She has been touring with Per Gessle since February - the acid test was the tour premiere in Cape Town, South Africa.
It was up to proof now in front of all the fans who are standing there waiting. Now we'll see how it goes for this new lady. I was fairly composed and focused and thought that now we take it easy and one song at a time. Remember all the lyrics. Sing carefully and well.
"Wall of mobile phones"
Philipsson became tense when "a wall of mobile phones" went up in the audience, but thinks they got a positive response and that the fans showed a lot of joy and love. She admits that it was a difficult situation to be compared to Marie Fredriksson, but says that she has been careful to take care of the original music.
I try to get the fans to understand that I don't think I'm some new Marie jumping around here. If she had been standing in the wings, I would have wanted her to be able to give a thumbs up and say "it's okay Lena, that's how the songs should be sung". I want to make her proud and I want to do the songs justice, says Lena Philipsson.
She thinks that she and Per Gessle have found a good dynamic on stage and have "played together" during the first part of the tour.
"Know who I am"
For her, the highlight of the tour so far has been Munich with an audience of 6,000 people. Now Gessle and Philipsson are doing four sold-out concerts in Gothenburg and Halmstad.
Is there more pressure in front of a home audience?
No, rather the opposite. At home in Sweden, people know who I am. I guess those who actually want to watch me will come.
Philipsson promises a lot of singing along and recognition. In addition, the Swedish concerts will be a bit longer, with songs that have not been included earlier in the tour. Her focus right now is to keep herself and her voice healthy.
The best thing is to wash your hands and try to stay away from people with colds, she says.
Kristoffer Viita/TT
Facts: Roxette in concert
TT
Extensive arena tour that takes care of Roxette's musical heritage. Per Gessle and Lena Philipsson play all the old hits. Philipsson sings the parts that Marie Fredriksson used to do. The Roxette band consists of Christoffer Lundquist, Magnus Börjeson, Magnus "Norpan" Eriksson, Dea Norberg, as well as the original Roxette profiles Clarence Öfwerman and Jonas Isacsson.
Remaining tour dates: 23 July, Gothenburg, Sweden – Trädgårdsföreningen 25 July, Gothenburg, Sweden – Trädgårdsföreningen 26 July, Halmstad, Sweden – Brottet 27 July, Halmstad, Sweden – Brottet 4 November, Budapest, Hungary – Papp László Budapest Sportaréna 6 November, Prague, Czech Republic – 02 Arena 12 November, Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena 15 November, Valencia, Spain – Roig Arena 16 November, Barcelona, Spain – Sant Jordi Club 18 November, Leipzig, Germany – Quarterback Immobilien Arena 20 November, Berlin, Germany – Tempodrom 22 November, Hamburg, Germany – Barclays Arena 23 November, Frankfurt, Germany – myticket Jahrhunderthalle 25 November, Düsseldorf, Germany – Mitsubishi Electric Halle 26 November, Nuremberg, Germany – Arena Nürnberger Versicherung 1 December, London, United Kingdom – OVO Arena Wembley 4 December, Linköping, Sweden – Saab Arena 5 December, Stockholm, Sweden – Avicii Arena 10 December, Oslo, Norway – Unity Arena 12 December, Ålesund, Norway – Sparebanken Møre Arena (SBM Arena) 13 December, Trondheim, Norway – Trondheim Spektrum
