Editorial

Here we go again: 2018 solo tour setlist predictions

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Only 4 months are left to – what is currently planned – the premiere night of Per Gessle’s solo tour in Prague, Czech Republic on the 7th of October. The upcoming tournée will take the man from Roxette across 12 countries & 21 European cities in just 40 days. For the second time ever Gessle takes himself and European fans on the English language adventure through music, lyrics and memories he has been part of for the last 30 years.

Last year over 1,000 of you, dear RoxetteBlog readers voted for your favourite songs of Gessle, Gyllene Tider and Roxette in the series of 10 polls just before the solo Swedish tour took off. We are still hoping some of your suggestions might help Mr G to prepare a setlist as the band will surely start rehearsing during late summer. So here comes a little summary of what we know, what we think we know and what we don’t know (and we might never know).

As Roxette sadly became the past, Per declares his plans to concentrate mostly on the vast Roxette catalogue during his European tour in the exclusive RoxetteBlog interview: In the perfect world Marie would have been by my side to sing and perform but that won’t happen anymore. I have to live with that. You do too. The options I have are to perform the songs without her or not perform them at all. I chose the obvious one (…) Most of the songs will most certainly be Roxette-songs. I’ll probably sneak in a couple from the new solo album as well. Time will tell.

Do we have any hints of what Roxette gems can be performed during the tour? In the generic TV commercial produced for promotional purposes you can easily see and hear 3 Roxette songs from Halmstad’s 2017 concert as follow: The Look, Joyride, It must have been love. These hits are likely to get the same treatment as last year as it’s going to be the same band that goes on European roads with Per. It must have been love with Helena on the lead might be a hard to swallow for some, but well, we’re in 2018.  Dressed for success and Listen to your heart were also performed on a brief occassion during 2017 gigs, so these are another safe bets.  Looking also at some historical data, during the Party Crasher Tour the band performed 13 Roxette songs, beside 5 megahits mentioned previously, tracks such as Wish I Could Fly / She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore / 7Twenty7 / Opportunity Nox / Church Of Your Heart / Dangerous / Sleeping In My Car / Queen Of Rain. Country arrangements, anyone?

Would there be enough space on this year’s setlist to put songs less known which we haven’t heard in a while? I belive mosts fans support the idea of hearing compositions Per has created and sang himself originally on the official releases which haven’t heard live at all. One of the Swedish auction site Tradera user put a poster on sale that seems to be the official one for the Swedish leg of 2018 tour. What can come as a little surprise is the fact it includes tracks’ names that haven’t been performed by Gessle solo so far which are: Spending my time / How do you do / Fading like a flower / June Afternoon / Crash! Boom! Bang! / Vulnerable / Real sugar. Back in 2009 Vulnerable was said to be “impossible” to perform live. Have 9 years changed anything in that matter? Is it a random choice from the concert agency? Or maybe the poster is just fake? But hey, June Afternoon or Real Sugar are brilliant choices anyway.

On the top of that there is a Spotify Roxette playlist recently created by The Man himself which includes – beside obvious – incredible pearls (if you seriously consider theses songs could be performed live): “Paint”, “Jefferson”, “A Thing About You”, “Some other summer” or “Secrets that she keeps”. Unfortunately, we know such teasing on social media rarely leads to anything surprising in the end. In the last year’s poll you voted for She doesn’t live here anymore as the most desired Roxette songs that needs to be performed live. “a safe risk” with most popular Roxette songs? Time will tell, to quote our Guru.

Let’s not forget the fact the previous tour was also partially about solo material which actually received a very positive feedback from the audience back then. 11 songs performed during the Party Crasher Tour were a mix of Son of a plumber classics (Drowning In Wonderful Thoughts About Her / I Have A Party In My Head (I Hope It Never Ends) / Late, Later On / C’mon /  Are You On Old Hippie, Sir? / Hey Mr. Dj (Won’t You Play Another Love Song), highlights from The World According to Gessle (Stupid / Do You Wanna Be My Baby?) and very little off Party Crasher (The Party Pleaser / Doesn’t Make Sense). Yet another time we were said Silly Really doesn’t really translate well into a live song, so let it be. There was also a little surprise at the end – The Monkee’s (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone cover, also briefly performed by Roxette in 2010.

Looking at various interviews Gessle hopes “Small Town Talk” album (English version of last year’s Swedish solo projects) will get a little bit of exposure during the concert. If so, then the title song (Nick Lowe as a special guest in London?), “The Finest Prize” (Första pris last year was great live) or “There’s a place” (Min plats) could be live options off that album. Let’s face it, anything above 3-4 new songs will be a shocker. I’m hoping Per Gessle’s Roxette tour name anyway gives Per  a little bit of space and freedom to include his favourite English solo songs from the last 21 years. They are worth to be sang, they cannot be forgotten.

