The Daily Roxette

Roxette World Tour 2011 schedule

London concert satisfies, both on and off stage

Written by Lars-Erik_Olson on May 5, 2009 to and .

LONDON (Updated) - Having recovered from feeling a bit under the weather in Gent, Per Gessle was in top form Monday night when he and his band performed here at the Islington Academy in front of a very appreciative crowd.  Per told The Daily Roxette after the concert that he thought it had become one of the Top 3 shows on the tour so far.

Fans from Brazil — almost all of whom had flown into London just to attend this concert — made up the largest contingent of fans from outside the UK.  It was easy to see their numerous green, yellow and blue flags being waved from the upper-level lounge that overlooked the stage. Having also travelled from overseas, some long-time fans from California (USA) and Canada were there as well enjoying the show along with their European counterparts.

While the set list remained the same, "Hey, Mr. DJ" was moved from it's position in Gent just after the band introductions to become one of the encore songs.

Many fans, still riding high on the energy from the concert, waited outside in the chilly evening temperature with the hopes that they could get a glimpse of Per and other band members as they made their exit from the venue.  A "meet & greet" was not possible, they had been told, because the venue had a private party scheduled for after the concert.  However, after other band members had been outside for some time signing autographs, tour director Bo Johansson made an appearance to say, in very strong terms, that IF fans were willing to get in a single-file and ask for only one autograph — and not stop to take any "personal photos" — that he would bring Per out.  Concerned that Per — who had just recovered — not get sick again, he also said "no kissing or hugging or anything like that."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Please read comments for additional details on this concert.  Some of our readers make very good reporters! The fan meeting Per in the photo above (click photos to enlarge) is Cory Mistysyn from Toronto, Canada.   — LEO

43 comments

In which part of the encore? And how many people were there?

And hey, let me know how Top3 looks like now :D

Always the latest three I guess! ;-p

I didn’t think the London show could have been so good and so loud last night... balloons, beach balls, party poppers... :) it sure was a massive party both waiting outside, inside and after the venue... it was just awesome for everyone! London and the UK fans have waited so long to have Per & Co back in London and I only hope he enjoyed it as much as we did, it was nice to see Per’s wife dancing along to the songs at the side of the stage :)

You could see how happy the band was, Chris suited his new hat... Helena & Per both got flowers!

Despite the venue being used afterwards for something else and no planned meet and greet Per came out into the cold London night and if we all lined up and behaved ourselves he agreed to sign one item for everyone but no personal photos which everyone really apprecited as he didn’t have to do that... a couple of the UK fans spent ages talking to his chauffeur filling him in on Per and who he was... everything was just such a relaxed atmosphere... finished off with several drinks in the pub afterwards! :)

Perfect... it was my best concert so far, still hardly can believe it was in the UK...

Spotted Justin Hawkins (from The Darkness) and Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean!) in the audience!

Rowan Atkinson?! And Justin Hawkins?! WOW!!!!!

God!!!!! Im sooooo jealous!!! I live in Leeds and I could easily be there but none of my friends wanted to go and
I thought I would feel strange on my own not knowing anyone. Big mistake!!!

A fantastic evening.

Thanks, Lars, for being a good sport and signing my CD, along with all the other lovely fans I met last night! Great fun.

—-

Best moments: Everybody singing their heart out to It Must Have Been Love... and meeting PG himself for the first time. “Thanks for a wonderful evening, I had a great time” I gushed; “It was fun”, he replied :)

Strangest moment: Åsa Gessle took me away from the crowd, to the side of their car, to sign my CD, at which point Per came towards us to get in. I dodged out of his way, but I apologise if I appear in some of your photos!

Thanks everybody for being so welcoming.

the london concert would have been fun! im going to both stockholm concerts- ALONE! Anyone wants to join me??

It was indeed a great night....I think one of the biggest advantages of the artist “per gessle” being unknown, is that it is much more of a hardcore fanbase who attends the concerts rather than more casual concertgoers, which makes a much better atmosphere. The band really seemed to enjoy themselves on stage and I was actually really impressed with the concert. Per seemed to have a little more stage presence than he did in the olden days when maries stage persona kind of overshadowed him, and I also think his live voice is stronger than it used to be. Some of the songs did sound a little bit weird without Marie. WICF didn’t sound quite right to me, and a few others, but actually there were some others, mainly the more uptempo ones that marie sang, such as Dressed for success, which he carried off really well. Now I just have to decide whether to go to the stockholm concert on saturday. I wish I knew if marie was going to show up there as well as amsterdam, as that would pretty much make the decision for me.

