Roxette fans in Romania have been waiting since the 90s to see their favourite band on stage in Bucharest. On Monday evening, when the concert in Romania finally happened, Romania-Insider.com was there to enjoy it... and then to spread the word about it.

By Corina Saceanu (also a Roxette fan)

Swedish band Roxette threw an unforgettable first time concert in Romania on Monday evening. After years of waiting, the Romanian public had a chance to listen to the band which used to be very popular locally in the 90s and which, judging by the closed box office, still enjoys a great deal of fans. And it was an unforgettable evening for the band too. "Just came back from a super show in Bucharest. What a crowd!!! We have the best fans in the world!!!! Had a blast. And Marie is saying THANK YOU to everyone singing Happy Birthday To You!!!!! We have to come back to this place pretty soon!!!!!," wrote the band on their Facebook page soon after the concert.

With an overwhelming audience of over 15,000 people, the Swedish singers Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, both in their 50s, entertained a mixed crowd of Romanian and foreigners, in a show which was sold out. The gig, held at Zone Arena in Bucharest, started soon after 20,00, according to schedule and managed to escape the heavy rain in the Romanian capital city, which stopped just before the concert.

The band's choice of a first song for the Bucharest concert was “Dressed for Success”, and all eyes were on Marie Fredrisksson, who has recently recovered from brain tumor and re-started touring, slowly re-learning all of the band's songs. It was a special night for Marie, as she celebrated her 53rd birthday on stage. The public sang 'Happy Birthday' to her on a couple of occasions.

Dressed in black leather, Marie (in picture, right) was quite active on the stage, which was unexpected for the public, given that she had recovered from brain surgery that has caused damages such as the inability to read and count, as well as some loss of movement to her right side, which were more obvious in previous concerts.

The two Swedish performers have recently re-started touring after almost ten years since the launch of their album Room Service and are currently promoting their most recent album, Charm School. Last night's concert in Bucharest however only included a few songs from the new album, with the majority of the tunes played during the evening included on previous albums. This gave the audience the chance to sing along with the band. (if you want to listen to the Romanian public singing or watch some backstage moments with Roxette in Bucharest, check out their Facebook page where they posted some videos from the Romanian capital city). User videos from the concert in Bucharest embeded below.

Click on one of the images below to scroll through all of them.

[nggallery id=2]

The Swedish singers seemed to be impressed with the response they got from the Romanian audience. Per Gessle commented: 'Incredible' after the public sang the first chorus of 'It must have been love'. The next performances of 'How do you do' and 'Dangerous' also gave the audience the possibility to sing along with the band. “You make it so easy for us to be here on the stage,” Per Gessle also commented. Listen to the crowd singing 'Spending my time' here.

The band's guitarist Christoffer Lundquist (in picture, left, playing the guitar, together with Per Gessle) threw in a little surprise: a guitar solo of Romanian song Ciuleandra, which thrilled the audience. Another surprise was lined up for the public: Roxette sang 'Silver Blue', a song which is not very often included in its concerts, a song for the hard core Roxette fan, as Per Gessle put it. The crowd lifted sheets of papers with silver stars on them during this song.  Video of public singing 'How do you do' here.

After a first batch of songs which ended with 'Joyride', when the public threw up some balloons in the air as the song went 'And she's telling all her secrets/In a wonderful balloon' (video here), the band returned on stage while the crowd was howling, asking for their comeback. After three more songs, a second, unexpected comeback on the stage followed. Roxette sang 'Listen to your heart' and ended the evening with an unplugged version of “Church of your heart' and a bow to the Romanian public.

The band, which was formed in 1986, is known for songs like “The Look”, “Dressed for Success”, “Listen to Your Heart”, “Dangerous”, “It Must Have Been Love”, “Joyride” şi “Milk and Toast and Honey”. Listen to some of their songs below, including the latest single ‘Way Out’.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com

(Photo sources: Emagic- Eduard Breaban, Alex Chelba, Alex Barbulescu, Roxette.se)