This topic deserves its own post, to say the least. It's a bit personal, but I'm comfortable with who I am.
I got to the Tele2 arena a few hours before the show to make sure I knew where I was going. People were already lined up and I felt like, uh oh, I'm late. The security guy assured me I'd be fine. Little did I know just how huge this place is.
When I took the subway back a few hours later, the subway was PACKED. It took me a while to realize that yes, all these people were going to the show.
They had a red carpet set up, but it wasn't too big of a deal. I was a little nervous about my ticket because I bought it from Viagogo, a reseller, but I had no trouble getting in. I got to the "staplats" (standing area, but the first "a" has a circle over it) and was just beaming. This place was freaking massive. Absolutely gigantic. I guess I didn't really comprehend how big it was until inside. Of course, it makes sense now. They play big soccer games there. The lighting on the panorama is weird, but it should give a good idea of the scale.
It turns out I was early enough and got to go in the section the very closest to the stage. The first act was Zhara. The music was really good, but the performance wasn't very... polished? She was a decent dancer and the music was good, weird, electronic stuff. She had one backup dancer who was big and not pretty and her face looked a bit masculine. They never really coordinated their dance moves. Zhara had no one on instruments, just playback. She only said thanks maybe once and was gone. I still liked the music, though.
Then, I got super excited for Robyn. Duh. I was standing behind two guys and one was pretty tall, so I was super paranoid that he'd block my view. I dared not move, though, as I had established that spot and there were definitely people behind me. Finally, the lights went down, a huge "Robyn" logo (like the one on the shirt I bought) was slowly written on the super long screen covering the stage. It finished and slowly rose. The band came out. They started playing. They all had suits and ties on but plenty had big scraggly beards. They had two drummers and I think each only had one bass drum. The logo on the bass drum was the little cartoon robin (Robyn) logo from Konichiwa Records. I was so freaking excited. I really can't remember being so excited to see an act. I was sweating, bouncing up and down, grabbing my shirt, smiling, whispering "Oh boy... Oh man!" to myself and my heart was going a mile a minute. Finally, I heard her perfect, studio quality voice. Ahh! But where was she? She sang for probably a verse before bursting out singing "Show me love!". Oh man, it was a dream come true. Classic Robyn almost bowl cut short blonde hair. She had on what looked at first like a cut up Nascar racing outfit. She had black tights and a black tights top (whatever that's called). Then, the yellow Nascar outfit was over that. It was like a half shirt that said something like "ONE" on it. Then she had little shorts in the same style and then big boots with the tops in the same style. She had big platforms on the boots too because she's short. She definitely looked short on stage, too.
But it was beyond good. It was a dream come true. Oh, I already said that. Whatever, it's totally appropriate. Her style, her dance moves, her "can't break me" lyrics, her perfect live voice, it was just too much. I had seen her online only less than a year ago (I think) and everything I just described desperately made me want to go to Sweden. Now, here I was. Through all the second guessing myself (stuff like" could I make this trip alone? I did essentially no planning. Shouldn't I be working like everyone else? I don't belong here", etc...), I was in Stockholm, watching Robyn be these super catchy, awesome songs that I fell in love with in the states. I think during "Hang with me" (maybe the third song, easily one of my favorites) it all hit me and I was so happy and fearless and glad to celebrate with all these Swedes and fellow fans that I definitely felt my eyes well up. It does sound a little funny, to be getting emotional over an electro pop artist, but boy, it was something. Just something so personal for me. I did wonder not once what the girl (probably late teens) next to me thought when she saw a thirty year old man putting his hands up in the air and singing "just don't fall wrecklessly, hopelessly in love with me!"
