Per Gessle’s Party Crasher - part 2

FINALLY!!!

Here it is everyone! The long awaited second part of my report on Per Gessle’s “Party Crasher” gig in Amsterdam, May 6th 2009.

Opportunity Nox - audio dubbed extract

This is the video I promised you in my first part of the post. The extraction of “Opportunity Nox”, with the new audio, provided by DutchTaper.

After this song, Per went on with one of his new solo songs: “Doesn’t make sense”.

Doesn't make sense - audio dubbed whole song

Per & Christopher jamming at the end of the song.

i got my honey bunny
she’s wearin’ me out
she’s so good to me
oooh makes me wanna shout
i try to figure it out
night after night
what she sees in me
what i’m doin’ all right
ooh ooh ooh wee
there’s nowhere else i’d rather be
but it doesn’t make sense to me

After “Doesn’t make sense” Per went back to the old Roxing time with “Church of your heart”.

You pack your bag
you take control
you're moving into my heart and into my soul
Get out of my way!
get out of my sight!
I won't be walking on thin ice
to get through the night
Hey, where's your work?
what's your game?
I know your business but I don't know your name...
Hold on tight
you know she a little bit dangerous
she's got what it takes to make ends meet
the eyes of a lover that hit like heat
you know she's a little bit dangerous

Then Per kept on playing Roxette songs, continuing with "Joyride". The crowd was getting more excited with every Roxette song, because everyone knew that the lovely Mrs. Fredriksson would soon join him on stage. And every Roxette song was a new possibility for him to announce us that she’d be coming up.

But first: c’mon on join the Joyride everybody!!!

Joyride - audiodubbed - whole song

And it all begins where it ends
and she's all mine my magic friend.
She says: Hello you fool I love you
C'mon join the joyride
Join the joyride
She's a flower I can paint her
she's a child of the sun
we're part of this together
could never turn around and run

After “Joyride” we went back to Mister Gessle’s solo work: “C’mon”. To be followed up with “Are you an old hippie, Sir?” from his “Son of a Plumber” album.

Since Per had thrown one of his plectrums my/our way and that German @#$%$#@ had taken it (with help of the unknowing security dude), I “made a plan”. I took out an envelope and wrote a message to Per on it. I gave Joyce the camera after filming “Joyride”, so I could hold up the envelope and she could make some pictures with my camera (her batteries were almost empty).

And I saw Helena reading it while she was singing during “C’mon”. After that song, she went in the direction of Pelle Alsing’s drumkit, placed her tambourine and grabbed something. Then she came up front and threw 2 Party Crasher plectrums into the audience, once directly in my cap!!! I was sooooo freaking happy!!! So I turned the envelope and added another message.

I held it up during “Are you an old hippie, Sir?”. And Helena read that message as well, giving my a HUGE smile and a double thumbs up! She really made my evening even better than it already was! AGAIN: Thank you Helena!!!

And then, Per announced that he had brought a good friend along for this evening. Of course, all of us went totally and immensely INSANE with joy! Since, whom other could that good friend be, other than our Marie Fredriksson??? And YES! There she was! Ow what an evening to NEVER forget again! After all these years and Marie’s battle against cancer, there she was again. She appeared very fragile and it was very emotional. Per had some tears on his cheeks, as did many in the audience and on the balcony… And with all those camera’s up in the air, Per joked “hope you didn’t forget to bring your camera”.

They kicked off with “It must have been love”.

Per & Marie, together again! - audiodubbed - whole song.

At one point, Marie made a mistake with the lyrics. I did not know if it was due to that being a high and powerful vocal part, so she might not be able to achieve that yet… Or if it was due to all the emotions. Marie has changed lyrics during gigs before… But if it is not due to the emotional part of the song, then I guess the long and strong vocals were just too much for her at the time… I guess you might be able to hear it when you watch the video. I really must admit that I loved the part where Helena and Marie “na na na-ed” together. Their voices sound really good together, or so I think.

After this quite emotional song, Per and Marie decided to kick in with a more powerful song: “The Look”. Per asked the audience”: “do you want another one"?” and when we went wild, Christopher already kicked in with his guitar intro but… Per and Marie were still enjoying a short chat. So he quit, looked up at Per who told him to “go ahead”, and Christopher kicked in again. During the song, many people pointed at Marie when singing that “she’s got the look”… Which was always like that, as far as I can remember. But this evening, it felt like it had a deeper meaning to it all.

Marie's still got "The Look" - audiodubbed - whole song

She's got the look
she's got the look
what in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue
when everything I'll ever do
I'll do for you and I go
la la la la la
she's got the look
Fire in the ice
naked to the t-bone
is a lover's disguise
banging on the head drum
shaking like a mad bull
she's got the look
Swaying to the band
moving like a hammer
she's a miracle man
loving is the ocean
kissing is the wet sand
she's got the look
And she goes: na na na na na na na na

We were definitely the MOST lucky people in the world at that moment, standing in front of Per and Marie, together on stage again after 7 years... So special, they really gave us a night to remember forever!

This really was just amazing… And it was sad to see Marie leave the stage, but my old Roxette heart was pounding and beating heavily again. I am really happy that Marie had enough strength and will to survive all she’s been through and come back like this! Amazing!!! I keep repeating myself with calling this all amazing. But I guess that true Roxers know this feeling all to well. Especially the ones who were present.

After “The Look” Marie thanked us all, telling us “you were amazing, like always” before giving us her goodbye.

