Cape Town

Roxette In Concert 2025 – Cape Town – 26th February 2025 – #1

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On 2nd May 2024 it was announced that Per would take the Roxette band on the road again and embark on a tour together with Lena Philipsson to do what he loves the most; perform his songs live in front of a dedicated audience.

Per said in 2024:

This is all about my Roxette songs, this huge bundle of music and lyrics I’ve been writing for well over three decades. I’m not starting a new duo. Marie will always be irreplaceable. However, I’m really lucky to have found an amazing voice and a brilliant performer in Lena Philipsson.

I co-wrote Lena’s first major hit back in 1986 and she’s one of the brightest shining stars Sweden has ever known. I’m extremely proud she wants to join me in my trek to keep the Roxette legacy alive.

Lena said in 2024:

I’m both excited and thrilled about embarking on this tour. I really look forward to working with Per – he is a phenomenal songwriter and a neverending musical force.

The tour was set to start in South Africa with 2 gigs – both sold out – and 8 shows in Australia, to which 1 extra gig was added in Melbourne after the first Melbourne concert got sold out. Since then, 10 shows were announced in Europe and 2 extra shows were added in Sweden after the first Halmstad and first Gothenburg gigs got sold out. The second Halmstad show is also sold out by now.

It’s always a good sign when tickets are selling very well for a tour already in the beginning. Roxette In Concert 2025 kicked in with a sold-out show in Cape Town, South Africa. This is the place where Roxette had their last concert with Marie Fredriksson on 8th February 2016. At the same venue, Grand Arena, GrandWest. It all begins where it ends, isn’t it?

Per was the first to arrive in South Africa a couple of days ago and Lena and the band joined him some days later. PG did some interviews for radio and newspapers during the past two days and tried to get rid of the pollen in sunny Cape Town.

The gang had a soundcheck before the premiere today, about which Lena posted two video snippets, so we could be sure they would perform The Big L. and Sleeping In My Car.

The doors opened at 19:00 local time and the fans could get their merchandise stuff at the stand. There are 3 different T-shirts (grey elephant tee with tour dates on the back; black elephant tee with tour dates on the back; black Listen To Your Heart tee), 1 hoodie (black elephant hoodie with tour dates on the back) and 1 cap (star cap).

There was no support act. Per & Co. – Lena Philipsson, Dea Norberg, Clarence Öfwerman, Jonas Isacsson (how amazing to have him back in the band!), Christoffer Lundquist, Magnus Börjeson, Magnus “Norpan” Eriksson – entered the stage during an intro and the gig started a couple of minutes after 20:00 local time.

From the snippets I could see online, it was a magical night and an amazing first show. Per was incredibly happy to be on stage again and very enthusiastic, Lena was a rock goddess (and gosh, her voice is very similar to Marie’s voice!) and the band was on fire! It was a seated show, but they made the audience stand up. And sing along, of course!

I have to mention that Norpan, the drummer, posted before the gig and dedicated the show to Pelle Alsing. So lovely!

Before It Must Have Been Love, Lena thanked for the support of the crowd and paid tribute to Marie: “It’s one of my favourite Roxette songs and I would like to sing this one for Marie…”. Marie is never forgotten and she lives on in our hearts and in all these wonderful songs.

Regarding the setlist, 21 songs were played and YES! YES! YES! Vulnerable is included! It was all worth the wait! Thank you, Per, in the name of thousands of Roxers! Fingers crossed you keep it in the set during the whole tour, because all fans deserve to hear it live!

Setlist

  1. The Big L.
  2. Sleeping In My Car
  3. Dressed For Success
  4. What’s She Like?
  5. Crash! Boom! Bang!
  6. Fading Like A Flower
  7. Opportunity Nox
  8. Things Will Never Be The Same
  9. Vulnerable
  10. Milk And Toast And Honey
  11. Wish I Could Fly
  12. Stars
  13. She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
  14. It Must Have Been Love
  15. How Do You Do!
  16. Dangerous

Band presentation

  1. Joyride

Encore 1

  1. Spending My Time
  2. Listen To Your Heart
  3. The Look

Encore 2

  1. Queen Of Rain

When I did the interview with Lena for RoxetteBlog in May 2024, she said “I’m gonna do everything I can to honour Marie”. Lena, I think you just did that! Hats off and good luck for the upcoming shows!

To those who were skeptic if it would work out, check out some snippets from the show and you’ll see it works. Lena is not Marie, Marie will always be irreplaceable, but the songs and the way Per, Lena and the band perform them sets a loving memory for Marie too. As Per said in the interview I did with him in June 2024: “If you like the songs and you are open-minded a little bit, give it a chance.”

See you on tour then? Hope so! Check the dates HERE and get your tickets, Roxers!

Next stop is Pretoria, South Africa on 28th February!

Videos from Instagram and Facebook (snippets)

The Big L.
Sleeping In My Car
What’s She Like?
Dangerous
Joyride
Spending My Time
The Look

Most videos are by Lukasz Suda for roxette.pl. Thanks for sharing!