She was easily the best entertainer that night. During any lyrical breaks, she would bust out some sweet Robyn dance moves. On one song, she collapsed by the keyboard player, heartbroken. But of course, she managed to fight back and get up! It was fun to hear "U should know better" and it was funny because she just said "tell 'em, Snoop!" and they played Snoop Dogg's verse. They had the music video in the background but it seemed out of focus. "Indestructible" was so much fun. She had us bang our fists to the four syllables of "This is hardcore!" and of course I was singing the rest, "I let the bad ones in and the good ones go but...!" Oh man, that one was terrific. The keyboard intro to that one got me and the crowd super pumped up.
I was soooo happy and pumped and adrenaline filled when the intro to "With every heartbeat" started. Possibly my favorite Robyn song. It's so personal and emotional and it was so great to sing it with her. It was killer when it got to the end because during the repeating line of "and it hurts with every heartbeat", she had this super appropriate dance of thrusting her chest up and out to make you see and feel her heart beat. It was very pronounced and clearly well practiced because it looked perfect. It was so awesome to see her emotion on that song because it's clear she really cares about the song. She stands very close to the mic and has her hand to her ear to make sure she's hitting the right notes. It's really remarkable to see just how incredible her voice is live. She needs no auto tune assistance and hits every note just right. It's hard to believe it's live, but I've seen live video of her before and knew it was true.
I may fill in more later, but the end was great, too. A second mic was brought out and she stood between the two mics. Then "We dance to the beat" started and she did the somewhat robotic vocals on the mic to my left. It was fun to hear about "we dance the beat of silent mutations" and then watch her just move her hands silently by her side in a flipping, twisting, fluid motion. She was mostly stationary during the song, but turned to the regular mic on my right to do the regular "we dance to the best and we don't stop" parts. I think those are the non robotic parts. Just listen to the song, you'll (I will, too) know what I mean. But the unique part was that they mixed "Don't fucking tell me what to do" into the song, so she transitioned to "my manager's killing me, my back is killing me, my tour is killing me, easy up your killing me" and then of course, "don't fucking tell me what to do, do, d-do!" I think "we dance to the beat" came back in eventually, too. She bowed, the band bowed, and tragically, like a candle in the wind, it was over. She didn't sing "call your girlfriend" and I didn't get to see the sweetest dance known to humanity performed live... this time. I will unquestionably be attending another Robyn show. Hopefully with her as the headliner. It was a sublime experience, through and through.
She played a few songs I didn't recognize. One about being in love with a robot because her man never came home. I think that was the one where she collapsed by the keyboard from heartbreak. She also played possibly a cover with this total bum looking guy on bass as a special guest. Christian something. He was kinda older, top heavy (not fat, just a bigger torso than legs) and wore like a white trendy tank top (not a wife beater) and like slim red almost board shorts and a flat brimmed red hat. I'm pretty sure his hair was gray, but he didn't look too far over 40. It was a good song, but I didn't recognize it. Robyn didn't sing too much on it.
I'll try to mention a bit more about her moves, but it's like describing the Mona Lisa. She does a fair number of spins and does the thing where she keeps her head in one spot until the last minute to keep her balance I believe. She does a lot of arm over arm spins. She puts her hands up all the way, and then out in a "here I am, behold!" gesture, usually after some arm spins. Love it. Her Nascar half top would work its way up on some of the arm spins and you could see her proud chest in the black tights material. That was fine. She did some squatting dance moves with arm movements at the bottom of the squat. A few pelvic thrusts that I was too embarrassed to hoot for. She has some good footwork in those platforms, too. I like when she does like a heel toe thing in those big shoes. She also does a lot like high knee steps. I love those, too. She only did a few moves where she really slid and/or glided seemingly effortlessly across the stage. She definitely isn't as unbelievable as the dancers from the Gothenburg Dance Fight, but she has her own style and I love it. It's what I more or less expected from seeing her youtube videos, but I loved the big, chesty heartbeat dance for "With every heartbeat"
Her songs, her stage presence, her unbelievable live voice, her dance moves, her beauty, her hair, her style, and of course her deep expressions really make Robyn Indestructible.
