ROXETTE.RO - from fans, for fans

 The concert began at eight but the fans gathered in front of the arena two hours before and waited at least 15-20 minutes outside. In the opening has played for 30 minutes the  new wave band from Kazan "Murakami" elected by Per Gessle and Marie Fredrickson.

 Although it started 40 minutes late, the audience applauded when Roxette appeared on the stage. Daily Roxette has published a testimonial from there:

“The audience seemed to be very reserved at the beginning. Also, because not many people speak English in the province, most people could hardly understand what was said. No welcoming applause to "Hello from Hollywood", though by the first chords of "It Must Have Been Love" the arena exploded with applause and noise.  But the guys were great! Really! They did their job and worked and enjoyed what they were doing, and it was like a fire for butter. Slowly, slowly the audience started to make noise, applaud loudly, shout and show signs of appreciation.

Roxette didn't ask the crowd to raise their hands (nothing like "raise your hands in the air" or this kind of cheap stuff), they inspired people, and after a few songs people started to move, dance, clap hands, behave somehow to show that they liked what they were seeing.

The arena where the show took place is the biggest in Kazan, and it was full… but mostly the seats. There was a lot of space on the dance floor and between the rows, so in the beginning it looked more like a symphony concert.  I suppose it's a display of the Russian character: we start slowly, we need time to pick up speed, but once we get going we can hardly stop. By the end of the show, people jumped close to the stage and danced in the gangways!

The band was great, they are professionals in the best meaning of the word. To start in a cold atmosphere without showing any disappointment, it costs a lot. They felt some disappointment I suppose, I could feel it by the behavior of Marie most of all, she was quite reserved too, but she was good… really good. Smiling, the voice was beautiful as always, and Per inspired everybody by the music and he did it very well.

It was a good mix of new and old songs, and we accepted everything, waiting for their old hits of course.  They did win over the audience and the cold Russian winter!  They made the snow melt, and spring has finally arrived to our place!

And one of our readers (gearshift) told us that “'Listen to Your Heart' was gorgeous. Half of the stadium was collected at the front of the stage and the other half was waving cell phones. It was a full magic moment. Marie was singing almost two hours in a row - FANTASTIC!!"

Here it is the complete setlist :

1. Dressed For Success
2. Sleeping In My Car
3. Opportunity Nox
4. The Big L.
5. Wish I Could Fly
6. Only When I Dream
7. She's Got Nothing On (But the Radio)
8. Perfect Day
9. Things Will Never Be the Same
10. It Must Have Been Love
11. 7Twenty7
12. Fading Like A Flower
13. Silver Blue
14. How Do You Do!
15. Dangerous
Band presentation (with Kalinka Malinka)
16. Joyride

First Encore (Extras)

17. Watercolours In the Rain
18. Spending My Time
19. The Look

Second Encore (Extra extras), and Marie is now wearing the official sweater of Kazan hockey club Ak Bars.

20. Way Out
21. Listen To Your Heart
22. Church Of Your Heart

 Source: www.dailyroxette.com & www.kazan.kp.ru