Articles

Expressen (including photos) before and during the gig; after the gig

All photos in the article are taken by Lukasz Suda. Thanks for your support! And thanks a lot to Sandra Knospe as well for some details!

Per about the premiere:

Wow! What an amazing crowd! What an amazing response! Haven’t played here for nine years and we get so much love from this beautiful audience. Had a blast at this sold out Grand Arena, the band was tight, had a pretty decent setlist and Lena was unbelievable!!!! She was up for the challenge and, boy, did she deliver! Hats off! See you Friday in Pretoria!

Lena about her first show with Roxette:

Nämen alltså… så KUL det var ikväll. Så glad och så nöjd. Fantastiskt att få vara med, så lättad att premiären är klar. Och fantastiskt att bästa Åsa Nathell och Agneta Christiernin kom ner för att titta! Tack för filmen Åsa!!! Så härligt gäng, musiker tekniker och Per Gessle som fick för sig att jag skulle kunna göra detta. Alla runtomkring [like + 5 stars with emojis]! Underbara låtar att sjunga! Och tack Christer Lindarw för hjälp med min sparkling outfit!

In English: “Well… it was so much FUN tonight. So happy and so satisfied. Fantastic to be there, so relieved that the premiere is done. And fantastic that Åsa Nathell and Agneta Christiernin came down to see us! Thanks for the film Åsa!!! Such a wonderful gang, musicians, technicians and Per Gessle who thought I could do this. Everyone around [like + 5 stars with emojis]! Wonderful songs to sing! And thanks Christer Lindarw for helping with my sparkling outfit!”

Roxette XXX Tour – Cape Town, South Africa (Grand Arena Grand West) – February 8 – #66

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After yesterday’s sold out success in Cape Town, Roxette did another show in the city tonight. The difference in the set up was that now there was no standing area with golden circle possibility, but there were seats at the place where yesterday everyone was jumping and dancing without any disturbing chairs around. We hoped the crowd wouldn’t be distracted by the seats and do their best at the second Cape Town gig as well. Well, let’s say the energy ratio wasn’t equal on and off the stage. How can you sit still during How Do You Do!? Seats and security team are to blame again. With Joyride everyone was allowed to stand up and go closer to the stage and then the party was on, but the clapping and sing-alongs at least were loud and constant during the whole concert.

roxette_in_cape_town_2nd_night_pic_by_Marie_Sidorova
Pic by Marie Sidorova

In Cape Town one could see what a difference seats can make. One night party, one night relax. Not on stage though. The Rox gang was full of energy even if there was no day off after last night’s show. Marie was in top form, shining all night, rocking the audience with all the power in her voice. Per did his adorable circles, fab guitar fights with Chris and his trademark left leg stomping.

Mr. G after the show:

XXX GIG #68 CAPE TOWN DAY TWO. Oh yeah! Wonderful evening and a crowd that got going like nothing else after How Do You Do! Thanx everyone for making this South African tour a splendid memory for all of us. We love to perform here and hope to come back. You know that! Cheers! /P.
PS. Vids tomorrow.

With this the South African tour leg came to an end. 5 great concerts of which 2 were sold out. Not bad, huh? Next stop is Stars of Sounds festival in Murten, Switzerland on 3rd June. Or maybe not. Who knows how many dates will still be added to the 2016 European leg. Our May is completely empty, you know…

Articles and photos

Instagram: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17;

Videos
Instavids:
The Big L.
How Do You Do! teaser
How Do You Do!: 1; 2;
The Look
The bow and waving goodbye

Setlist

roxette_in_cape_town_2nd_night_pic_by_Johan_Breytenbach
Pic by Johan Breytenbach

Sleeping In My Car
The Big L.
Stars
Spending My Time
Crash! Boom! Bang!
Crush On You
She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
Watercolours In The Rain / Paint
The Heart Shaped Sea
Fading Like A Flower
How Do You Do!
It Must Have Been Love
Dressed For Success
Dangerous
Joyride (intro: Suikerbossie)

Extra
Listen To Your Heart
The Look

Roxette XXX Tour – Cape Town, South Africa (Grand Arena Grand West) – February 7 – #65

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Cape Town. The city that was lucky enough one world tour earlier to welcome the band with 3 sold out shows in 2011 and a year later yet another gig was organized there. The first Cape Town show during the XXX tour got sold out already in October 2015, so an extra date had to be added as the last concert of the South African tour leg.

The venue had a standing area with a cozy golden circle, so after seeing what effect no seats had in Port Elizabeth, we expected at least the standing part of the crowd to party. And they did, already during the opening song! Then other uptempo songs made those who had tickets for the seated area stand up too and join the joyride. The sound of the arena wasn’t the best, it was too low at some parts of the venue. The crowd was loud and the sing-alongs turned out to be fantastic. People loved to hear the greatest Rox hits.

Marie’s performance was full of passion, Per’s energy was undescribable, the band was rocking, so all in all, Roxette put on yet another ass-kicking show.

Per after the Cape Town party:

XXX GIG #67 CAPE TOWN. Voila! Very nice indeed. Super crowd and a still going strong band having a field day at the Grand Arena in CT. Thanx everyone for showing up and making this yet another sold out + unbelievable Sunday evening for this humble band. Gig #2 in CT tomorrow. Cheers, P.