I got to the Tele2 arena a few hours before the show to make sure I knew where I was going. People were already lined up and I felt like, uh oh, I'm late. The security guy assured me I'd be fine. Little did I know just how huge this place is.
When I took the subway back a few hours later, the subway was PACKED. It took me a while to realize that yes, all these people were going to the show.
They had a red carpet set up, but it wasn't too big of a deal. I was a little nervous about my ticket because I bought it from Viagogo, a reseller, but I had no trouble getting in. I got to the "staplats" (standing area, but the first "a" has a circle over it) and was just beaming. This place was freaking massive. Absolutely gigantic. I guess I didn't really comprehend how big it was until inside. Of course, it makes sense now. They play big soccer games there. The lighting on the panorama is weird, but it should give a good idea of the scale.
It turns out I was early enough and got to go in the section the very closest to the stage. The first act was Zhara. The music was really good, but the performance wasn't very... polished? She was a decent dancer and the music was good, weird, electronic stuff. She had one backup dancer who was big and not pretty and her face looked a bit masculine. They never really coordinated their dance moves. Zhara had no one on instruments, just playback. She only said thanks maybe once and was gone. I still liked the music, though.
Then, I got super excited for Robyn. Duh. I was standing behind two guys and one was pretty tall, so I was super paranoid that he'd block my view. I dared not move, though, as I had established that spot and there were definitely people behind me. Finally, the lights went down, a huge "Robyn" logo (like the one on the shirt I bought) was slowly written on the super long screen covering the stage. It finished and slowly rose. The band came out. They started playing. They all had suits and ties on but plenty had big scraggly beards. They had two drummers and I think each only had one bass drum. The logo on the bass drum was the little cartoon robin (Robyn) logo from Konichiwa Records. I was so freaking excited. I really can't remember being so excited to see an act. I was sweating, bouncing up and down, grabbing my shirt, smiling, whispering "Oh boy... Oh man!" to myself and my heart was going a mile a minute. Finally, I heard her perfect, studio quality voice. Ahh! But where was she? She sang for probably a verse before bursting out singing "Show me love!". Oh man, it was a dream come true. Classic Robyn almost bowl cut short blonde hair. She had on what looked at first like a cut up Nascar racing outfit. She had black tights and a black tights top (whatever that's called). Then, the yellow Nascar outfit was over that. It was like a half shirt that said something like "ONE" on it. Then she had little shorts in the same style and then big boots with the tops in the same style. She had big platforms on the boots too because she's short. She definitely looked short on stage, too.
But it was beyond good. It was a dream come true. Oh, I already said that. Whatever, it's totally appropriate. Her style, her dance moves, her "can't break me" lyrics, her perfect live voice, it was just too much. I had seen her online only less than a year ago (I think) and everything I just described desperately made me want to go to Sweden. Now, here I was. Through all the second guessing myself (stuff like" could I make this trip alone? I did essentially no planning. Shouldn't I be working like everyone else? I don't belong here", etc...), I was in Stockholm, watching Robyn be these super catchy, awesome songs that I fell in love with in the states. I think during "Hang with me" (maybe the third song, easily one of my favorites) it all hit me and I was so happy and fearless and glad to celebrate with all these Swedes and fellow fans that I definitely felt my eyes well up. It does sound a little funny, to be getting emotional over an electro pop artist, but boy, it was something. Just something so personal for me. I did wonder not once what the girl (probably late teens) next to me thought when she saw a thirty year old man putting his hands up in the air and singing "just don't fall wrecklessly, hopelessly in love with me!"
She was easily the best entertainer that night. During any lyrical breaks, she would bust out some sweet Robyn dance moves. On one song, she collapsed by the keyboard player, heartbroken. But of course, she managed to fight back and get up! It was fun to hear "U should know better" and it was funny because she just said "tell 'em, Snoop!" and they played Snoop Dogg's verse. They had the music video in the background but it seemed out of focus. "Indestructible" was so much fun. She had us bang our fists to the four syllables of "This is hardcore!" and of course I was singing the rest, "I let the bad ones in and the good ones go but...!" Oh man, that one was terrific. The keyboard intro to that one got me and the crowd super pumped up.
