Tempodrom Berlin is one of the venues in the world that you have to take a photo of before you enter. Just like the Sydney Opera House, only smaller and much less famous. It looks like a tent, the tops spike into the night sky. And although we are only a few minutes away from Potsdamer Platz, it rather feels like we’re in a middle-sized German town here. Roxette in their various settings have played many different venues in Berlin before, but it was their first time at Tempodrom. And it has been the most beautiful location so far. When sold out, 4,000 people fit in here. And it was packed when the show began. 

The audience appeared to be a bit older than in Halmstad this summer, thus the expecatitions regarding the energy in the audience were not very high intially. It took a bit before they warmed up. It did help a lot that the band played one hit after another from the very beginning. No experiments, just pure awesomess from the start. Didn’t take long before the crowd began dancing and chanting while slowly moving towards the stage. Hands were waved in the air, often equipped with a beer and once the beer was emptied phones were held to capture the moments. I could see people kissing each other to LTYH, others clapped their chest to The Look. Seems like many of them connect memories from their youth or even childhood with the songs. And while I sometimes said in earlier reviews of Berlin gigs that the audience looked a bit reserved this wasn’t the case at all this time. Why that is so? Well, look at the stage. We have Per, the cunning entertainer he is, we have Lena who added an extra gear to her already outstanding performance. Although she surprised us during the summer leg of the tour, she is now rocking the stage like never before. When we spoke about her progress between the very beginning of the tour and her form in the summer, what she delivers now is yet another level up. Can’t describe it, gotta see it. For real. 

Good thing also that the stage design adds to the experience. It doesn’t steal the focus, it’s just there and underlines that all you hear from the stage is hand made, “no click tracks” as Per likes to point out. You get almost two hours of power pop, people who are not hardcore fans were surprised that one band can fill a whole evening with their best-of hits only. There is a German word you need to learn when you speak about Roxette’s shows from now on: “amtlich”. Best translated as “legit”, we like to use it when we refer to something that really convinced. So if you still can, check the tour schedule to see if Roxette is coming to town and buy your ticket. No regrets, I promise!

 

 

 

 

 

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