Sorry i didnt get the chance to say goodbye to everyone last night, but I could see everyone in the middle of the crowd and I was in a rush to get home as I had to get up early for work today. I wouldve liked to stick around, but maybe next time.

Yes, I just did. I would like to go to stockholm anyway really, but money is tight at the moment, and though I have already paid for cheap flights and the ticket, I know i would be spending a lot more on hotels, etc......it would all be worth it if marie was there, but I’m not sure I want to spend all that money otherwise. I really did enjoy the gig, but I’ve already seen it....and everyone knows I’ve always been a massive marie fan rather than a per one (great though he is)

Me too! As far as I know the Bolyos family is going to attend the show but it’s not certain that Marie will be on stage. I think IF we go we just scream her on stage.. ;-)

——————————–
www.marie-fredriksson.com
www.planet-roxette.com

“It was indeed a great night....I think one of the biggest advantages of the artist “per gessle” being unknown, is that it is much more of a hardcore fanbase who attends the concerts rather than more casual concertgoers, which makes a much better atmosphere.”

ditto :^)

ps: it was my first time seeing PG live, couldn’t have asked for more!

yeah it was a great night - can’t complain at all. And SDLHA was an absolute stormer!!! LOVE IT!

Wierdest moment, hearing Lars call my name out and me having to go and have a chat to Marie Dimberg...thanks Lars for finding me.

Glad everyone had fun. NOTP here we come!!!!!!

Ye im jealous :( But Leeds isnt a buzzing economy and i just started a new job . But saving my money to go abroad now hehe.

Five things that stick in my mind from the London gig.

1) Per gave a polished performance and even the songs that are normally fronted by Marie sounded super slick with a solitary Per.

2) Christoffer Lundquist is an absolute phenomenal lead guitarist and rocked the arena to it’s core.

3) Helena has a naturally stunning voice, which compliments Per’s voice very nicely. I wish they would work together more.

4) The guest artist’s voice “Martinique” was far too high pitched for a male singer to be taken seriously. And his “robot esque” style movements were bizarre.

5) Brazilians are nuts! (pun intended)

It’s been over a decade since Per performed in London. I hope UK fans don’t have to wait another decade for more of the same.

Thanks Per!

Oh, roll on the 10th of May!!!
By the way, to all of those who is hesitating whether to go to the concert or not because they are alone etc., my advice is to go. I’m going alone as well but I hope to meet lots of Roxette fans in Stockholm :)

PS Ally, what was chauffeur’s reaction when you told him who “that guy” was?

*****************************************************************
I wish you the best there is before you go to sleep

Yeah, It was a great night...
Gent was Acoustic, and London was really POWERFUL... they rocked!!
Christoffer was woooow, even Per got surprised when he started playing alone non-planned songs with the guitar (you have the power Chris!!)
The Spanish fans were also there... This time everyone made and respected the queues and there was no problem at all.

In the “forced” M&G the band was really nice with all of us... thank you very much! (Clarence... see you in Stockholm!!)

While the M&G I met a girl that asked why were people making a queue.. and when we explained that it was Per Gessle from Roxette, she got really surprised.. and wanted to make the queue.. to have her hand signed!! hahahaha... I gave her one ticket so that she could get the signature of Per.

I think that is a pity that only the really (freaky) fans noticed about the concert.. the promotion was missing... lots of people would have attended to the concert if some kind of promotion had been made.

Thank you Per & Co for that amazing concert...!!!

Christoffer was indeed excellent. One of my highlights of the whole concert was the ending to doesnt make sense when he went mad on the guitar!

Yes the band ROCKED and Doesn’t Make Sense was the highlight of Gessle era material, it was out there.

mail me if you want to meet up in sthlm!! By thw way...how big/small was the crowd in london??

Christoffer is just amazing... :) I am just memerised by him playing!

Met up with so many old and new friends on Monday... and finally Lars :)

Amsterdam here I come!

A fab night! My one and only concert of the tour but was worth the trip!

I agree about the lack of general promotion- one thing i did notice in london that there were a hell of a lot of Swedes there, surely a few of them might have liked to see Mr. G. in a small venue etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69fcpQ9OZhg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efaceb...

MARIE IS BACK! :D

ps: Nearly had a spack attack when I saw the pair of them together!

Tremendous show. So many people I met in London said they would have come to the gig had they known. I think Shepherds Bush would have easily filled with the right promotion, however I’m glad it didn’t now :)

Thank you Per for coming to London….it means a lot to your UK fans! A phenomenal show! So much energy there that night. Per’s performance was so energetic and powerful……his connection with the audience was electric! Helena put her own stamp/style on the Roxette songs…sounded fantastic! The crowd was amazing…..great to see fans from all over the world there! Thanks for the plectrum Per…perfect souvenir! Don’t be a stranger to London...come back soon!

