Roxette

Roxette In Concert 2025 – Melbourne – 7th March 2025 – #4

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After a day off, the second Oz gig happened in Melbourne. Last time Roxette visited this city was in February 2015 on the 30th anniversary tour. Then they played at Rod Laver Arena, this time they performed at Margaret Court Arena next door. Since the show got sold out in July 2024, another date was added at the end of this leg of the tour.

Support act Boom Crash Opera went on stage at 7.00 pm and Roxette entered the stage after 8.15 pm.

Per, Lena and the band were in top shape, full of passion and they performed in front of 7,500 l.o.u.d. party people in the audience.

The only change in the setlist was that Things Will Never Be The Same was not performed and Wish I Could Fly got to TWNBTS’s spot before Vulnerable. Hopefully, when they come back to Melbourne to close the Australian leg on 18th March, the crowd can hear TWNBTS too.

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. Wish I Could Fly
  9. Vulnerable
  10. Milk And Toast And Honey
  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

  1. Joyride

Encore

  1. Spending My Time
  2. Listen To Your Heart
  3. The Look
  4. Queen Of Rain

Now no day off! Next stop is Sydney on 8th March!

Videos by Gaby Hildebrandt

FLAF
DFS

Video by Brad Walker

SMT

Videos by BC Live concerts

Intro + The Big L.
SIMC
DFS
CBB
WSL
WICF
SGNO
Stars
ON
IMHBL
Vulnerable + MATAH
HDYD
Dangerous
TL
LTYH
Band introduction + Waltzing Matilda
Joyride

Still is from Brad Walker’s video

Per after the show:

Amazing night tonight in Melbourne. Thx everyone for showing up. We had such a good time!! LOVE LOVE LOVE

Lena after the show:

Just med doing some yoga in the middle of the singalong. Thank you Melbourne! That was awesome!

Roxette In Concert 2025 – Perth – 5th March 2025 – #3

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After an amazing opening show and an awesome second concert in South Africa, the Roxette gang arrived in Perth, Australia two days before the first Oz gig. They didn’t have much time to recover from jetlag, but they seemed to enjoy their day off in the city and next to the pool in hot hot hot Australia.

Last time Roxette visited Perth was in February 2015 on the 30th anniversary tour. Then they played at Perth Arena, this time they performed at beautiful Kings Park & Botanic Garden. The gates opened at 5.00 pm local time, support act Boom Crash Opera went on stage at 5.30 pm, Jon Stevens at 6.45 pm and Roxette entered the stage a couple of minutes after 8.00 pm.

I spotted photographer Anders Roos in vids and pics from the show, so we will surely see some fab pro shots on this leg of the tour.

10 years passed since the last Australian Rox gigs, but the crowd still remembered the lyrics and sang along loudly. Per & Lena & the whole band were very energetic and enjoyed performing Down Under. Lena could feel as welcomed in Oz as in South Africa.

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. Spending My Time
  2. Listen To Your Heart
  3. The Look
  4. Queen Of Rain

Next stop is Melbourne for a sold out show on 7th March!

Videos

IMHBL
FLAF

Pic by Marie Dimberg shared on Roxette’s Facebook

Pics by Åsa Gessle shared on Roxette’s Instagram

 

Per after the show on Facebook:

Perth March 5, 2025! Wow! Amazing town. Amazing crowd. Amazing heat. Love to be down under, folks! Had a blast last night. Thanx all you 6500 aussies stopping by. We’ll meet again for sure!

PG on Instagram:

Thanks for an amazing gig in Perth. Lovely crowd on a very hot evening for us Swedes. Felt like you all (and we) had lots of fun! See you soon again!

Lena after the show:

Thank you Perth!! I was very surprised to see this banner in the audience saying ”Vetlanda”! Because that’s the small town in Sweden that I grew up in!! I felt at home.

Roxette In Concert 2025 – Pretoria – 28th February 2025 – #2

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Pretoria was the second and last place in South Africa on the tour. South Africa is not a fan of support acts, so there was no support last night either. Doors opened at 18:00 and the show started a couple of minutes after 20:00 local time.

The audience was much more active and loudly cheering already when the gang entered the stage. They had a good time and were singing along, getting up from their seats for quite some songs, not only the uptempo ones, but also during It Must Have Been Love and Listen To Your Heart.

