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12/13 Aqua with Vassy
at Fillmore
Aqua Setlist
Tour Dates
Dec. 15 Denver, CO The Summit
Dec. 17 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot Dec. 19 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues Dec. 20 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium Read More
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The Fillmore Minneapolis was bathed in pink to welcome a European band on their first American tour, almost thirty years after they were formed.
Opening up was NOVUL aka Samantha Novlan with a mic and two backup dancers. She is from rural Saskatchewan, Canada and performed a quick and lively set singing and dancing from her forthcoming EP Lullabies which had the glitz and glide of her idols like Gwen Stefani and Lady Gaga.
Next up was Vassy aka Vasiliki Karagiorgos from Australia. She has been performing since 2003 with three studio albums and said this was her first tour of the United States. And since she was new to Minnesota, she wanted to know what Minneapolis was known for.
“Bloody Hell,” she responded to the endless answers from the crowd. “You are a rowdy one.”
Vassy liked the energy from the crowd as there were more than a few hands raised when she asked for two volunteer backup dancers to join her on stage.
Next was Aqua, a band from Denmark making their American debut much later than anyone in the band had hoped.
In 2022 in recognition of the twenty-five year anniversary of their biggest single, “Barbie Girl” Aqua sat down with People and said how they still wanted to tour the vast landscape of the United States. So said lead singer René Dif: “I would love to see Aqua do two weeks in Vegas and I would like to see Aqua on the stage at Coachella. Things like that would definitely be on the bucket list of Aqua."
Little did the band know that a summer blockbuster movie about a pink fashion icon would make this dream come true.
Aqua formed in 1995 when Dif and Søren Rasted won a musical contest and were hired to produce a soundtrack for a Danish film called Frække Frida og de frygtløse spioner. One year later Dif spotted Lene Nystrøm singing on a ferry that connected Denmark to her home country of Norway and hired her on the spot. By 1997 they released their debut album Aquarium and became international stars with songs like “Doctor Jones” “Lollipop Candyman” and “Barbie Girl.”
Although Aqua had two other albums that were well received throughout the years, they played mostly from their debut album and kept the Euro-bubblegum dance music going, finishing on an uplifting beat to the delight of a crowd that was a mix of young and old and definitely dressed for the occasion.
When Aqua took their final bow after “Roses are Red,” Nystrøm effusively thanked the crowd with a big smile: “You have no idea how much this means to us. You have no F-ing clue.”
Fun Fact: In 2000 Mattel sued Aqua and MCA Records citing that “Barbie Girl” had damaged their most iconic brand. The toymaker's move failed for the song was a parody on sex, commercialism and also pretty fun. So much fun that in 2008 Mattel started using a cleaner version of it in their commercials. Then Mattel asked Aqua to team up with Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice to produce “Barbie World” for their new movie, a song that has garnered two Grammy nominations and gave Aqua an opportunity to check an item on their bucket list.
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Aqua at Fillmore, Minneapolis (13 Dec 2023) |
| dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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