My first exposure to Swedish music duo Roxette, originally consisting of members Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, was through the 1990’s Richard Gere and Julia Roberts hit romantic-comedy, Pretty Woman. Roxette’s ‘It Must’ve Been Love’ was undoubtedly the hero song of that movie, reaching to number 1 on the music charts worldwide, including Australia. From there, I deep dived into the pop rock duo’s impressive discography.
Despite being a Roxette fan for decades, Roxette’s tour ‘Live In Concert 2025’, proudly presented by Mellen Events and Live Nation Australia, was my first time seeing the Swedish band live.
Originally thought to never perform again in 2019, due to the unfortunate passing of Marie Fredriksson from brain tumour complications, Per Gessle announced in May last year that Roxette would tour again. This time with the assistance and talents of singer-songwriter, Lena Philipsson.
Philipsson is already a famous name and accomplished pop artist in her own right. The songstress with a massive Swedish catalogue even represented Sweden at Eurovision in 2004, with her song ‘Det gör ont/It Hurts’. As a Eurovision fan too, I was excited to see Philipsson live and rock some Roxette songs.
The 8-member touring band took to Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena stage on Friday the 7th of March and hit the ground running with their high spirits, catchy tunes and infectious energy, inspiring Melbourne patrons to get up on their feet from the very beginning. The staging set-up was quite minimal, with a projection showing visuals and the occasional band title appearing behind the band.
It didn’t take long before Gessle happily shared, “It’s amazing to see so many people here! It’s been ten years!”, warmly adding that the band has always felt welcome in Australia, especially in Melbourne. Gessle also announced that Philipsson had joined the Roxette family, proudly introducing her to the attentive Melbourne audience, which was received with a very warm welcome. Unlike the other Roxette band members on stage, this was Philipsson’s first time visiting Australia, which ignited more cheers from the Melbourne crowd.
The sold-out Melbourne concert was full of Roxette fans of all ages, ready to dance, sing and fill the Melbourne venue with their shared elation. Gessle wowed the patrons with his gorgeous collection guitars and commanding stage presence, Philipsson stunned Roxette fans with her friendly charm, dazzling smile and strong vocals, and the rest of the touring band each took turns to show off their skills with passion and precision, all while being super interactive with their loving Melbourne audience. The audience felt like an extension of the band, gleefully singing and clapping along, regardless of whether prompted by the band or not. Everyone was ready to party and were just happy for Roxette to be touring again.
Gessle shined during his favourite track ‘Crash! Boom! Bang!’, while Philipsson surprised with her superb voice and irresistible charisma, especially during the song, ‘Wish I Could Fly’. Crowd favourites of the night included ‘The Big L.’, ‘Sleeping in My Car’, ‘Dressed for Success’, ‘Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)’, ‘How Do You Do!’, ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Joyride’, just to name a few.
The highly anticipated and iconic ‘It Must’ve Been Love’ was performed beautifully by the band and dedicated to the late Marie Fredriksson, which was a sweet tribute and nice touch. However, my favourite song of the night was ‘Listen to Your Heart’. It was a highlight to finally hear this gorgeous epic song performed live, as well as ‘Spending My Time’ which was performed acoustically with just Philipsson and Gessle on stage together, only accompanied by his acoustic guitar and the voices of the Melbourne crowd.
With the entire venue exhilarated and dancing by the end during Roxette’s biggest hit ‘The Look’, the evening was almost perfect, only hindered by ending on an anti-climactic note with the choice of a slower final song, ‘Queen of Rain’. If these songs were switched around, choosing to end the night with an upbeat track instead of a ballad, this tour would have been perfection in an otherwise great concert experience.
Whether it was your first time seeing Roxette live or you had seen them before, it was a wonderful concert for all. Roxette passionately provided a fantastic and entertaining show at their sold-out Melbourne concert, as part of their ‘Roxette: Live In Concert 2025’ tour, which felt like both a celebration of Roxette’s musical journey thus far and the start of a new beginning. With Swedish flags seen waved around in the venue, one cannot deny that Roxette are one of Sweden’s biggest music exports and are the epitome of Swedish excellence. Welcome back, Roxette!
Roxette are currently touring Australia as part of their Roxette: Live In Concert 2025 tour, thanks to Mellen Events and Live Nation Australia. Roxette performed the first of two shows in Melbourne on Friday March 7th at Margaret Court Arena and will return to Melbourne for the final show of their Australian tour on Tuesday the 18th of March 2025.
For more information, other city dates and ticketing, visit:
https://www.mellenevents.com.au/current-events/roxette-in-concert-2025
https://www.livenation.com.au/roxette-tickets-adp1485882
https://www.instagram.com/realroxette
Photography by Grant Alexander.