Never actually believing I’d see Per eva in my life, he blew me away in London on Monday night. I was so overcome by him, even in the queue to get in I had a few tears and quickness of breath!
It was the most fantastic night, Per was amazing as was Helena and the rest of the band.Caught Per’s first pick of the night and it’s chipped away coz he used it for the first few songs. Framing it today! If he doesn’t come back to London on future tours, I will be travelling to Europe as I have to see him again!
Thank you Per for making my dream of seeing you live come true!

My thoughts since I’m FINALLY back in the world of the internet (it seems London hasn’t grasped the idea of FREE WiFi services anywhere!!)

19 years of waiting, and I was not dissapointed with the outcome. The concert was just fantastic. I’m so grateful to Per for coming out to sign stuff after the show. It completed the whole experiance for me. The only complaint was that the whole thing went so quick, hardly Per’s fault!

It seems to me that the whole thing was a dream now, and I wish I was in Amsterdam tonight, but as it seems Roxette are back, I’m sure there will be another chance to see them live in the near-ish future. For me the standout songs were: Opportunity Nox, 7Twenty7, I Have A Party In My Head, She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore & Listen To Your Heart, but they were all great! The ending to Doesn’t Make Sense was fantastic as well and would’ve made an excellent ending to the show instead of Queen of Rain in my opinion.

Was great to meet so many people at the concert, some for the first time as well. Thank you to all for helping me enjoy the experience. I hope to see you all again soon!

Amazing, just amazing!
Great show, although the support wasn’t my cup of tea. Shame we didn’t get a local support band (mine surely would have played!)
The band were on fire, I caught a pick and got a signing and meeting with Per (I said a single file line!!!!) and a picture with Christopher (oh you UK guys have heard of Brainpool? WOW!)
Just wish he could come over here more!
Also a big hello to our American friend we met in the queue and the guy in the Jacques Mannequin t-shirt. Hope everyone had a great night, was a highlight in my life!
Carl.

Yep, we know Brainpool - they were the support group on the Crash Boom Bang! tour.

I have been jonesing for this gig for fifteen years - fifteen years far too long for me. Absolutely top-class night, so it was. It’s incredible to think that Per’s just turned 50 recently - I’m 36 and I wish I had half his energy. I had two friends with me, Fridge and Carmy, and they enjoyed it too - many thanks to Fridge for picking up on pics when my camera died. Great to see Per & Co up close like that, I was about 10-20x further away at the Sheffield’94 and Wembley’91 gigs.

Per... dude... you have GOT to get your ass over here more often.

Have to agree with everyone so far. It was a great night and I am really pleased I was one of the 300 or so people that witnessed Per return to the UK.

The forced M&G at the end was necessary I felt as he would have left a lot of people very disappointed as they had waited years in many cases, so I was really pleased when he came out and everyone behaved well as instructed by his security before he appeared. It was great meeting him, even if it was only brief, but my signed ticket will now be cherished!

The actual gig was amazing and he sounded fantastic. Being in the front row I managed some great pictures and videos! Was very impressed with Christoffer and his guitar playing and my opinion of Helena has changed a lot. She is much better than I expected and suited the concert well, however, I wasnt a fan of her doing backing vocals to Listen to Your Heart, but if thats what Per wants....!

My personal highlight was probably Are you an Old Hippie Sir and It Must Have Been Love but hearing the reaction Per got to everything he played and at the end, I think he knows we appreciated everything!

I just hope we see him return to the UK much sooner!

One complaint......having read reviews of other places and hearing about how the visiting nations barged in, I was pleased to see no pushing in the UK, but I wasnt impressed with our foreign visitors pushing into the front of the queue when we had queued for the best part of 7 hours in some cases!!!

Oh yea, Helena sounded amazing. Think I love her voice....

i didnt know what quite to expect out of it really but it was worth the travelling, the accomodation, the 7 HOUR queue(cheers Paul and Alison) but i got to the front and it turned out to be the highlight of anything “Roxette” related since ive been a fan!

i agree about the pushing in by some of the non UK fans it was extremely rude and toatally disrespectful although there was a very nice couple from Spain who spoke hardly any English at all who were very nice and not at all “pushy”

the set list was great but it was a bit annoying that non UK fans kept shouting out the next song before it started, probably to show off that they had been before.

i will admit that i have never much liked Dressed For Success but the live version was very good and made me like it for the first time in years. Dangerous was also a surprise. i think Per pulled off Wish I Could Fly very well and It Must Have Been Love was also excellent. Opportunity Nox turned into a proper ROCK song and She Doesnt Live Here Anymore sounded exactly like it does on Dont Bore Us! amazing.

