Diggiloo is one of Sweden's biggest family shows that is happening during the summer. The show tours around Sweden with 22 stops in different cities. Diggiloo is a show with many performing artists which focus on music, laughters and a great show. The participating artists this year are: Charlotte Perrelli, David Lindgren, Mariette, Marika Carlsson, Ola Salo, Kamferdrops, Méndez, Christer Björkman, Ida Redig and Tommy Nilsson.
We shouldn't forget to give credit to the band and the dancers that makes the show even better. I don't know their names but I will include a few photos that I managed to capture of them.
I've heard a lot about Diggiloo over the years but I had never seen the show before. I didn't got any information about how the set up for the show was going to be like beforehand. On set, I was told that I was allowed to photograph during the whole show and was basically allowed to shoot wherever I wanted in the audience which made me very glad. Because of the access I had, I could really push myself and try different angles for my photos.
David Lindgren open up the show by singing his hit "Shout It Out". Best way to open the show if you may ask me. David introduced each one of the artists on stage and together they welcomed the audience to their show. One of the roles David has in Diggiloo is to be the compere and call each one of the artists on stage for their time to sing.
The set up of the show was that there were 2 acts and a break for 40 minutes between them (basically a 2 hours show). Each one of the artists got to perform their own released music in between these major themes where all of the artists would sing together. For example, some of the "themes" was a Jerry Williams tribute, "Salsa Finale" and music in French.
Christer Björkman singing in French in the second act.
Must say, it was a bit odd seeing Christer singing as the only times I've seen him has been related to being in charge of Melodifestivalen and not as a participant.
Kamferdrops was one of the first people to perform her own set. As I've been seeing more of her through Melodifestivalen, I get her style/thing more than before. She has a nice voice and I've gotten to hear more of her releases which I have started to enjoy more. I know her stage presence might not be as energetic as people wish it would be and I understand what they come from. But as a very laidback person myself, I get it.
I was pleasant surprised over how fantastic and funny Marika Carlsson were. I had never heard about her before she got announced to be part of the show. The comedy scene isn't something I pay that much attention to, doesn't matter if it's in Sweden or abroad. I like how she was dragging people for some of the prejudice she experience being a black woman in Sweden. She also made a joke about being the only one in the lineup that hasn't done anything with Melodifestivalen. She said that she would be able to compete even if she isn't a singer, consider that Björn Ranelid has been in the contest. Haha.
It was so much fun seeing Marika and to photograph her since she would make the most of her facial expressions all the time!
Tommy Nilsson is a well known artist in Sweden and his most known song is the classic "Öppna Din Dörr". His voice is something that people admire. I like his voice but after my siblings have been watching a lot of "Spongebob squarepants" through out the years, I can't hear Tommy Nilsson's voice without thinking about Patrick Star as Tommy is the voice of Patrick in the dubbed version in Swedish. 😆
Ida Redig hasn't been an artist that I've known about, before she participated in Melfest earlier this year. I can't say that I've been listening to her music a lot but from what I've seen, she's a good live artist. I might give her another chance and listen through her discography a bit thorough when I have time.
In the middle of the show, there was a break for about 40 mintes for people to get something to eat, use the toilet or to meet Mariette and Ida Redig at their signing. On set, you could either buy merchandise of some of the artists or the official Diggiloo merchandise. Seeing signings is not something that I get to do much these days. I don't know why there isn't signings at shows as something that should be mandatory but it's what it is. I guess the fans need to make sure to let the artists and the management that they want more signings. Either way, at those rare times that I get to see signings happening, I really enjoy watching all the happy interactions between fans and their idols.
Charlotte Perrelli is a bit of a legend. She has several songs that the fans of Swedpop loves. Charlotte sang "Hero" in a stripped down version, she also performed "Tusen och En Natt" together with Christer Björkman and the rest of the Diggiloo artists in different musical parts. Which was fun to see!
The artist I had looked forward to see the most that night was Méndez! I was really excited when I saw that we would get to hear his older songs "Razor Tongue", "Carneval" and "ADRENALINA". These 3 songs have basically been my childhood and it was so much fun to finally getting to hear them live. Specially "Adrenalina" because that song is a bop and it has grown old very well through out the years. I can still put it on play and bop to it!
Méndez is truly a happy guy and it was so much fun to see him smiling like a ridicolous child on stage, you could tell how much he was enjoying every minute of it. Unfortunately, I didn't got the opportunity to meet Méndez as planned but he saw that I was there and greeted me from stage.
Ola Salo, is a former member of The Ark. I've seen him numerous times playing in the band but also as a solo artist. Ola is an entertainer and really puts on a great show. Actually, my best photos from that night all had Ola in them in one way or another. He's really photogenic! I loved hearing "Calleth You, Cometh I" and "It takes a fool" live. Despite that I haven't heard those songs for a while, I still remembered the lyrics to them.
I don't know if the general audience realize the fact that Mariette has been in the game for a while. I've seen her perform on the stages of Swedish Idol, Lotta på Liseberg and Melodifestivalen. Diggiloo was a completely different stage for her to be performing on and I was very excited to be seeing her in a new setting. Mariette has said that she isn't much of a dancer on stage and we have seen her most with a guitar in her hand. But I must say, she did a great job on Diggiloo and it was fun seeing her doing something new. I'm proud over her and that she went her way to push herself outside of her comfort zone. Mariette has definitely grown more and more for me these recent years and it's always nice meeting her.
The overall impression of the Diggiloo show is that if you love Swedish pop, you would most likely love attending this event. It has music which gets played on the radio in current time but also from the past. The show is singalong friendly and there's something for everyone. Some people might think that the tickets can get a bit pricy which I understand but I think you get what you pay if you are really into this kind of music scene. It's a great show with various music styles, colour schemes, you get to see each artists more than just their own set and and it's well mixed with comedy and music. From my perspective, if you get the opportunity to attend this show with artists that you like: I highly recommend you to do that!
That's about it for this post, I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about this show and to see my photographs of it.
Until next time, ingat!
/Lizel
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