The Daily Roxette

The Look Competition
Open: December 16 - January 6 2012
Prize: Signed Roxette Album and Singles!!!
BE THE BEST BEAT THE REST, SING WITH THE ROXETTE SINGBOX AND COMPETE FOR FAN-TASTIC PRIZES.

To enter the competition simply share your score from singing "The Look" in Roxette Singbox for iPhone on Roxette's Facebook during the competition period.

Prizes

    Signed Charm School vinyl album
    Signed Way Out single
    Signed She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio) single

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Make sure you click on the jump to read Paul's exclusive interview with Per and a particularly well-written comment from Tholmes1138. Note also the addition of a link to a reader's full account of the show.]

LONDON – After a long 17 year wait, Roxette finally brought their epic World Tour to the UK last night.  Wembley Arena was packed to the rafters with about 12,000 fans who, in this reporters opinion, were full of energy and sang along to all of the songs.  

The setlist was, as expected, identical to previous concerts in the re-launched tour (minus "Soul Deep" within "......Radio") and both Per and Marie were in top shape, so we won't cover much on the actual show. However, Chris did an amazing, frenzied version of "God Save The Queen" as the "Joyride" intro.

For a more complete report and review, Brandon Veevers, one of our readers who won a slot at the Meet & Greet, filed this report afterwards for a UK entertainment site.

The Meet and Greet, organised through this newspaper in conjunction with d&d Management and Live Nation, was a great success.  The fans that were lucky enough to win our contest were each able to have one item signed by Marie and Per. One such item was a rare blue vinyl edition of Marie's "Ännu doftar kärlek."  Marie was clearly very surprised when she saw this!  

The Daily Roxette also managed to grab some time with Per for an interview and to answer some questions put to him by you, the readers of TDR!

Photos of the show and Meet & Greet to follow...

(Click read more for the exclusive pre-show interview with Per.)

ZÜRICH - At first, this was meant to be a short clip with some nice scenes from Roxette’s SOLD OUT concert in Zürich on the 31st of October 2011 at the Hallenstadion. But then it turned out to be a small movie. 13,000 fans wanted to see Roxette in Zürich that evening. As we had reserved seats on the right side just in front of the stage, the view was amazing. Luckily, small cameras were allowed, so we managed to record some snippets. There are some scenes you shouldn’t miss. For example Per’s blooper at the beginning (fortunately, nothing happened). After “The Big L.,“ Marie was smiling all over her face and gave Per a pat on his back. Per’s talking to the audience saying that it would be always a pleasure to come back to Zürich. From “She’s Got Nothing On“ the audience was a lot more active than during the first songs. One gets goosebumps listening to the whole arena singing “It Must Have Been Love“ or “Spending My Time“. Another favorite: Per is playing with the audience at the beginning of “How Do You Do!“.

During the band presentation Per asked Magnus about a strange little blue machine he has never seen before. That part was indeed funny, because Per pretended that he has never heard of a synthesizer and many people were laughing at him. You can see the audience having fun with the big Roxette balloons during “Joyride“. “The Look“ was just amazing, watch the snippet. Marie at her best during “Listen to Your Heart“. After the first verse of “Church of Your Heart“ Per stopped singing. He was overwhelmed by the huge audience.

At the end of the concert Marie seemed a little bit lost as you can see on the snippet. It’s probably because most people did not applaud, but put their hands in the air and screamed “oohhhh...“. What they didn't realize of course is that this is really special about the Swiss audience at big concerts or music festivals; it’s a sign that they enjoyed the concert. When they do this, they also want to play and wait for someone starting a wave. At the beginning of “Watercolours in the Rain“ you can see the front row trying to start the wave, but it didn’t work. It has to be someone from the stage. Fans hoped for Per or Marie to start the wave, but naturally nobody had told them about this. Hopefully next time! All in all, it was an unforgettable evening.

Here is the video, it's not searchable.

LONDON – Fans holding tickets for next week's concert here are in for a treat! Darren Hayes, best known as for his part in the duo Savage Garden, will open for Roxette when they play Wembley Arena one week from today, on November 15.

Darren has a new album out entitled "Secret Codes & Battle Ships" that has been favorably reviewed.

Many of our readers will recall that Savage Garden was a favorite topic in our "Small Talk" forum, with many people comparing and contrasting their sound with that of Roxette.  Many Roxette fans are also fans of Darren and previously, Savage Garden.

As might be expected, fans in Australia (home to Savage Garden) have already posted messages on Darren's Facebook page expessing hope that he will open for Roxette there as well.

Over 100 questions have now been received.  Apologies, but I will not be able to add any more questions to the pile.  Thank you so much to everyone who has submitted a question - it should make for a very interesting interview. Watch this space! - Paul

LONDON – Well, your luck is in!  During Roxette's upcoming visit to London, The Daily Roxette will be interviewing Per and we'd like to open the opportunity up to you, our readers, to have any of your long-time burning questions answered.

Obviously, we won't be able to ask every single question that gets submitted (Per, unfortunately, doesn't have the whole day to spend with us), but we will pick the best ones and put them to Mr G!

Email your questions to paul@dailyroxette.com by Wednesday, 9 November.  And please, keep your questions clean!

LONDON – Planning on attending the big concert in London? Would you like to go backstage before the show to say hello to Per and Marie?

The Daily Roxette, in conjunction with LiveNation and Roxette's management, is pleased to be able to offer a small group of fans the opportunity to participate in a "Meet & Greet" just before the November 15 concert in London's Wembley Arena.

All you need to do is answer at least one TDR Trivia question correctly in order to qualify for the drawing (one entry per person). The eight lucky winners will be chosen at random from the pool of qualified responses.

