After 3 months off, the Roxette In Concert 2025 tour continues with the autumn leg. The gang arrived in sunny Budapest, Hungary for the first gig of altogether 18 fall shows in Europe.
In the morning I had the chance to meet Per and he sent a greeting to you all. Don’t miss it! You can watch the video HERE!
The concert was held in Budapest Aréna, the same place Roxette played in 2011 and 2015 as well. There was a standing area in front of the stage and seats in the back, and the merch stand was set on the side of the standing area. You could buy T-shirts and the wonderful Fredrik Etoall photo book signed by Per.
The doors opened at 18:30 and according to the schedule, Roxette was set to go on stage at 20:00. I’m always happy when there is no support act, however, I must admit there were a couple of good ones in Roxette’s history. But never in Hungary, so fortunately, this time they / Live Nation skipped to invite an opening act.
The stage was already set. There was no LED wall in the background, but the big silver curtain and projectors. There is a difference in the setting of the band members vs. previous shows. Now Dea is standing next to Clarence and Jonas is standing next to Norpan. Norpan has a smaller, more compact drum kit and a plexi drum shield.
The audience was shouting for Roxette before the show and the gang entered the stage at 20:15. The crowd was in a sing-along mood and to my biggest surprise they sang along loudly not only to the greatest hits, but even to Vulnerable. That was amazing!
The setlist hasn’t changed, it was the same as on the last Halmstad show in July.
The band and Lena and Per were in top shape and it felt like they were still in the flow. They had much fun on stage. There were a lot of interactions among the band members and between the crowd and them.
Lena dedicated IMHBL to Marie of course, and fans shouted: „we miss you, Marie!” That was lovely.
There was a fun hiccup during How Do You Do! Before they played the song, Per said „let’s see if you remember this one”. Then he was looking at his prompter, playing the intro and he said „let’s see if I remember this one”. Haha. He only skipped „do you caress / honey my heart’s in a mess”, but the crowd knew the lyrics.
Before Joyride, Per introduced the band members and Christoffer’s intro to the song was Tavaszi szél vizet áraszt, a very popular Hungarian folk song that is even more important nowadays for those who want a change in Hungary. The audience sang along very loudly.
All in all it was a fab start into this tour leg. I loved the energy on and off stage. I never in my wildest dreams could imagine that Per would ever return to Hungary, but I’m so glad they chose Budapest for the kick off. Ah, welcome back anytime!
There are no new guitar picks on this leg of the tour.
Setlist
1. The Big L.
2. Sleeping In My Car
3. Dressed For Success
4. Crash! Boom! Bang!
5. Wish I Could Fly
6. Opportunity Nox
7. Fading Like A Flower
8. Vulnerable
9. Milk And Toast And Honey
10. Almost Unreal
11. Stars
12. She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
13. It Must Have Been Love
14. How Do You Do!
15. Dangerous
Band presentation
16. Joyride
Encore
17. Spending My Time
18. Listen To Your Heart
19. The Look
20. Queen Of Rain
Next stop is Prague on 6th November! Check out all the 2025 tour dates and links to ticket sales sites HERE!
Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres. More photos HERE!
Per after the gig:
Yea. Budapest delivered!!! Thanks everyone for stopping by and singing along! Always a treat to play here!!!! See you soon again!!
Lena after the show:
Thank you so much Budapest! First gig on the tour done! Now we’re heading off to Prague leaving beautiful Budapest for now! Hope to see you soon again!