Roxette in Concert!

I've always loved the band, Roxette, and thanks to my Mom, when I was little, I would listen to their CD on repeat!  Now that I've been Hosting Karaoke for the past year and a half I've been singing some of their songs too so when I saw that they were going on tour and playing in LA I knew I had to get tickets.  I found some tickets for a great price and after hearing my Mom was coming out to visit me, I got 2 tickets for her and I!

Mom's visit to LA kept us very busy and we were looking forward to our Roxette Concert since we'd been listening to them for over 20 years!  The Concert was at The Gibson Amphitheater at Universal CityWalk so after we got our tickets at Will Call we went to the Theater to take our seats and listen to the Opening Act which was actually a DJ who was playing some 80's & 90's music and was pretty good!  There were really no bad seats in the theater, and even though we were on the far left and in the second section we had a great view of the stage and the projection screen where they had trivia questions that Mom and I answered while we waited for the show to start.

Roxette at The Gibson

At around 9:45 pm Roxette took the stage and I guessed correctly, that their first song was 'Dressed for Success' as everyone stood up, cheered and sang along.  Per and Marie sounded just like they did 20 years ago; the songs were just as I remembered them and it was awesome to see Per getting into the music and moving around the stage.  Marie moved around a little bit but mostly stayed towards the front and center.  Per was dancing, getting the crowd involved, and rocking out on the guitar.  Before the concert I had actually listened to some of the songs off their most recent CD and really liked them and I was happy to see that after all these years they were still making hit songs!  The back-up singer was really energetic as well and has been on tour with them for years; she was almost like a cheerleader, playing the cowbell, jumping up and clapping, and moving around with her microphone.  She was a lot of fun to watch.  Of course, it's been 20 years since some of their biggest hits but for the most part Roxette really sounded exactly like they did back then.  Of course, they played their hits like 'Dangerous,' and 'It Must Have Been Love' which started off acoustically and then as the crowd sang along, they re-started it with all the background music and instruments.  When Per introduced the song he said that this hit was 25 years old, and I couldn't believe that it was nearly older than I am.  They still have the same drummer they had 20 years ago which was awesome!  What I found the most interesting was hearing songs off different albums that I'd never heard that I couldn't wait to listen to when I got home.  I really liked 'Spending My Time' and 'Perfect.'  One of my favorite songs was 'Joyride' and when they played that song they sent out balloons and beach balls with 'Roxette' on them into the crowd so that was really neat to see.  The concert lasted for about 75 minutes and then after they had exited the stage a few minutes later they came out for a 3-song encore.  The show wouldn't have been complete without 'Listen To Your Heart' or 'The Look' which had both Mom and I singing along!

When the concert was over, Mom and I walked around the CityWalk, walking past Universal Studios, Saddle Ranch and making our way past all the restaurants, shops and stores.  We picked up Tiny Donuts at a little place right at the front and then realized there was a Yogurtland so we got that as well.  It was actually really great people-watching!  This was the first time Mom and I went to a concert together and we had a lot of fun.  I really liked the Gibson as a place to see a concert and I was glad Mom was able to share the experience with me.  We both said it was a little bittersweet because as much as we loved the music, they were a hit group 20 years ago, and we've all gotten older but it doesn't make the music any less influential, lyrical or something great to dance to!