You have until 12 noon (UK time) on Friday, November 4 to enter the contest.  We'll contact the winners, and you can look for their names to be published here on Sunday, November 6.  Perhaps one of them will be you? Good luck!

Not even five month ago Roxette played the Fort Spandau in Berlin. A huge success in a sold-out venue, but nothing compared to yesterday’s show in the O2 World. Roxette just... rocked!

Even though the venue wasn’t sold out completely it was a huge party. Mobilée, the support act, made a great show and put the people into the right mood for Roxette. When they finally entered the stage at 9.20 pm the sound of “Dressed for Success” filled the hall and the people in the front rows went crazy at once as the rest of audience. They celebrated their stars and Roxette gave their best and even more.

People started crying and sobbing when Marie performed “Perfect Day” in a beautiful acoustic version.

There were no surprises in the set list, but this was not necessary. Much more surprising to most of the attending people that weren’t diehard Roxette fans, was the quality of the show and the overwhelming acoustic and Marie’s unbelievable strong voice that seemed to better than ever. This was also mentioned in the review in one of the biggest newspapers in Berlin, which said that they even sounded better live than on their CDs. Something that cannot be said of a lot of bands and just shows how much they touched the audience.
After the show people were talking about this stunning performance and about their reccuring admiration for this band. People that 6 month ago not even knew that Roxette still exists are again being charmed by this stunning pop duo and their marvelous band.

A great night, a great show, a great performance!

MANNHEIM - After shortly visiting my cousin and her family in Calw (birthplace of Hermann Hesse), it was time to move on to Mannheim. A dear friend of mine, was already waiting outside the SAP Arena. So far, we attended different shows and it was our first indoor concert of the current tour for both of us. We were excited about the new touring equipment (stage and lights) and of course we wanted to hear "C!B!B!" and "Soul Deep." At this time, we didn’t know what to expect. More and more people showed up at the SAP arena. It seemed that approximately 70 % of the tickets were sold. Support act Mobilée did a good job and the audience honored their performance. But everyone was waiting for Roxette to enter the stage. Then at 9.00 PM they started with "Dressed for Success“ followed by "Sleeping in My Car“.

From the beginning people had great fun. If you looked around, you could see many clapping hands. Marie talked to the audience: "Thank you so much. It’s so nice to see you.“ The audience was screaming and Marie replied: "Wow“. A real power-pop song came next: "The Big L.“. Then it was Per’s turn: "Good evening Mannheim. Fantastic to be back. It’s good to see so many people here. Do you feel fine? Have you had a great weekend? We’re gonna play some old Roxette favorites for you, we’re gonna play some new songs from the Charm School album. So let’s see what happens.

“A stunning performance of “Wish I Could Fly“ followed. This song ended with very mystical sounds which lead perfectly to "Only When I Dream“. This song has been very well received by the audience.  "She’s Got Nothing On“ and a shorter version of "Soul Deep“ were next. I was surprised so many people knew the lyrics to "Soul Deep“. You could hear them singing. During these songs the audience was very active. Per thanks the audience by saying in German: "Danke schön“. Then it was time to play stripped down versions of "Perfect Day“ and "Things Will Never be the Same.“
 

NEW YORK – Many of our readers participated in the The Daily Roxette's trivia contest for a copy of Matthew Chojnacki's new book Put the Needle on the Record: The 1980s at 45 Revolutions Per Minute that features, along with about 250 other great examples from the 80's, the cover art to Roxette's "Neverending Love" single.  Here are the answers, and the names of the winners:

The first question, which 77 percent got right, asked which graphic artist or designer was responsible for the majority of Roxette's album and single covers. Yes, it was Kjell Andersson who helped Roxette obscure their identity in the beginning (and who stayed on for many albums thereafter). Chojnacki quotes Per as telling him that without photos of them on the covers, the plan was they could return to their solo careers without anyone noticing, "just in case the Roxette thing didn't work out."

NEW YORK – Matthew Chojnacki, a self-described "huge Roxette fan" from Cleveland, Ohio, tells a story about going to record stores while growing up in Cleveland that is strikingly similar to the one Per tells about his own boyhood in Halmstad.

"For me, going to a real record store was very much an experience growing up," he told us in a telephone interview.  "You know I'd ride my bike to the store, I'd ride all the way home...  just the adventure of purchasing a record and getting it home was a thrill.  But for me, there was complete experience then. It was the art work, it was the liner notes, it was the listening..."  He argues that "the 1980s were the most visually provocative era of the last millennium," which was reflected in the way music was branded and marketed. Every new vinyl single that hit the stands was wrapped in eye-catching sleeves to incorporate the latest trend and taste of the moment.

With the surge of digital music in the last ten years, there has been less emphasis on packaging music and more on creating killer videos and flashy web sites. To celebrate the great music art of the past, Chojnacki has compiled a visually stunning guide to 7- and 12-inch vinyl single artwork from the '80s.

In his book Put the Needle on the Record: The 1980s at 45 Revolutions Per Minute, he presents about 250 vinyl single covers, representing nearly every prominent musician of the decade. The book, which is set to be released in the next few days, not only features the iconic covers, but also the previously untold stories behind the artwork from the designers and visual talent behind Madonna, Prince, Adam Ant, Pink Floyd, Queen, The Clash, Pet Shop Boys, Kate Bush and more. 

In a two-page spread, Chojnacki presents Roxette’s "Neverending Love" along with The
Korgis’ "Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime," as he felt that both contained quirky, retro graphics and that they looked really good next to each other.

Click on "Read more..." for ordering information and a chance to WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK!