With hits including Joyride, Listen to Your Heart, Dangerous, Dressed for Success, and Must Have Been Love, Roxette made a huge impression on the music scene throughout the 1980’s and 90’s. Today, the Swedish band is back on the road performing their hits spanning the last three decades, including some new songs.

Roxette recently performed at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. What many people don’t know is that lead singer, Marie Fredriksson, now suffers from blindness in her right eye as a result of having both a tumor in the back of her head and brain cancer. Her serious illnesses have dramatically altered her ability to perform on stage, however Marie has not let her disabilities diminish her desire and passion to perform on stage.

It was evident the crowd was wanted the old Roxette. The room was filled with energy and excitement for the rock band, but after the first song when Marie just stood in one place slapping her hip, the crowd had an awkward reaction. It wasn’t just for the first song, but literally for the entire concert.

As the band pushed through and other members made up for her loss of movement on stage, the crowd had a disconnected feeling. The other band members danced around the stage and tried to keep the audience engaged by dancing around the stage, but it was evident their fans were hesitant on how to react to the situation.

What made a difficult situation even more awkward was when Marie and the rest of the band would get the crowd warmed up on a song and then completely stop, hoping the crowd could keep the song going. Each time the audience struggled to keep the words going and the song would fade miserably until the band started playing again.

This was probably one of the most calm, behaved and quietest concerts Rogers Arena has ever hosted. The mix of hit songs and ballads had the crowd up and down in their seats all throughout the show.

It must be incredibly hard for the once successful rock band to step onto a stage in an arena, and with obvious deep passion for music, playing their hearts out just like they would have two decades ago when they were at their peak, only to have the crowd half-heartily engaged.

Cancer is tough. It sucks the life out of a person. In this case, it’s sad to say that it’s also sucked the life out of Roxette live on stage. Keep the CD’s handy though, and enjoy the songs on the radio, because Roxette will always have a good place in our hearts as the legendary Swedish rock band from the 80′s and 90′s.