Maybe it’s time to widen my top list of concerts. Nah, doesn’t matter. Each concert is different and special for one thing or another and the one tonight was definitely a top gig. The show in Turku was magical and I dare to say: it was the best of the last 4 gigs this year!
The support act, Costello realized it’s better to keep those songs in, which have English lyrics than play only in Finnish. It worked better. What we were surprised at was that they started playing at 19:00. We expected the support act to start a bit later and there were almost no people inside the arena except for the first 4-5 standing rows. People started coming in during Costello’s part, but then again, they went out and occupied their seats only after a while.
Roxette started at 20:00. Marie was in an extremely top shape, smiling during the whole show, dancing a bit, swaying her hips many times and pointing at fans every now and then. At the end of the concert she tried to point at each and every fan in the front row. Per was also amazing tonight. Sounded fab! Besides bouncing around, we could see some hot moves from him. He even ”kicked” Christoffer in the ass. Talking about Christoffer, his intro to Joyride worked much better today than in Helsinki. The crowd was quite reactive.
Marie had some problems with the lyrics of Listen To Your Heart, looked at the crowd and asked for help, but almost before she could ask, we were already singing out loud to help her. The whole arena became one and sounded great. Marie even said a short ”sorry” into the mic while she was singing. Sorry for messing up the lyrics. No need to say sorry. We all loved her! Dea was again very supportive. Whenever she felt / heard that Marie might not remember the lyrics, either she just sang a bit louder or she mimed at Marie what’s next.
During The Heart Shaped Sea there were again some red cardboard hearts in the crowd and the Spanish fans brought their colorful wigs to wear them during Dressed For Success. It was fun. Åsa was filming a lot at this concert, too.
In THIS short video you can see Marie throwing kisses to some front row fans and Per realizing there was nothing else to do on a Saturday night in Turku. Hilarious!
Marie, Per and the whole band were filled with so much energy, I bet they could have played another show. And we would have gladly attended that one, too. A pity that this was the last concert for a while, but we don’t have to wait for so long. Hopefully, everyone will have some relaxing time with their families at home. Christoffer and Clarence will surely have less time for that, since Mr G probably already booked some studio hours and won’t let them rest for so long. Marie, Dea, Per, Chris, Clarence, Pelle and Magnus, thanx for all the great shows in 2014! Have a good rest until the next concert and amaze us all again in February 2015!
TURKU UPDATE: Superb ending of the first leg of the XXX Tour! The massive Turku-crowd was outstanding and the band wasn’t too shabby either. Had a wonderful time, Marie in top shape + Magnus in his bartender-look = what else do you need? Films by Åsa tomorrow. Thanx everyone for showing up on the first 15 gigs of the tour, what would we do without you? All the love there is from P&M&Co.
Next gig (first one in 2015) is on 7th February in Auckland, New Zealand, where the new XXX stage design will premiere.
Articles and photos
Videos
Sleeping In My Car
Spending My Time
Real Sugar & She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
Perfect Day
Fading Like A Flower
Fading Like A Flower & How Do You Do!
Watercolours In The Rain
Chris intro to Joyride + Joyride
The Look
Listen To Your Heart
Queen of Rain
Setlist
Sleeping In My Car
The Big L.
Stars
Spending My Time
Crash! Boom! Bang!
Real Sugar
She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
The Heart Shaped Sea
Perfect Day
Fading Like A Flower
How Do You Do!
7Twenty7
It Must Have Been Love
Dressed For Success
Dangerous
Joyride
Extra:
Watercolours In The Rain
Listen To Your Heart
The Look
Queen of Rain
All photos in the article © Patrícia Peres
