Last night it was the third time Gyllene Tider played Ullevi. First time it was in 2004 when 58980 people went to see them, second time was in 2013 with 42223 people in the crowd. In 2019 the show was originally planned to be held at Slottskogsvallen, but right after the tickets went on sale it turned out to be a too small venue, so it had to be changed to Ullevi. Appr. a month ago it was on the news already that the Golden 5 sold more than 40k tickets for their 3rd Ullevi concert, so we estimated the number of visitors would be 50-55k. The final number is 54340! How amazing!
There was a live sound check at 4 pm, but only Det hjärta som brinner, Vandrar i ett sommarregn and Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång were rehearsed, so this meant to me there are no more new additions to the setlist.
The stage was set up the same way as in Stockholm. The part where the band members’ fix places are was the same size as usual, just the sides were longer. Meaning Mr. G could run his marathon during the gig again. Haha.
There were 2 support acts this time. The first was Christof Jeppsson, a Halmstad troubadour who we could already see in Halmstad. He was on stage from 19:30 for appr. 15 minutes. One of the songs he played was a Bruce Springsteen cover and since The Boss is quite big in Sweden and Gothenburg, he got a very loud sing-along from the crowd. The second support act was Chris Kläfford at 20:00. If you ask me who could warm up the crowd more, I would say it was Christof. It would have been great to have him on the whole tour. His musical style is closer to GT.
What I realized while we were already inside the venue was that there were many more mics on the sides of the stage. The ones you usually use when you are filming a show. Then we saw the cameras in the front and in the back, so we could be sure that Ullevi was to be filmed. So cool!
The crowd showed its sing-along side already on the Bruce cover and their clapping style we could witness during the crowd pleaser playlist. Well, Gothenburg never disappoints and the audience didn’t stay quiet during the almost 2-hour-long GT gig either. They were fantastic! They were singing along so loudly that you could hear their voices more than Per’s vocals. But you shouldn’t imagine it in a disturbing way. I mean it was not because there was any technical hiccup and the sound on stage would be low. Not at all. It was just that the voices of more than 54k people resulted in a beautiful vocal addition to the whole gig. The crowd was not only active when it came to singing. They were also clapping along and put and kept their hands in the air quite many times. I was standing next to a guy who was even headbanging during the show. Before the gig we talked and he mentioned he is a tram driver in Gothenburg and played GT during the whole week for the passangers. He already saw the guys and girls on several shows on this tour. Cool thing!
The band was in top shape, even if they had no day off after their Eskilstuna show. The fact that the concert was recorded probably made them excited anyway, but the huge crowd and their activity probably added even more to their already higher than 100% energy level.
The athmosphere was really awesome inside Ullevi. You have to experience it in person to be able to imagine it. When even the security supervisor is dancing and singing along you can be sure you are at the best party place in town.
Micke Syd took a selfie from the stage while he presented his intro talk to Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! Actually, they should have taken a group selfie, the 5 boys and 2 girls. When in Ullevi. It was also funny that Micke Syd looked at the guys who wrote the lyrics on a sheet for him in Eskilstuna and his gestures asked: no lyrics this time? Haha. The crowd already put on their mobile phones’ lights during Micke’s song and they were also on during När alla vännerna gått hem, of course. It looked beautiful in such a huge stadium. After Ljudet av ett annat hjärta, Per let the audience shout ojojojojojojoj and oh-ohohoh-ohoh for a longer time. The band was amazed at the crowd reaction.
The setlist was the same as in Stockholm, which means 23 songs, including Tylö Sun and Billy. Yay!
Åsa (who is celebrating her birthday today – happy birthday!) was there of course and we saw her a few times in the front (dancing and singing along too), but I guess she was filming more from another spot during the show, because it was a bit too busy in the front due to the pro filming of the concert. Micke Syd’s wife, Helena also came to the front to film a bit towards the end of the gig.
Anders Roos, the band’s house photographer set his cameras all around the stage last night too and he was ready to take pictures of the gang from the back when they were taking a bow. He took some when all 7 of them were on stage, but Per must have been so impressed and excited that after the girls went off stage and he threw some guitar picks from his mic stand and waved goodbye, he started walking off the stage too. Anders, Micke Syd and Göran were still standing there for the 5 of them taking a bow, but MP was following Per and since they went off stage, the 3 guys decided to follow them too. Haha. A pity, but well…
Love it when my ranking of the best concerts has to be changed when I see an actual gig. What can I say? Ullevi just became my No. 1 show on the tour! And if you ask me, if it wasn’t the exact same day as when Pink played Stockholm, GT’s 3rd Ullevi gig would have been even closer to sold out. Not that more than 54k people are too few. And hey, we heard the DJ who was the support to Pink played Sommartider in Tele2 Arena. 😉
Now a day off and on Monday GT play Kalmar!
P.S.: Aftonbladet wrote a review again. 4/5 for last nite’s show. Nice!
Setlist
- Skicka ett vykort, älskling
- Juni, juli, augusti
- Det hjärta som brinner
- (Hon vill ha) Puls
- Flickorna på TV2
- Vandrar i ett sommarregn
- (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän
- Det kändes inte som maj
- Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
- Tuffa tider
BAND PRESENTATION
- Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga!
- Kung av sand
- En sten vid en sjö i en skog
- Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
- Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly
- (Kom så ska vi) Leva livet
- Tylö Sun
Encore 1
- Billy
- Det är över nu
- Gå & fiska!
Encore 2
- När vi två blir en
- Sommartider
- När alla vännerna gått hem
All pics in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.
ULLEVI HERREGUD! Man tappar ju faktiskt orden när man ska förklara hur det känns att ta emot all den kärlek som vi får hela tiden genom vårt avlånga land, inte minst i Göteborg! Vilken fantastisk kväll det var igår. Vi trodde det inte gick att toppa de tidigare Ullevi-giggen men frågan är om inte detta var det vassaste. Det känns så. Vilken underbart galen publik!!! Än en gång, TACK alla 54.000+ för skönsång, handklapp och spännande danssteg. Träningsvärk idag?