By the end of September the new book with Roxette sheet music will be released - Best of Roxette (ISBN 9789177482901). It contains 30 Roxette songs and some of which are "previously unreleased" (meaning sheet music). This is what the publisher Gehrman's write about the book:

"Roxette is undoubtedly one of the biggest bands of all time with an unparalleled international career and plenty of number ones. Now it's time for a new generation to discover their music.

Until now there has been no book which collects all of Roxette's hits in the same place. In this book there are 30 of the successful group's biggest hits, of which one third have not been published previously. All-new piano arrangements by Martin Östergren, lyrics and melody for the singer and guitar chord boxes. The book also contains photos from Roxette's career and newly written comments and liner-notes [in English] by Per Gessle."

The price will be around €30.

LONDON - Actor Dolph Lundgren was interviewed in The Guardian for his upcoming movie, The Expendables. In it, the reporter asked if he were friends with any Swedish celebrities:
 
Guardian: "You're Swedish. Are you mates with that bloke from True Blood, ABBA, Roxette, and the Swedish Chef from The Muppets?"
 
Lundgren: "I've met Skarsgård; we're doing something together. ABBA, I don't know. I know Per Gessle, he's a Ferrari fan. And I parted ways with the chef in a back room in New York with a baseball bat."

Photo: Antti Puskala courtesy of Per Gessle.

HALMSTAD - More than 17,000 in Sundsvall, almost 30,000 in Skanderborg, up to 20,000 in Marknadsplatsen in Halmstad, Sweden on Saturday and then sold out in Norway and is already stocked in Russia. Roxette's comeback has exceeded all expectations. Even for a pop visionary like Per Gessle.

- Yes, indeed. We were not prepared for it to be so big. When Anderstorp came up, we were happy if we could sell 7000 tickets, says Gessle.

- So had we known this we would have rehearsed more and had a larger production. I mean, before the last Roxette tour, "Room Service" in 2001 we rented the Globe Arena for a week.

- Because all arena concerts are so hugely choreographed, and it has to be given the lighting and camera angles. If we haven't practiced enough it's easy to run into each other. And it was a bit like that at the premiere…

We're sitting in the garden at home in the house in Sandhamn where the Gessle family has spent the entire summer.

Åsa offers freshly baked sponge cake when Per has poured the coffee.

- The advantage of living in two places is that it becomes a feast every time you come home to Halmstad. The calmness. The old friends … Yes, all this stuff, explains Per, pointing out towards the Laholm bay.

September 13, 1994 on the Crash!Boom!Bang! tour - that's how long ago it's been since Roxette last played in Halmstad. Almost 16 years ago.

- That's why it will be fantastic to do it again. I just talked with Marie and she's on fire about it, says Per.

That Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson are standing on a stage together at all again as Roxette is a minor miracle, given the brain tumor that Marie suffered eight years ago.

- Yes, one should know that five percent will survive the disease that Marie had, and she had the good fortune to belong to the five percent. Ít's in that perspective you have to put the comeback and the concerts. It is not the old '80s Roxette, but what Marie's doing is an achievement.

- Sure, everything takes longer now and her health goes in waves, but it is the reality we live in. And therefore, these concerts are more of a test to decide on how much she can handle before a regular tour. For instance, we are not doing any press before the concerts.

- So if it will continue is up to Marie. But as I see it this is good for her - it is probably the best rehab she can get.

- I mean, the reception we received has been incredible. One has become teary-eyed when one has met the response. Read more…

HALMSTAD - Roxette in Halmstad, it's like seeing the Beatles in Liverpool, holy ground so to speak. The Daily Roxette will ignore the ticket problem, it seems it was solved somewhat easily after all.

So, how was this concert compared to Sundsvall? Much better. 100 % better I'd say. Roxette removed the two Per Gessle songs in the middle, Marie didn't take a break this time. The band was tighter and Marie sang with more confidence even though she did have the same problem with the lyrics.

This reporter still thinks the arrangements are too similar to the Gessle over Europe arrangements. It doesn't sound like Roxette. Granted, it has a nice, heavy touch, but it ain't Roxette enough. I want the hooks in the songs, like in "The Look" or "Joyride". Per removed them for his solo tour because that "wasn't Roxette, but him solo", but this is Roxette. Having said that, the band was in top shape! It felt like Per, Marie and the band liked being in Halmstad in front of 20,500 fans.

Anyways, the concert was very nice, and if this is Roxette at its worst, I don't see a problem with a world tour. However, if this is Roxette at its best… 

And holy moly! Gyllene Tider joined Roxette on stage here in Halmstad… Gyllene Tider came on stage instead of Roxette for the second encore. Gyllene performed "Juni, juli, augusti, "Sommartider" and "När alla vännerna gått hem", the latter together with Marie and the Roxette band. And to be honest, Gyllene Tider stole the show. Roxette was great, but Gyllene Tider was awesome.

After the show, The Daily Roxette met Per and Marie at a meet & greet photo op arranged by RoxetteBlog and The Daily Roxette.

Read more…

(Updated) - The 2010 Roxette merchandise features old album covers and re-uses old Roxette logos from the past years. The items will probably be sold on SCM.se at a later point.

Update: New PDF uploaded.

HALMSTAD - Halmstad police fears chaos when Roxette plays in town on Saturday. The reason is that BiljettNu still is selling tickets to the show, while Live Nation claims that any BiljettNu tickets sold after July 9 are invalid. There will be 20 police officers, 30 guards and 100 people from Live Nation on site. "We are way more people than usual," says Carl Pernow, CEO of Live Nation and continues "we will build up different lanes for different tickets. BiljettNu tickets [sold after July 9] are not valid."

