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.“
 

As many times before, Per said one sentence: “We’re gonna take you to Hollywood“ and everyone knew that “It must have been love“ would be next. The audience’s part was impressive. Per comments: “You sound terrific!“.

Pure power-pop and rock again with “Opportunity Nox“ and “7Twenty7“.

“Fading Like a Flower“ also ended with mystical sounds. Then suddenly Per starts to sing the first verse of “Crash!Boom!Bang!“ – what a surprise! People were wondering because Marie usually sings the whole song but this time she sang from the second verse on. Per: “Right! Crash!Boom! Bang!… guitar chords… Are you ready for this? Let’s see some hands!“. “How Do You Do!“ and “Dangerous“ were next. People were singing so loud, sometimes you couldn’t hear any singing of Marie and Per. They continued by presenting the band to the audience. Christoffer played some chords of “Eisgekühlter Bommerlunder“ as intro to “Joyride“. Even though I’m not from Germany but Switzerland, I knew this song very well. During “Joyride“, fans threw their own balloons in the air, but suddenly huge black and white ROXETTE balls popped up in the audience. That was one more surprise.

“Watercolours in the Rain“ and “Spending my Time“ were next. Unfortunately the audience’s part of “Spending my Time“ didn’t work that well as on other concerts because people screamed too loud, so you could not hear the singing. However, Per comments: “Sounds nice!“.

“The Look“ followed instantly and the arena was cooking. Before playing “Listen to Your Heart“ Per is talking to the audience again: “You’re very kind. Thank you very much. We had a wonderful time… Are you ready for this?“. Beautiful performance of Marie. She always ends this song in a special way and this time she really gave it all. Afterwards they received enthusiastic applause and both thanked the audience for this great evening.

The last song to be played this evening was an acoustic version of “Church of Your Heart.” When the concert was over, I was highly impressed by Marie’s performance that evening. Last time when I saw her in Graz, she was also great. But in Mannheim, she had so much more self confidence, she was extremely motivated and she sang stronger than ever. It was such a pleasure to spend another evening with Roxette, a wonderful band, cheering fans and fantastic pop songs. By the way, many thanks to Peter for his support and always appreciated friendship!

Next stop for me will be the Hallenstadion in Zürich. According to the promoter, this will be a SOLD OUT show, so they will play for approx. 13,000 people in my “hometown“. I’m not from the city of Zürich, but you know, Switzerland is a small country. Roxette will play Zürich exactly ten years after their last concert on the 31st of October 2001 during their Room Service Tour. To quote Per: “Let’s see what happens…”