2012 Concert No. 1 - Roxette

Remember these guys?  My gift to the little sister this Christmas was a ticket to Roxette's concert.  As a dedicated 80's music lover, my sister really appreciated these guys hitting the music stage in 1986.

For me, the mental association with this band is the strongest connection.  I was in the teenage years, full of hormones, dating and enjoying some the freedom of the college years.  Many of the Roxette hits are tied to memories of my first love :-) (including the breakup!!).



The  lead singer Marie Fredriksson has overcome some serious health issues, and is very fortunate to be back singing at all "On 11 September 2002 Fredriksson fainted in her bathroom, hitting her head and receiving a concussion. Scans indicated that Fredriksson had a brain tumor in the back of her head.^[8][9] This diagnosis led to the cancellation of Roxette's planned performance at the 2002 Night of the Proms concert series. After waiting several weeks for the concussion to subside, she underwent a successful surgery to remove the tumour. It was malignant and she then endured months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She temporarily had difficulties reading, writing and counting" (Source :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Fredriksson). So today, well wow firstly she looks amazing. Sure a little older, but awesome still.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Fredriksson

The concert, well how would I actually describe it..Tame..Lame and then well I really want to be poetic and put in something like Insane.  Regrettably it just didn't fit.  The volume was almost sedate, which given the lack of power in Marie's voice, had to be.  Per should did throw himself around the stage in an attempt to put some energy into the show, but one man couldn't carry it all.

With some crafting around solo's and some low key instrumentals, there were certainly some glimmers of the past.  I actually don't think that Marie has lost her voice, but maybe her confidence.  The next few sets of new stuff, well the audience could have done without it.  After all, we all knew the words, we could actually help carry the tune along for them! 

It ended ok or well, but won't go down as a standout concert.  Don't get me wrong, it was great to get to see them, and some empathy around Marie's journey in life is surely warranted.  I will take a couple of the old cd's into the car for the next few weeks, just to over write some of the average tracks from the concert.