We were all standing full of emotions when Marie, Per and the rest of the band left the stage and instead of yelling "Gessle" like we did before, the old "Roxette" chanting was alive again! Just listening to the audio tracks of this evening still gives me geese bumps over and over... And Thank you, DutchTaper Joost, for that! I guess I just can't thank you enough for your recording.

Then the band came back, leaving an exhausted Marie behind in the dressing room (I guess). They were back for the last part of the evening, 4 more songs to go. After Per & Marie’s performance, I did not film anymore, only took some pictures. But there are a few videos of the songs if you search for them on YouTube™. You already know the titles from my “part one” of my gig report or just read on in this post.

First they sang the beautiful ballad “Hey Mr DJ”, a song in which Helena has a lead vocal.

it could happen to anyone
anyone, to anyone
wakin’ up around the corner of a dream
gaze with one eye
yearn to fly
an endless high
a butterfly
realize it’s hardly how it seems
hey mr dj won’t you play another love song
no more talkin’ if you please
hey mr dj won’t you play another love song
for my baby and me

After this song, Per got back to the 80's sound, with a cover of "I'm not your steppin' stone". This song is from one of his old time favorite, from when he started to collect records.

I-I-I-I-I'm not your steppin' stone
I-I-I-I-I'm not your steppin' stone
You're trying to make your mark in society,
You're using all the tricks that you used on me,
You're reading all them high-fashion magazines,
The clothes you're wearing, girl,
they're causing public scenes.
I said, I-I-I-I-I'm not your steppin' stone
I-I-I-I-I'm not your steppin' stone (No!)

Then we went back to 1994, Crash! Boom! Bang! record, with "Sleeping in my car". During their 1994-1995 C!B!B! world tour, this was their opening song (after the "Mission Impossible" intro).

The moon is alright
the freeway's heading south
my heart is going Boom!
there's a strange taste in my mouth
baby babe - I'm moving real fast
so try to hold on
try to hold on!
Sleeping in my car - I will undress you
sleeping in my car - I will caress you
staying in the back seat of my car making up

Per joked after this song that they couldn’t stop. Which, of course, meant that the end was near. The end of a fabulous evening. Getting a guitar plectrum, used by Per, from Helena. Seeing Marie on stage after all she’s been through… This really was a night to remember. And for Joyce, this was a hell of a first concert to be at! She was really very lucky, just like all the other guests of course, to be there that night.

And then, Per started the last song of this evening. A song that is normally sung by Marie, but I must admit, this version of “Queen of rain” was quite lovely as well.

And then the band made their final bows, waves and smiles before leaving the stage...

After the "troubles" of getting a Per Gessle guitar plectrum, I got another one when they were cleaning up the stage floor. This one, I gave to Eva. What use would 2 plectrums be and I knew that she would appreciate it a whole lot. Which of course means a lot to me as well.

We heard from several people that Per and some of the band members usually came out after the show for some meet & greeting. Of course, we were very, very, very much interested. We just needed to be in time at the train station though, otherwise we'd miss the last train and that would mean leaving Amsterdam by train on the first one of the morning, a bit after 4am. Seeing I had to work the next day, that would not be too wise. So we were on the clock.

But after a while, some of the band members were walking through the small arena and I grabbed my "Party Crasher" CD to get it signed. I only forgot to ask if any could add my name. I was too excited after seeing Marie live, too exhausted from standing all day and frankly, I just forgot about it. Just like I almost forgot it when I met Per and Marie for the first (and only real) time, in Munchen, Germany. That was back in 2001, during the Room Service tour though... I quickly went back to Per & Marie's table when we were supposed to leave the meet & greet room and asked Per to add my name, which he did with a huge smile. Marie did write "Roxette" on my cast that they signed... Like I did not know, haha!

Standing left to Per, his hand on my shoulder, back in 2001…

But back to the meet & greets in Amsterdam. First we bumped into Chirstopher.

I even got his beer haha! But I did give it back afterwards

Then we went over to Eva, who was already flirting with our lovely Mister Alsing, Pelle. So we were happy to chat with him for a while, get a signature and picture as well. *yay*

He's still a real Roxer accoring to... me

Then we saw the Roxing band member since 1986, mister Öfwerman, Clarence. Without his golden fez though. He was chatting with bass player Magnus, who left us to chat with some other fans. This time, I got Joyce to join in for a picture as well.

And then we went in line for mister Gessle himself, who had taken a seat at a table near the merchandise and was already signing away. While in line, I chatted with Åsa for a while (Per's wife) who was standing nearby. I asked hew how the shopping in Amsterdam went. She said it was very nice and she was back after only 30 minutes. I replied that 30 minutes must be a new speedy shopping record for Amsterdam, which made her laugh. I then asked if she had enjoyed the evening, which she did. Then we had to move on to Per and she got a call, so we said a goodbye and went on with our own business.

First Per signed Eva's DVD booklet and then my CD. I am the only one really visible on the pictures that Iwan made (though on some you can still see Åsa standing in the back and you can see the backpack Joyce is wearing). Due to several reasons, I need to post a part 3 of this meeting with Per, but that will have to wait for a while, I can't explain (am I making you curious???) now but will do so in that part 3 I just promised you all! After this small meet & greet with Per, we all headed towards the metro to take us to the central train station.

Per, Helena, Christopher, Clarence, Pelle, Magnus and of course Marie:
THANKS FOR THIS AMAZING EVENING!!!

She says bye, bye bye... Goodbye…