Sascha said on May 5, 2009 10:51:

Always the latest three I guess! ;-p

carbon_boy said on May 5, 2009 13:10:

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

ChrisWilliams said on May 5, 2009 14:14:

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.

ncurran said on May 5, 2009 15:09:

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.

ncurran said on May 5, 2009 15:21:

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)

fabi_salisbury said on May 5, 2009 15:38:

“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!

rox-kuryliw said on May 5, 2009 18:23:

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.

AURYTE said on May 5, 2009 20:43:

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

ncurran said on May 5, 2009 21:47:

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!

Roxette-atic said on May 6, 2009 03:41:

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

Claire said on May 6, 2009 09:46:

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.

rossyrox said on May 6, 2009 10:45:

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 :)

tina142 said on May 6, 2009 16:17:

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!

carlosconnelli said on May 6, 2009 18:09:

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.

Jakamoko8912 said on May 6, 2009 22:09:

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!!!

davidc4 said on May 7, 2009 02:31:

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!

pwbbounce (moderator) said on May 7, 2009 08:45:

Where on the site?

Roxerally said on May 7, 2009 22:20:

@ pwbbounce... have you stopped bouncing yet?

pwbbounce (moderator) said on May 8, 2009 09:59:

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?

tina142 said on May 11, 2009 14:00:

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!

tina142 said on May 15, 2009 14:19:

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!