Roxette stays in the city for a Monday gig (8th February). The show will happen at the same venue.

 

Articles and photos

Instagram: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19;
Big Concerts (Desmond Louw’s photos): 1; 2; 3; 4;
Channel24 – Nardus Engelbrecht photos

Videos
Instavids:
Sleeping In My Car
Spending My Time
How Do You Do!: 1; 2;
It Must Have Been Love
Listen To Your Heart

Setlist

Sleeping In My Car
The Big L.
Stars
Spending My Time
Crash! Boom! Bang!
Crush On You
She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
Watercolours In The Rain / Paint
The Heart Shaped Sea
Fading Like A Flower
How Do You Do!
It Must Have Been Love
Dressed For Success
Dangerous
Joyride (intro: Suikerbossie)

Extra
Listen To Your Heart
The Look

 

Sold out Roxette gigs in South Africa

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The South African leg of Roxette’s XXX tour was announced in August with 4 concerts, but already in October an extra date had to be added, because Cape Town on 7th February became sold out. The extra date is 8th February and it’s the same venue in Cape Town, just the arena will be fully seated for the 2nd show.

Today Big Concerts not only announced that the support act joining Roxette will be Watershed, a South African acoustic rock band from Johannesburg, but also the fact that the tour leg opening concert in Johannesburg is also sold out.

So 2 shows out of 5 are sold out! Sounds great and there is still time to buy tickets for the other 3 gigs to make them sold out as well. 😉

ROX_SouthAf_sold-out

 

Per Gessle interview by Bok Radio, South Africa

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As Per mentioned on Facebook, he was busy with some South African interviews yesterday. We are now glad to share one of them with you. Heinrich du Plooy from Bok Radio interviewed Mr. G on the occasion of Roxette’s comeback to South Africa next year. Huge thanks to Wynand van Heerden, you can listen to the complete, almost 20-minute-long interview by clicking .

The program starts with The Look and The Big L., then it’s fun to hear some lines from our RoxBlog article about the announcement of the South African leg of the XXX tour. At the beginning of the interview it turns out it’s still tough to pronounce Per’s surname. Haha. An evergreen issue.

Per was in Sweden, when he answered the questions, but he says it feels like being in London instead of the Swedish West Coast, because it’s just raining over there now.

PG_about_songs
Screenshot is from the making of video of The Look 2015 remake

To the question how it feels being back on stage and touring again Per replied it feels really cool and they are happy to be back in South Africa soon. He states they are on this tour since autumn 2014 and that being on their 30th anniversary tour means they are getting very old. He says it’s a blessing and he is proud of what they have achieved so far.

Heinrich asked Per how they decide on which songs to put on the setlist. Mr. G replied it’s an anniversary tour, so they basically play their greatest hits. There are some changes in the arrangements though, because of the shows being 100% live.

Regarding any funny situation that happened to Per or Marie on stage Per says the hardest thing when you’re touring so much is that you don’t really know where you are. It can be embarrassing if you say a different city versus where you play actually, so Micke N-S started taping the city where they play in front of Per’s mic stand, not to screw it up. He also talks about messing up the lyrics and that fans know the lyrics much better than they do.

Bok Radio asks if they are more relaxed now after 30 years of their career, if they are still nervous when they go on stage or if they have a different approach when they go to the studio. Per says he is not nervous, rather focused. Before every show he locks himself into the dressing room and goes through the setlist, thinks about what he should talk about on stage if something happened during the day.

Per talks about the fact that songwriting is the No 1 thing for him and it feels like he has just started. He is very curious and is interested in pop music as a whole. He wants to try things out, so he worked with different writers and producers, he worked with David Guetta and young Swedish writers and producers just to see how people work. He mentions that a month ago he started his own record label to work with young artists.

Per’s reply to the question if he still considers Marie and himself as the dream team:

Yeah! I think Marie is a wonderful person to work with. I think one of the reasons why I’ve been so successful with my songs, my material is that I’ve been able to pick people who make my songs even better than they are. If you know what I mean. It goes for the producers and also it definitely goes for Marie. You know the songs like Listen To Your Heart or It Must Have Been Love or Queen Of Rain, all those fantastic ballads that she’s been doing over the years. She just makes those songs more… you know, it’s the way she sings them. I’ve been really blessed working with talents like she. And also of course we’ve been very very good friends since we were in our teens almost. So it’s been a long ride together. She’s just a darling!

They also talk about The Look that it was written for Marie, but she didn’t feel comfortable with it, because she wants big melodies and it’s just two tones, which is rather Per’s range.

Shortly they talk about Marie’s illness and comeback. Per explains how strong Marie is and says the fans were really really wonderful and he thinks what kept Marie going was the love and affection from the fans.

Heinrich quotes some lines from different London reviews of the sold-out O2 show at the end of the interview and Per says it feels amazing to hear that. He talks about the fantastic band, the active crowds, the great catalogue of songs and that with all this they can never go wrong. It’s a blessing to be part of this.