This Sydney crowd came here on a mission! To party hard and blow the roof off this place! Mission accomplished! Now that folks, is a f&^%ing rock show!

Fists were pumped! Feet were stomped. Throats were screaming, this was a glorious night for the band who must have had their water spiked, because their energy levels was transcendent – Roxette were in super form!

Sure, the Sydney Opera House gig was pretty and it was historic, but when Roxette returned to their Sydney spiritual home – the Entertainment Centre (or whatever they’re calling it now) – Roxette grabbed Sydney by the throat and smashed it into a thousand pieces… good line for a song!

Roxette are no strangers to this venue, in fact, this is the 9th time that Roxette have performed here since December 1991. This soon-to-be demolished arena is where 1992’s Live-Ism VHS was recorded and this show marks the second last concert for Roxette in Australia … and what a belter it was!

From the opening of “Sleeping in my Car” it was clear, Sydney came to party and even better, the band were in a rocking mood!

Marie was back in fine form again and you could not wipe the grin of Per’s face all night, he knew he had the crowd in the palm of his hand – it was electric!

Looking out into the crowd there were big tough tattooed biker dudes singing along to “It Must Have Been Love”, the very people who threatened to beat you up in High School if you ever dared to admit that you listened to Roxette were head banging along and singing the loudest and they were loving every minute of it.

It was a buzzing atmosphere, goosebumps were crawling all over your skin as Christoffer broke into a rendition of “Waltzing Matilda” – even his nod to AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” at the start of “She’s Got Nothing On” didn’t go unnoticed by this pumped up crowd!

Initially reluctant boyfriends who were dragged to the show by their girlfriends were standing and jumping, couples in their fifties were showing some of the younger folk a thing or two by breaking a sweat, young lovers embraced during “Spending My Time” and even Sydney’s out and proud Gay boys turned up to lock lips during “Listen To Your Heart” – and that’s the cool thing about Sydney and this crowd, all were welcome tonight but on one condition – get up and shake your ass! And they did just that! Young, old, black, white, gay, straight, pink and blue! It was one hell of a party! Travelling die-hard fans from Germany were bouncing in the front row declaring it “almost like an Argentinian crowd” – a big call as we all know the South Americans are the benchmark, we weren’t quite as loud as them, but for Australians, this was pretty damn good!

And how about that encore? The 10,000 strong crowd were stomping and chanting in pitch black “Roxette! Roxette! Roxette!” demanding they return and before too long, the band reset with “Almost Unreal”, which for the record, was flawless – well done Marie and to the guys!

Highlight song of the night? Find “Fading Like a Flower” on the list and anything after that, close your eyes and take your pick. The intensity was palpable!

The Set List:

01. Sleeping in My Car
02. The Big L
03. Stars
04. Spending My Time
05. Crash! Boom! Bang!
06. Crush On You
07. She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio)
08. The Heart Shaped Sea
09. Watercolours in the Rain/Paint
10. Fading Like A Flower
11. How Do You Do!
12. It Must Have Been Love
13. Dressed For Success
14. Dangerous
15. Joyride
16. Almost Unreal
17. Listen To Your Heart
18. The Look

Next stop: Bimbadgen Estate Hunter Valley – Saturday 28^th February