I was soooo happy and pumped and adrenaline filled when the intro to "With every heartbeat" started. Possibly my favorite Robyn song. It's so personal and emotional and it was so great to sing it with her. It was killer when it got to the end because during the repeating line of "and it hurts with every heartbeat", she had this super appropriate dance of thrusting her chest up and out to make you see and feel her heart beat. It was very pronounced and clearly well practiced because it looked perfect. It was so awesome to see her emotion on that song because it's clear she really cares about the song. She stands very close to the mic and has her hand to her ear to make sure she's hitting the right notes. It's really remarkable to see just how incredible her voice is live. She needs no auto tune assistance and hits every note just right. It's hard to believe it's live, but I've seen live video of her before and knew it was true.
I may fill in more later, but the end was great, too. A second mic was brought out and she stood between the two mics. Then "We dance to the beat" started and she did the somewhat robotic vocals on the mic to my left. It was fun to hear about "we dance the beat of silent mutations" and then watch her just move her hands silently by her side in a flipping, twisting, fluid motion. She was mostly stationary during the song, but turned to the regular mic on my right to do the regular "we dance to the best and we don't stop" parts. I think those are the non robotic parts. Just listen to the song, you'll (I will, too) know what I mean. But the unique part was that they mixed "Don't fucking tell me what to do" into the song, so she transitioned to "my manager's killing me, my back is killing me, my tour is killing me, easy up your killing me" and then of course, "don't fucking tell me what to do, do, d-do!" I think "we dance to the beat" came back in eventually, too. She bowed, the band bowed, and tragically, like a candle in the wind, it was over. She didn't sing "call your girlfriend" and I didn't get to see the sweetest dance known to humanity performed live... this time. I will unquestionably be attending another Robyn show. Hopefully with her as the headliner. It was a sublime experience, through and through.
She played a few songs I didn't recognize. One about being in love with a robot because her man never came home. I think that was the one where she collapsed by the keyboard from heartbreak. She also played possibly a cover with this total bum looking guy on bass as a special guest. Christian something. He was kinda older, top heavy (not fat, just a bigger torso than legs) and wore like a white trendy tank top (not a wife beater) and like slim red almost board shorts and a flat brimmed red hat. I'm pretty sure his hair was gray, but he didn't look too far over 40. It was a good song, but I didn't recognize it. Robyn didn't sing too much on it.
I'll try to mention a bit more about her moves, but it's like describing the Mona Lisa. She does a fair number of spins and does the thing where she keeps her head in one spot until the last minute to keep her balance I believe. She does a lot of arm over arm spins. She puts her hands up all the way, and then out in a "here I am, behold!" gesture, usually after some arm spins. Love it. Her Nascar half top would work its way up on some of the arm spins and you could see her proud chest in the black tights material. That was fine. She did some squatting dance moves with arm movements at the bottom of the squat. A few pelvic thrusts that I was too embarrassed to hoot for. She has some good footwork in those platforms, too. I like when she does like a heel toe thing in those big shoes. She also does a lot like high knee steps. I love those, too. She only did a few moves where she really slid and/or glided seemingly effortlessly across the stage. She definitely isn't as unbelievable as the dancers from the Gothenburg Dance Fight, but she has her own style and I love it. It's what I more or less expected from seeing her youtube videos, but I loved the big, chesty heartbeat dance for "With every heartbeat"
Her songs, her stage presence, her unbelievable live voice, her dance moves, her beauty, her hair, her style, and of course her deep expressions really make Robyn Indestructible.
Sounds like an excellent concert! Too bad they didn't let you meet her since you came all the way from LA. Now I'll have to go on YouChoobe and look up some of her videos.
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