Per Gessle

After an incredibly successful start in South Africa and Australia, the Roxette In Concert 2025 tour continues in Europe. The first gig of the summer leg happened in Bergen, Norway. There are 14 summer shows altogether and the first 10 of them are festival concerts, while the last 4 gigs in Sweden are regular shows.

Bergenfest’s headliner on 12h June was Roxette. After entering the venue, we checked the whole area and also looked for merch stuff, but there was unfortunately nothing Roxette-related at the shop. So we walked to the main stage and occupied our spots in the front row. There were huge screens on the two sides of the stage, so that even those could see everything who were standing in the very back.

First act on the main stage was Norwegian rock band The September When between 17:00 and 18:00. Then came The The from the UK and they performed between 19.15 and 20.15. During these two concerts there weren’t loud sing alongs, but the crowd enjoyed the performances.

After The The, we could see the crew setting up the stage for Roxette, while at a smaller stage next to the main stage there was another concert.

Roxette entered the stage at 21:30 sharp and the show ended at 23:00, just like it was scheduled. It felt like there was less talking between the songs than usual, to keep focus on the songs and be able to include as many hits as possible in these 1.5 hours.

17 songs fit in, and they all fit in perfectly. The setlist has changed vs. the South Africa – Australia version mainly because it’s a festival setlist, so it contains less songs and it’s rather the ballads that were skipped. Among the 17 songs there was one new, that wasn’t played on the first leg. As you might remember, Lena had a fracture in her foot in April, but in May she already posted that her foot was doing better and better. She also posted that she had started to prepare for summer and practised a couple of new songs just in case they change the setlist. She practised Almost Unreal and it turned out to be a very cool addition to the set.

Talking about Lena’s fractured foot, she is doing very fine now, as if nothing had happened. I was so excited to hear her live, because even though she was very convincing to me via all the videos I watched during the first leg of the tour, I wanted to hear her with my own ears. She didn’t disappoint! Her vocal skills are simply outstanding. Lena was in top top top shape. But not only her. Per was amazing as well and the whole band was very tight. They enjoyed being back on stage together again and sounded just fabulous. The audience rewarded them with loud sing-alongs and cheering during the whole show.

Roxette played in Bergen in 2011. When Per greeted the crowd after the first two songs, he talked about that. They were talking to the audience in Swedish. As you know by now, Swedish is very similar to Norwegian and they understand each other perfectly. Mr. G also said that they thought they would play some old favourites. The audience was cheering. He added: „If you know the lyrics, please sing along. If you don’t know the lyrics, sing along anyway.” Haha. Per also presented Lena as a fantastic new member of the Roxette family. The crowd was cheering again. Per asked Lena how she felt and she said she felt wonderfully good. It’s very nice to be in Bergen, she added.

Before IMHBL, Lena dedicated the song to Marie who we all miss so much, she said. She asked the crowd to sing it together with her.

Before Joyride, Per introduced the band members. Magnus felt so good that he recited I Got You (the James Brown song) as a poem. Haha. Mr. G turned to Clarence and told us that he has been producing Roxette since the very beginning, since Neverending Love, so Clarence started playing a bit of Neverending Love. PG introduced Jonas as a good old Roxette member, who took a 15-year break, but thank God he is back. Dea was introduced as one of Per’s favourite singers who is the backing vocalist and plays the tambourine as well. On drums, a newcomer, Norpan Eriksson. And last, but absolute least, Sweden’s last hippie, Christoffer on lead guitar. Before getting down to Joyride, Chris played In The Hall Of The Mountain King as the intro to it.

After Joyride, the band went off stage and after the audience cheered loudly, Per and Lena came back to perform Spending My Time. Only the two of them. Per said they don’t like the band anymore, haha, but Lena said they just gave a little break for them. PG added that he wrote this song the same day he wrote Joyride.

After SMT, the band came up on stage for the last two songs. Both Listen To Your Heart and The Look were so powerful. The Look was an amazing closing song at this festival, leaving everyone on a high. After the show we were walking to our hotel and there was a bar where live music was played. The guy on the guitar played The Look while we were passing by. So cool!

There are a couple of new guitar picks in use. Per posted about them previously and not long before the gig he also posted about the late arrivals, some good enough yellow picks.

Setlist

1. The Big L.
2. Sleeping In My Car
3. Dressed For Success
4. What’s She Like?
5. Crash! Boom! Bang!
6. Opportunity Nox
7. Fading Like A Flower
8. Almost Unreal
9. Stars
10. She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
11. It Must Have Been Love
12. How Do You Do!
13. Dangerous

Band presentation

14. Joyride

Encore

15. Spending My Time
16. Listen To Your Heart
17. The Look

Next stop is Idyll festivalen in Fredrikstad, Norway on 20th June! Check out all the tour dates and links to ticket sales sites HERE!

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres. More photos HERE!

Per after the show:

Oh yeah. The Roxette tour is up and running. Amazing summer premiere in Bergen, Norway last night! Such a beautiful place and such a beautiful crowd! Thanx for all very loud voices and for making an ordinary Thursday feel so very special!