ROXETTE
Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Feb 10 2015

Three years (almost) to the day since Roxette hit our shores in what was clearly a celebration beyond all others and here we are again at Brisbane Entertainment Centre rubbing shoulders with the swarms of young and old gathering to see their favourite Swedish duo.

And they hit the ground with the finest of footing, opening like last time with Sleeping In My Car and an early crowd-favourite The Big L, a pair of second level hits that, for any other inferior artist, would be the strongest their setlist would get. But you know just what Per and Marie have up their sleeve and what to expect is still yet to come. The setlist on this 30th anniversary tour is clearly a little more focussed to satisfying the more hardcore of fans. Tracks like Stars, Crush On You, She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio) andAlmost Unreal were all singles for the band, but all crammed together do tend to bog down proceedings.

The ballad quota was filled perfectly with album tracks like Perfect Day and the early highlight Spending My Time. It’s a little difficult to watch Marie this time as her health seems to have deteriorated immensely, while Per is utterly boundless, working extra-hard for his partner and backing her vocally with the energy of someone peaking in the early 90s.

Back to the hits and it’s a string of winners at the back end of the set that not only provides Roxette’s home run, but also demonstrates just what an astonishing run of success they did have back in the day. They’re all here – How Do You Do, It Must Have Been Love, Dangerous and Joyride all close out the main set to absolute rapturous applause. But it’s what comes next that leaves the audience’s jaws on the floor – the encore presents Listen To Your Heart, the most epic of moments for Marie yet and The Look which provides the perfect of finales. Love or hate them, Roxette are hard to deny – this is no nostalgic trip, this is still a band making new music and pushing their career forward while appealing to the masses still. Whether we will see them back here or not remains to be seen, but regardless, thanks for the memories Roxette.

Words: Steve Mitchell