Aqua Kick Off First U.S. Tour in Seattle

We did not have Aqua playing the Paramount Theater on our 2023 bingo cards and walking into the venue we had no idea what to expect. The Belgian band who saw huge success in the end of the 90s with the Europop movement was finally playing their first show in the U.S. It’s a little hard to believe that with all the success of their mega hit, “Barbie Girl,” they never played a show on this side of the pond. Thanks to the success of the Barbie movie this year, the song would get a makeover from Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice and even earned them a Grammy nomination. You got to love pop culture!

Aqua formed back in 1995 as Joyspeed and changed their name before the release of their debut album, Aquarium. Current members include vocalists René Dif and Lene Nystrøm, and keyboardist Søren Rasted. We were happy and intrigued to be a part of their first U.S. tour stop and to get to hear some of their hit tracks. Living in Greece during that great music era, this would bring so many memories back. We didn’t know what to expect going into the show, but we really did like the idea of our 90s nostalgia kicking in and remembering all of these songs.

The band had a special guest tonight, the Australian artist Vassy, who is known for her popular dance collaborations and being the first woman to win an EDMA ICON Award. Vassy came out and got the crowd going and as the time passed people got into it more and more. Her popular hits “Secrets,” with Tiësto, and “Bad,” with David Guetta are tracks we always love listening at show and getting to hear them live by the vocalist was a special treat indeed.

It was time for the main act to come out, and an intro video was projected on the huge background screen. The band was in a DeLorean car and was logging in Seattle as the destination to go to. The music videos played throughout the night with the live versions. The band as their current selves seemed to be returning to all of the old times going from video memory to another one. It was kind of like going back in time through the show with them as we all did tonight.

Aqua’s energy was incredible as they came into the stage and played like they never played before. You could tell they’ve been waiting for this for a long time and they didn’t waste a single moment. Dif was constantly moving around ready to step into his parts and Nystrøm charmed the crowd with her persona. You could just see the excitement they had to finally be in the States touring.

The crowd was into it from the start singing along to their hit tracks, “Turn Back Time,” “My Oh My,” “Around the World,” “Lollipop,” and “Doctor Jones.” Of course, the party really got going with Dif said the famous line, ‘Come on Barbie, let’s go party!’ as they kicked off their biggest hit, “Barbie Girl.” This brought it all back with a single line and transported us to where we were in 1997 when the song came out.

If you’re near a show, make sure to go check them out this is actually really worth it, and it made our night. There is something about returning back in time for a few hours and remembering another period in your life and Aqua helped us do that this evening. It may have taken them a while to get here but they brought all the energy needed to make the show memorable.