BiljettNu will also have staff on site. They are not there in any official capacity but to show their customers that they care. "Fans with BiljettNu tickets will be allowed to enter. If Live Nation won't let them in, it's up to them" says Magnus Nilsson, CEO of BiljettNu.

Per Gessle's comment is "I think it's terrible that BiljettNu continues to sell tickets they know are invalid. BiljettNu are obviously aware of that there are no contracts between BiljettNu and Roxette or the local organizer. Still they go on and it's 'Joe Sixpack' that gets to take the blow…"

DETROIT - WXYZ, a television station in Detroit, USA has teamed up with a local furniture store to offer up a $5,000 shopping spree (and bragging rights) in its annual "Art Van Cruisin' Idol" competition to the contestant who performs the best rendition of Roxette's "The Look."  Ten lucky finalists were selected to record their version of Per and Marie's first US number one, and the four singers who receive the most votes will compete for viewers' votes during a televised broadcast that will air across North America on Aug. 21st.  Check out some, uh, interesting interpretations of the Rox classic.

Thanks to Jen Verwey for tracking this fantastic story down!

SUNDSVALL - In perfect weather in Sundsvall, Sweden, at 22.17 Per and Marie finally entered the stage for the long, long awaited real reunion of Roxette. The Daily Roxette was there too of course. Roxette started 13 minutes early (probably due to the midnight curfew) and played 20 songs for the 16,000 in the audience. German rockabilly act The Baseballs was the opening act. "I made a classical mistake this time" says Per "I thought it was so much fun I was exhausted after the first two songs."

The question on everyone's lips is "will Marie be able to handle this?" This reporter thinks that if nothing drastic happens, Roxette will once again travel the world in 2011.

Marie was doing terrific and she was beaming on stage looking stunned, happy and amazed. Everyone could see how she loved being back, and when the final chord of "Church of Your Heart" faded and the applause wouldn't stop, Marie had tears in her eyes.

Roxette this time around is Per and Marie, of course, with Pelle Alsing drums, Magnus Börjeson bass, Clarence (with a brand new fez) Öfwerman keys, Christoffer Lundquist guitar and newbie Malin Ekstrand backup vocals. They all performed greatly.
True, there were kinks, Marie forgetting lyrics, someone (Per?) playing in the wrong key on "Sleeping in My Car" and some other small things. But as Per says to TDR: "This isn't a tour so much as a handful of concerts flung together." Probably it will be different even tonight as Roxette plays Denmark. "I don't want to call it a test, but it is a test to see how much Marie can handle." says Per and continues "We'll have to evaluate this at a later point. Both of us want to continue doing Roxette stuff. There is a huge interest in the world. The album is halfway done, and when it is done it would be nice to take it on the road." Marie adds "It's good that one has performed as much as one has in one's life. It's in the body so to speak."

The only difference to the setlist this time was that "Things Will Never Be the Same" was cut. "Steppin' Stone" was performed in the honor of The Monkees this time, instead of Paul Revere like during Per's solo tour. Roxette is not happy with the tracklist, there will be changes according to both Per and Marie. They are open to more covers, but won't reveal which. Per also mentions that Roxette has loads of other hits they can play on a "real tour".

Read more…

HALMSTAD (Updated) - Roxette performed 21 songs at the Leif's Lounge dress rehearsal concert last night. "Damn this was fun!" exclaims Marie and continues "I've waited so [long] for this." "This is a miracle. You're a miracle" says Per to Marie tenderly. Per tells Aftonbladet that the concert was supposed to be around an hour but it was so much fun they played almost two. "It just grew…" says Per.

Over 900 tickets were sold in the end. Per thinks they could've played Solgården, outside of the hotel, and sold 3000 tickets. "That would've been devastating to our concert here in Halmstad."

If all goes according to plan, Roxette will go on a world tour next year. This mini-tour is sort of a test to see if a world tour is in the cards. "We want it to be as big as it can be, we always think big. Big is beautiful. It's been great digging into Roxette's treasure box of songs. I pawed some of them during my solo tour, but it sounds tacky when I do 'Listen to Your Heart'" smiles Per.

The Daily Roxette asks: So,  back on stage "for real" with Roxette, how does it feel, Per? "It was an unforgettable evening, the crowd was superb! We felt very very welcome!" says Per and goes on "The plan was to play for an hour and we played almost an hour and forty minutes. Marie was in top shape, Malin was excellent as well as Chris and the others, I just love this band! And of course my new nail polish!" When TDR asks Per if this was something he expected a few years back Per responds "No no, I thought Rox was over in 2002." Marie also seems satisfied as Per says: "This was one of the happiest days of her life, she said. I guess that says it all…" Per also mentions that he doesn't hope there will be any major changes to the setlist.

Finally, Per Gessle, did you have a good time last night? "Do fish swim in water?" Per smiles and goes off to new challenges.

And on Saturday the Sundsvall premiere awaits.

Read more…

HALMSTAD (Updated) - Like in 2003 (Per Gessle), 2004 (Gyllene Tider) and 2007 (Per Gessle again) there will be a secret concert, like a dress rehearsal if you will, in Halmstad August 4! Roxette will play Leif's Lounge at Hotel Tylösand on Wednesday night. 600 tickets will be released on Wednesday morning, in order to stop ticket scalpers, and will cost 295 SEK. Tickets may be bought in the reception of Hotel Tylösand starting at 11.00 AM.

The concert starts at 10.00 PM.

Update: At 1.25 PM the concert was sold out. Doors open at 7 PM.