Per had different outfits vs. Cape Town and while in CT he first had black shirt on then changed it to white, in Pretoria he went for the white shirt first and switched it to black for the encore. Lena had a new outfit for the encore. You can see them in the pics and vids below.

Christoffer is doing his „local song” thing before Joyride on this tour as well and the audience loves it.

Setlist was the same as in Cape Town. The difference was that there was only 1 encore, this time Queen Of Rain came right after The Look.

Thanks a lot for all the info, Sandra Knospe!

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. Spending My Time
  2. Listen To Your Heart
  3. The Look
  4. Queen Of Rain

Now the gang is travelling to Australia, because the next stop is Perth on 5th March!

Videos

Vulnerable + MATAH
LTYH
Stars
TWNBTS
IMHBL

All videos and photos in the article are taken by Lukasz Suda. Thanks a lot for sharing!

Per after the show on Facebook:

Amazing evening in Pretoria. Lovely lovely lovely crowd, band on their toes, Lena awesome, I did my best to keep up……. Thanks for all the singing along + requests, felt like you’ve missed us in South Africa! Love to you all!

On Instagram:

Yeehaa! Amazing concert in Pretoria! What a crowd! So much positive energy and so much love in the air for almost two hours! We did our best to keep up!!! One to remember for sure! Thx for having us, dear you, hope to be back soon!

Lena after the show:

Jätteroligt igår i Pretoria! Fantastisk publik, kände mig varmt välkomnad! Min önskan är att Marie ska känna sig stolt.

In English: “Great fun yesterday in Pretoria! Fantastic audience, felt warmly welcomed! My wish is that Marie feels proud”

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!”

Interview with Per Gessle by Hallandsposten before the Roxette tour start

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Jan-Owe Wikström did an interview with Per for Hallandsposten before the Roxette In Concert 2025 tour starts tomorrow. Per regarding the tour:

It’s the most exciting and the most uncertain thing I’ve done since Gyllene Tider’s comeback in 1996. You don’t know at all how it’s going to work, how it’s going to be received.

He explains it’s absolutely not a new band. It’s him, one half of Roxette, the Roxette band where Jonas Isacsson is back for the first time since 2001 and then Lena who is hired as a singer. The other option would have been to not make a comeback at all so this was the next best option, he points out.

Per tells Jan-Owe that it’s 26 degrees in Cape Town right now and he didn’t understand at first why he had an allergic shock, until he realized that it’s full pollen season over there. He took one pill and it was over in an hour, Per laughs.

We’ve actually sold as many tickets this time as when we were there with Marie. I never thought that! At the same time, the music industry has completely changed, where in four years we’ve increased the number of streams on Spotify by 40 percent. So I think it benefits us “craftsmen”, people want real music live.

It could even have been a joint tour with Bryan Adams in Australia, Jan-Owe says.

Yes, indeed. We play almost in parallel, so he wondered if we would go together. But unfortunately, we had already booked venues and started selling tickets. A bit of a shame, because it would have been great fun.

At the rehearsal a little over a week ago, there were 21 songs left. Per reveals:

There have been a lot of “kill your darlings”, but that’s because many songs have the same character. But there will still be two that we’ve never played live with Roxette before.

To the question how the rehearsals felt, he replies:

Very good! Lena is extremely professional. Now it’s about finding our roles. Marie and I had known each other for so long, so it was natural for her to step forward as long as she could. Then I got to the front on the last tour and solo and with Gyllene Tider, I’m the one who does it. We’ll see how it goes here. I mean, the rehearsals are one thing, but in front of just over 10,000 people: “How will Lena act in, for example, “Sleeping In My Car”?” So it’s going to be a challenge, really fun. It’s just a matter of not interrupting each other. Hahaha.

Jan-Owe asks who decides in such situations. Per explains that Lena of course had ideas regarding her singing, but otherwise, Per has the final say.

After the two Halmstad gigs at the end of July, Per has nothing else booked.

We’ll see. But I have several projects that are currently on hold.

To the question if there could even be new Roxette songs with Lena on vocals he replied:

Not at the moment. That has never been the intention, it has been that the song catalogue should live on. People want to hear Roxette’s old hits, not something new. But at the same time – when you work together for as long as we will now, you never know what it might lead to.

Jan-Owe is curious if there are any plans with Gyllene Tider.

Right now it feels a bit finished, but it has felt that way before too… If this tour develops into what I hope for with gigs on more continents, Roxette will be priority 1.