Roxette - live at Rod Laver Arena

Roxette
Rod Laver Arena Melbourne
22 February 2012
Concert and meet and greet

I was incredibly excited to win tickets to see Roxette and meet them last night. My friend Joel and I (you may remember Joel from when he rubbed nipples with Steve Poltz way back in January last year) had dinner (Mexican) and drinks (Sangria) at the night markets and then excitedly made the walk to Rod Laver Arena.

On the way we saw a bagpipe playing bird - Joel posed for photos - and this set the scene for a fun night ahead.

Before the meet and greet, I bought a program, and then we waited for the tour representative to fetch us and the other winners to enter the stadium.

One of the reasons I have been slow in posting this review is because I wasn't sure how I would write about the meet and greet without sounding resentful. I'll try my best. The chance to meet Roxette was an amazing opportunity. They're a huge band. The meet and greet was very brief, and very impersonal. I understand that there were time constraints and they were there to perform a show. But there were only 10 of us there to meet them, and some of the people seemed like HUGE fans. Two members of the Roxette crew advised us that we were only able to have one item signed, and that we weren't able to take individual photos with the band or of the meeting. When we did take photos, we weren't allowed to have flashes on. Someone volunteered their camera for the crew to take some candid shots and one group shot at the end. That person will email the pictures around the group. I have not yet received these pictures, I hope to soon.

We waited around 15 minutes to meet the band as we waited in the corridor then the green room. We were all really excited - I know I'd been counting down the days.

When they entered the greenroom, it was an exciting moment. I met Per Gessle first. Here's the only photo Joel took on his phone - I ran it through Instagram and like it this way.

 

I said hello and he signed my CD cover. That was it really. It was so quick that I don't remember what else I said to him or what he said to me, other than hello. He was very happy and smiley.

Before I met  Marie Fredrieksson I took a couple of photos, but they're not that great I am sorry. 

Marie had the nicest leather jacket on that I've ever seen. Soft white, with a Beatles tee underneath. She is tiny. I said hello, gave her the blog post I wrote about Crash Boom Bang, and she signed my program. I asked for a quick photo - looking at the camera - as Joel was there posed with my camera, but she said we'd take one at the end. 

And I managed to get this one of Joel and Marie, but very little of them on screen! 

And that was that. They were both so nice, and I am really grateful for the wonderful opportunity, but I wished it was a little longer.

Unfortunately we missed the support act 1927, but we heard them sing their biggest hit If I Could. A lot of the women at the meet and greet said they wish they could have seen 1927!

Our seats were great - all the meet and greet winners were in Row H on the floor.

The concert was amazing. Really! Roxette have bgeen a band that I've loved for a long time but thought I'd never see. They played all their hits - a very extensive catalogue - plus some new songs.

The show opened with Dressed for Success and continued with Fading Like A Flower, Spending My Time, Almost Unreal, Sleeping in My Car, Joyride (where bouncy balls were released, see my picture above!), Listen To Your Heart, Dangerous and more, ending with The Look. 

Despite the song with the sad lyrics, Per was happy all the time. At times it reminded me of a Eurovision concert, in a good way. It was fun! He danced around the stage, smiling and playing guitar. And he could sing!

Marie's voice wowed me. So very powerful. She seemed to have limited movement, perhaps due to illness in 2002, but she gave it her all.

The best bit - like the Cold Chisel concert - was that we all sang along. The audience sounded amazing.

One of the guitarists did a solo of Waltzing Matilda, which was Joel's favourite part. My favourite was Crash Boom Bang, which I recorded.

It was a really fun night. As I wrote, the opportunity to meet the band was fantastic, I only wish it was longer and more personal. Thanks so much to Mix FM for the tickets.