.nl

Sandra Knospe’s review

Videos

Stars
The Heart Shaped Sea
Watercolours In The Rain / Paint
Fading Like A Flower
It Must Have Been Love
Band intro + Joyride
The Look + the goodbye
End of the concert; Another goodbye video

Instavideos:
Sleeping In My Car
The Look

 

Setlist

roxette_in_amsterdam
Pic by Tiina Pitkänen

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

Extra:
Listen To Your Heart
The Look

Roxette XXX Tour – Paris, France (Olympia) – May 26 – #33

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rox olympiaRoxette played in Paris last time in 1992. That is 23 years ago! That is definitely too many years, actually, if the records are right, Roxette only played twice in France/Paris, once in 1989 and the last time in 1992.

During the day I had been thinking about the show and what to expect. I was curious to see how the French audience would react for various reasons. Roxette having played here last time so many years ago, not really being present in the charts for a while. I had no clue how French audience is at concerts, would it be fun and sweaty like in Spain or more on the quiet side like in Sweden? And it was in a theatre, which meant seated. So lots of questions that were to be answered later that day.

Eskobar started at 8 pm and played the set that they’ve been playing during this tour. One could indeed feel that they have an audience in France, some people were singing along and a lot more were clapping. It was a great warm up, but somehow people still felt a bit quiet. Would it stay like that?  Not really, that was about to change. As soon as the venue went dark and the Roxette-intro music started to sound, one could feel the excitement building up and when the first chords of “Sleeping in my Car” started to sound the audience went wild,  people stood up immediately, some of those who were sitting in other rows even tried to get to the front, and people were singing very loud. The concert wasn’t going to be seated after all!

After just two songs, the whole place felt very hot, that was going to be a fun night! And everybody on stage was just crazy and happy. I don’t know what they expected from the sold out show. I was positively surprised by the response of the audience and I had the feeling Per and Marie and the band were too.  The sound was awesome (even though Marie sounded very low, and it was not her fault neither the fact that people were singing very loud), that is the positive thing about small concert halls made to enjoy music. It reminded me in a way of the concert at the Beacon in NY, both the great sound and atmosphere.

IMG_0292-1Marie, who was wearing white outfit and black jacket and tie, was laughing a lot, making eye contact with the known faces, and oh! her voice! It was awesome. I don’t know what she did during “Watercolours in the Rain”,  but it was one of those moments when you realise (for the 1012912th time) why you just love this band so much. Goosebumps all the way! It’s hard to describe how she was singing, but it was so touching and jazzy and wow!

Magnus, Chris and Dea were also having lots of fun and Per jumping and running and bouncing as we know him and torturing his shoes (which, by the way, I  realised are very flashy and cool, the sole is very elastic, maybe to make the bumping easy on his knees? I wonder how many pairs he needs every tour…!).

When Per told the story about Magnus’ favourite album, Magnus asked the audience which album they loved most. One could hear that “Joyride” and “Look Sharp!” got the most “votes”, matching the time Roxette was the most successful in France. Before “It Must Have Been Love”, Per asked Marie if she was ready and she said “I am always ready”, which made the audience and Per smile. Yeah! One could see during the whole show that she enjoyed the music a lot, especially Chris playing guitar, and connecting with Dea a lot. It is just an incredible feel-good feeling to see a band that is having so much fun on stage, playing, dancing, teasing eachother and interacting this way, not only with the audience but also among themselves.

Chris chose to play an Edith Piaf song as an intro to Joyride and he got a nice response from the audience. After all, Édith Piaf is one of France’s national divas! “Joyride” was incredible and pure fun, and “The Look” was a great ending of the show. You gotta love Chris going crazy with the guitar, it sounds just terrific! The whole band was in top shape and the audience didn’t stop jumping and singing during the whole night.