I would of liked Silly Really even just for a special guest appearance by the rabbit in the video(i forget its name)

at first i, like many other people, was a bit annoyed about the decision not to have a meet and greet but was very pleased and eternally grateful when it happened. i gave Per my Demo CD from the Roxette book which he made a comment on, which knocked me for six as he was mostly just signing things and handing them straight back so i was gobsmacked when he spoke to me. unfortunately i was too shocked to muster much of a reply. though i did just about manage one and also managed to say “thank you Per” before almost collapsing on the pavement.

it is the only signed thing i have and will remain so to keep it more special(too much of a good thing and all) and one day i hope to have Maries signature next to it. i also managed a bonus of getting Clarence, Magnus and Helena to sign my ticket which i will frame and keep.

i didnt buy any merchandise apart from a keyring but it will always be treasured along with my balloon(that i let go during Joyride and had a security bloke give me back) and my “blown” party popper shell as well as my badges that Alison gave out.

I was in the pub where i work when i had 2 texts to tell me that Marie had joined Per on stage in Amsterdam. I had Joyride 2005 played and also had a drink to celebrate the occasion.

its been a brilliant 3 days that i will never forget(i went London Monday til Wenesday) starting off with Per and ending with fantastic news of the “comeback”

Why did you keep me waiting so long......................

also i have to say how pleased i was to meet everyone including but not limited to: Paul, Alison, Louise, Chris W and Vix and lots of others....it was a pleasure....

and we will always have the memory of the Woman with the rainbow coloured teacosy hat!

A full review of the concert is up on www.roxette.be (the Belgian site is back!)

Where on the site?

Dear all,

PLEASE HELP ME!!!
First of all I like to say that the concert was fantastic! What a great band, what a great evening!

MY PROBLEM:
After seeing Roxette the first time live in Mannheim, Germany, 15/10/1994 I always dreamed about having a photo together with Per.
I was waiting after the concert and luckily I had the chance to get an autograph but something went wrong with the photo... You can imagine how I feel now....
Probably I will never have the chance again so I am asking all of you something special:

Could you please send me your photos you took from the people in the queue to my email address. There is a small chance that someone took a photo where I am on and standing next to Per.

I know that is annoying but a dream could come true for me.

My email: [email protected]

Thank you so much!

Cheers!

@ pwbbounce... have you stopped bouncing yet?

@Ally - After the day I’ve had, very much so :-(

Here’s my little review of Monday

The London Concert

Picture this - wind, rain, cold temperatures and I pick today to not wear a coat! Only a thin cotton shirt. To say that I was freezing waiting for the show was an understatement! But it was worth the 7 hour wait in the cold. Door opened at 6pm. After seeing the bands arrival around 4pm and Helena shouting out that Per will be arriving in the next 15 minutes, excitement levels rose in the queue. You could feel it, and when Per did actually arrive in his Audi A8, the queue went mad and everyone started cheering. Per waved at us and quickly went into the stage door. More waiting, but at least the band was here now.

Fast forward a couple of hours and after a mild pushing incident with getting in the building, we got our space on the front row against the barriers. I was pretty happy with that I must say. This was going to be excellent! During the waiting, I was in contact with some people back home to say that I was in the front row, whilst we spotted Pelle standing around at the bar, and then quickly rush back stage again! Lars came over to Alison and myself and said about the story that had just got published on TDR about Roxette at Night Of The Proms, and that Marie would not be appearing on stage tonight in London. Also, he mentioned that the chances of a Meet and Great were not very high due to the club being used for another event after Per. Never mind, the concert was going to be great, anything else was just a bonus really.

Around 7:30, Martinique came onstage. Alison had spent a bit of time telling me that she thought Martinique was great. Myself, I wasn’t so sure. Nice voice, but not really my kind of music. Still, I clapped and cheered after each song. Luckily after Martinique had finished, there wasn’t much of a wait until Per came on stage.

All of a sudden, the lights went down and the birds started chirping, and then Julie Andrew’s voice was blaring out the speakers, and then the band came out on stage, followed by Per. The crowd went wild, and Julie Andrew’s stopped singing and Dressed For Success started. The whole concert was amazing, better than I had imagined. I had never been much of a fan of Helena, but after seeing her in this show, my opinion has changed. She fitted the concert well, and it was nice to hear Hey Mr DJ live as well! We had a little surprise on the setlist as well. Sleeping In My Car wasn’t scheduled to be played during the show, but between Hey Mr DJ and Stepping Stone they played it! Was great to hear that one live too. My stand out favorites from the show would be 7Twenty7, Party Pleaser (Fantastic live), Opportunity Nox, Doesn’t Make Sense, Do You Wanna Be My Baby? and It Must Have Been Love.

