ANTWERP (UPDATED) - The organizers of “Night of the Proms” have told the general public now what they reported to TDR a few days ago: Roxette will not be appearing.

  Today, on their website, they published a letter from Per Gessle along with a letter from Jim Kerr and Charles Burchill of Simple Minds.



Dear friends,

  We’re very sorry to announce the following… Due to Marie’s serious health problem Roxette won’t be able to perform at the upcoming Night of the Proms-tour. However, we are truly pleased that the promoters have found suitable replacements in Simple Minds and Foreigner* in this short space of time. Satisfaction should therefore be guaranteed.

  Hopefully Marie will recover very soon and, if possible, we would of course like to take part of the Night of the Proms at another occasion in the near future.



All the best,

Per Gessle, Roxette

[* Bonnie Tyler in the Netherlands]



And this message from Simple Minds:



  Performing at the “Proms” in 1997 was undoubtedly one of the most pleasureable experiences in our 25 year career. So much so that ever since we had indeed hoped to re-unite with the “Proms family”. An invitation to return five years later, albeit in these exceptional circumstances, provides us with the perfect opportunity to create further the magic synonymous only with “Night of the Proms”.

The promoters, who had given us advance notice, wrote:

  We were very pleased that some months ago, Roxette agreed to take part in the NOTP festival. It shows that the event is not only loved by hundreds of thousands of music fans for whom music has no borders, but also by world-famous artists. We hope to get the same appreciation from all the Roxette fans, for which this would probably have been the first time to be acquainted with this big party of classic and pop, even though their favorite band isn’t taking part (this year). Fans that want to cancel their tickets anyway and have ordered them via Ticket Service Holland, can take their tickets back to the selling point between the 1st and 16th of October. People who ordered their tickets through TeleTicket Service, please send back the tickets before the 16th of October to: MOJO, Postbus 3121, 2601 DC Delft, and mention the bank account number where the money can be refunded.

  Together with all the Roxette fans, we hope that Marie Fredriksson’s health will quickly improve after her operation and that she will fully recover soon. Band member Per Gessle already let us know that he and Marie are looking forward to participating in the NOTP in the near future.



EDITORIAL: It’s not often that we write an editorial or offer an opinion – especially not appended to a news article like this. But we’d like to encourage those of you that had intended to go to a NOTP concert, to still attend. Seldom have we encounted promoters as personally involved in the event as in this concert series. Even though they may not have absolutely had to, they did the right thing in offering refunds. But they’re concerned about the Roxette fans. If too many were to take them up on the refund offer, it would be disasterous for the promoters (and possibly affect what they would be able to do in the following year). So if you’re thinking about not going… think again. Go… have fun… meet up with other Rox fans and enjoy the evening. Don’t be too surprised if you hear some kind of tribute made to the band that wanted to be there, but just couldn’t make it.   – LEO & VK/Roxeteer