Per mentioned the fact that they hadn’t played in Paris since 1992 during the show and he asked how many had been at their last show at Le Zénith back then. A few raised their hands, and while Per was looking at the audience to see who had been there back in 92, he added a fun note when he saw some kids among the audience, saying that they weren’t even born back then. Such a long time!IMG_0315-1

Just like the concert in New York in 2012, this was a very special evening in a special place with lots of history. As Per mentioned in this post on FB, the Beatles played there back in 1964, and so did Édith Piaf and many others, a very legendary place. I think one of the best things were the big red glowing letters announcing Roxette “old style”. How cool is that?

PARIS UPDATE: Oui!!! What an evening! Thanx everyone for making this gig so special. What a great venue, lots of history. Can you believe The Beatles played here 18 days in a row (or something) back in 1964? And Chris played an Edith Piaf-song by heart tonight!!! So special for all of us. We had a blast in this beautiful city. See y’all next time. How about tomorrow in Amsterdam???? Love, P&Co.

All in all, it was a very positive surprise and experience. French fans showed they still love Roxette even though they haven’t been around for a while. And it was a great proud happy feeling to turn around and see so many people standing and having fun at a Roxette concert, in Paris! Let’s hope they don’t have to wait that long till the next show!

After the show, many fans stayed around to chat about the show. Many agreed that this had been a magnifique concert, maybe one of the best they had seen, and that it would be great to see more Roxette concerts in such venues and more relaxed settings. There is no need to queue for hours, which is not only great for our backs and feet but it means we are full of energy for the concert (we are not 20 anymore … ;)), and the atmosphere in such places is just awesome.

Videos

Videos by Raphaäl Andre (not full): Dangerous | How Do You Do! | The Look | Joyride | Listen To Your Heart | Dressed For Success | Fading Like A Flower | Spending My Time | It Must Have Been Love |
The Look 2

Articles and photos

Instagram: 1, 2, 3

laparisiennelife.com
concertmag.net
loeilduspectacle.fr

Setlist

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

Extra:
Listen To Your Heart
The Look

Roxette XXX Tour – Jelling, Denmark (Jelling Festival) – May 23 – #32

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roxette_in_jelling_01
BoJo testing Marie’s heater 🙂 Pic by Christina Tholander

While Europe was busy with the Eurovision Song Contest final (congrats, Sweden!), Roxette performed in Jelling, Denmark in front of appr. 40000 people tonight. It was their first European festival gig this year, more to come during summer. The stage had a big screen on one side, so even those who were very much in the back could see what was happening on stage.

Per appeared in his white outfit, Marie chose black for tonight. The weather was quite cold and everyone was wearing jackets off the stage. Marie was shivering with cold. She was wearing gloves and a scarf, she even got a heater in front of her to keep her warm, but it still wasn’t enough. When they came back for the extra songs, she got a blue blanket to cover her legs not to get frozen. Hopefully, she didn’t catch a cold during the concert.

No matter how freezing cold the weather was, the band was on a high, Marie’s voice was amazing and the crowd was full of party people willing to sing along each and every song.

Regarding the setlist, Roxette performed 16 songs. They skipped The Heart Shaped Sea and left out Almost Unreal.

They came to the venue by the Rox Jet and were rushing to it after the show ended to get back to their warm homes as soon as possible.

Per & Co. after the show:

JELLING UPDATE: Fab gig tonite in front of 30.000 party people. Great vibe, pretty cold for Marie sitting down, but we all had a blast. Pics + vids later on, folks. RoxAir is waiting!!!
Cheers, P&Co.

Next gig is on Tuesday (26th May) in Paris, France.

 

Articles and photos

Instagram: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9;

newsbreak.dk: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6;
jv.dk
bt.dk
vafo.dk
gaffa.dk
poplish.dk
jellingmusikfestival.dk; same on Facebook

Videos

Instavideos
It Must Have Been Love
Dangerous
Listen To Your Heart

 

Setlist

roxette_in_jelling_02
Pic by Christina Tholander

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

Extra:
Listen To Your Heart
The Look

 

Thanx for the updates and for the photos to front row Roxer Christina Tholander!