On Rosendal Garden Party’s first day, Faithless may have been the ones ending the evening, but Agnes was the one pulling the biggest crowd. She took the stage with the confidence of an international superstar.
Agnes has been on the Swedish pop scene since 2005, when she won the second season of Swedish Idol at 17 years og age. She of course went on to having a huge international hit with Release Me in 2009.
Her more recent success can be said to have started in late 2020 with the release of the single Fingers Crossed, and the subsequent album Magic Still Exists, which includes plenty of amazing tunes penned together with Vargas & Lagola (ie. Agnes’s hubby Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir). She called the genre Spiritual Disco, which is an apt description. The album won critical acclaim, including the Swedish Grammis award for Composer of the Year.
She has now followed that masterpiece of an album with Beautiful Madness, which steers her sound more towards house and club sounds, but still keeping some disco sensibilities.
When she enters the stage at Rosendal, it may be 9pm, but as it’s just a week before Midsummer, it is still light as day. Her sleek show and especially the lights might have looked even better in somewhat darker clubby settings.
She totally commands the stage with the confidence of an international pop star. Some people have called her the Lady Gaga of Vänersborg, and with her esthetics it is easy to see why, especially when she puts on a futuristic mask.
She also brought on stage a tight group of back-up singers, a male dancer with a bare torso, a drummer and the coolest bassist/keyboardist in the from of Felin, who is a bona fide pop star in her own right.
The vocals are flawless and she delivers from the start with 24 Hours and Here Comes the Night. The clubby vibes take over when she does what she says is her own favorite from the new album: Balenciaga Covered Eyes. The crowd really starts dancing though, when we hear Fingers Crossed followed by Love and Appreciation.
It is however not unexpected, that the joyous feelings reach their peak when everybody joins in to sing along to Release Me at the end of the set. It is after all such a universal hit, known to all outside her own circle of fans.
With her impeccable vocals and her confident pop icon strut, Agnes really has earned her place on the big stages, and quite frankly would deserve to be a bigger star both here in Sweden and internationally.
If you missed her at Rosendal, you actually get a second chance, as she was just announced for the main stage of Stockholm Culture Festival on the 15th of August. Be there to share on some love and appreciation for her musical superpowers.
All photos © Nina Uddin