During the concert, Per’s wife Åsa was filming from the side of the stage, and it turns up that I’m in 3 of the London video’s on gessle.com!

When the show had finished with Queen of Rain, everyone started to mingle around chatting with other fans about what they thought. On my way out I spotted Justin Hawkins from The Darkness, and although I didn’t see him, Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) was also in the crowd.

Back outside, people clearly didn’t want to go home in the hope that they would catch a glimpse of Per as it was already mentioned that there wouldn’t be a Meet and Great tonight. We spent our time chatting to various security guards, and the driver of Per’s A8. Someone asked him if he knew who he was driving around. He said that he knew who Roxette was, but didn’t really take much notice. He also mentioned that he has driven Jon Bon Jovi and Barbara Streisand in the past as well. Not a bad job then! Helena was the first to leave, no doubt to go back to the hotel to see her baby. She was great, and signed autographs and posed for photo’s for fans. Christoffer, Magnus and Clarence all came out as well, signed autographs and chatted with various fans, but there was still no sign of Per. By this time, many people had started to go home. About an hour after the show had finished, Per’s security came out and said that if people were willing to stand in a single file line and not ask for photos and only one autograph, Per would come out. Surprisingly, no one ruined it, and the whole line got one item that they had brought autographed. Per signed my ticket which will now get framed. It was a surreal moment when I was standing in front of Per getting my ticket signed, I wanted to say thanks for all the years, but all I could say was Thank you Per!

It was a fantastic experience, one that I’ll never forgot. 19 years is a LONG time to wait, but I can say now, that I will NOT wait another 19 years. Night Of The Proms anyone?

the london concert was fantastic and i cant wait for the dvd more importantly i cant wait for some new rox material, marie looks absolutely fabulous im so sad that i wasnt in amsterdam. i will be in stockholm for a week at the end of july in case youre in town xxxx

Just wondering, was it you, Ally, who gave me a party popper? I was standing right behind you? Just trying to put a face to the name. Great night, best night eva! Per was amazing, doing my boyfriends head in coz it’s all I’ve talked about since I got back to Newcastle!

it was ally who was giving us the party poppers she went on a special mission to find some........not forgetting the balloons!!!!!!!!!! :)

It was such an amazing night. I was so overcome waiting in the queue that I had a few tears and started hyperventilating! Sounds pathetic but I was just so overcome by the fact I was seeing Per. Never thought it would happen in this country!

Hi all,

Here is my experience at the concert. I was totally blown away. I had travelled some 14 hours all the way from Malaysia, just to see Per. Cost me a bomb... but it was all worth it. I was really really expecting Marie to come on stage, in fact was crossing my fingers and hoping that she will show, though i was disappointed she did not, Per (i would say) for the first time blew my mind. I really didnt think he could get away with the pure Marie songs, but i was so surprised from track 1. In fact dress for success is one of the key highlight to me. Other songs which are still stuck in my mind 3 weeks later is Stupid, She doesnt live here anymore and party pleasers... all great live.... and not to forget the outstanding Opportunity nox....

Well, was also hoping for some swedish materials, but didnt appear, but no matter... it was such a great great concert. And thank you for the dailyroxette guy who have me the badge, it will forever be treasured.....

I hope to be back when Roxette makes an annoucement on their european tour. this time round, will go to at least 5 gigs.... (well if i can afford it)...

After the show was a great experience for me too... though i didnt get a chance to get Per’s autograph, the driver actually told me where Per was staying. I had the intention to go, but today, i am still disappointed with myself for not going... as the last train back to Blackheath was at 12.05 that night, and i could not bring myself to take a London cab.... just too expensive, coming from a country like Malaysia.

The driver which spent a good 30 minutes chatting with me said that Per would not make an apperance ...and instructed me to go to the hotel to wait.... so... i did... but didnt get a chance.

Anyhow, i would say this was wild... been to the join the joyride back in 91, Perth, was amazing, but was too far from stage to really experience the energy. Than CBB in 94/95 in Singapore, but again was too far and the Sing crowd was boring... this time round was what i had always imagined a rox show to be.... so i am totally happy.

well... i hope to get to know more Rox ppl., i can be reached at [email protected] or my phone +60122196368... do contact me and share with me news updates on concerts, if i can i would diffinitely go...

I hope that one day he would come to Malaysia....

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