Just a quick reminder how you voted for your favourites off English solo albums last year: 1997 The World According to Gessle: Son of a Plumber: 009 – Party Crasher: 

Summing up, my prediction would be a setlist of 24 songs as it always makes a perfect 90-100-minute concert in the Gessle’s world. 16 songs would come out of Roxette and 8 would be solo tracks. But the more, the better.

What songs would you like to hear this year? See you around in Europe!

RoxetteBlog turns 5!

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Yes, I cannot believe it myself. In a way, it feels like yesterday. On the other hand, it feels more like 25. OK, maybe not 25 but 10?

A lot has happened since that April 2009 when we were in the middle of a Per tour across Europe and the rumours of Roxette (!!) joining NOTP started to show up. The idea was to write about that tour and anything around Roxette, make a kind of archive of all news, probably back then we thought it would be more of the ‘around Roxette’ than Roxette itself, but I think somewhere in our hearts we believed that there would be lots of Roxette to write about. And it turned out to be more than that, we just finished reporting about Marie touring solo across Sweden! And right after the end of the tour we are again reporting about a new Roxette tour… as many say, a neverending tour, or it all begins where it ends.

Surely, we didn’t expect to have so many things to write about and that this project would take up so much time and that it would be so much fun. And I will not lie, there have been some downs as well, times of ‘let’s close it down’ – but then something always happens, a few nice words or some other tiny detail that turn it all it around and brings us back to the reason and magic of why we are doing this.

So thank you everyone reading, following us on FB, sending (nice) feedback, supporting us in a way or another. And, of course, to the great team!

To the next [whatever period of time you wish us to stick around]! (where is Per’s champagne when we need it?)

Ah! And don’t miss out our RXB5 birthday contest!

rxb team1
L to R: Judith, Kirsten, Patrícia, Tomasz at one of Marie’s concerts. Sascha is missing. Target for 2014/2015: a picture of all 5 together.

Some facts and figures:

Articles written since we started: 1.735, busiest month: March 2012 with 64 articles (!)
Over 3 million views, highest again March 2012
Most written about category: Roxette, followed by tour.

Year 2013 in review: busy times for fans!

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Some time ago I started making a year-of-music summary for myself, go through memories of concerts I went to, albums I bought.

And doing that I just realised that this year was a busy one for Roxers, even more than 2011 and 2012 I would say. Did we ever have Gyllene Tider, Roxette, Per and Marie release something the same year before? And not to forget the books about Roxette and Gyllene Tider!

But let’s go step by step.

Gyllene Tider announced the release of a new album and summer tour in January, so they got us planning our summer holidays already early in the year. Some months later, in April, the album “Dags att tänka på refrängen” was released and reached #1 in Sweden. The singles off this album were “Man blir yr” and “Dags att tänka på refrängen / Singel”.

The summer tour comprised 19 concerts and was a success, which was documented in the book “Alla tiders Gyllene Tider” by Jan-Owe Wikström and Anders Roos. The book hit the stores in November. We could also watch a teaser of the upcoming GT DVD on TV4 in December. The compilation album “Soldans på din grammofon” was released just on time to warm-up for the tour and for people to go through the not-forgotten songs and lyrics. At least we got some nice extras with it!

For the first time, queuing and getting to front row for hardcore fans was uncomplicated thanks to the security guys at Show Security Sweden.

Per released the “Small Apartments” soundtrack in March/April both on CD and vinyl. Three more wines were added to the Per Gessle Selection: a Sommartider rosé and white wine that made the Gyllene Tider tour evenings funnier and Kurt&Lisa bottles were redesigned and filled in with wine from a new year.2013_2

Roxette released their very first live DVD and Blu-ray “Live – Travelling the world” in December. Fans could see a kind of preview already in December 2012 on Swedish TV. Sven Lindström released his book “Roxette – Den osannolika resan tur och retur” about Roxette’s journey in August. Roxette also gave the only concert of this year on 6th of April in Switzerland.

“Look Sharp!” turned 25 years old, SR radio celebrated that with a documentary full of interesting stories told by Per, Marie, Marie Dimberg, Clarence, Anders and some more Roxette related names.

Marie surprised us with a new album in Swedish: “Nu!” which was released in November. But that’s not all. Besides releasing the first single “Kom vila hos mig” in September, a tour for 2014 was announced in October. In August Marie recorded “Tack för musiken” – which could be seen on SVT in December. The second single “Sista sommarens vals” was released in November together with a very nice video directed by Emil Jonsvik.

The album “Souls” by Magnus Lindgren also features a song by Marie: “On a Sunday“.

And last but not least, Marie sang for Princess Madeleine on her wedding! Millions of people around the world could see the performance which was aired all around the globe.

Rox&Co related friends were busy too: Martin Sternhufvud released “Från ingenting till någonting” in March, Sandy Mouche released “Glory and Grace” in April and Brainpool released the single “The Last Christmas” in November and Marie Dimberg was chosen the most influential woman in Swedish music industry by MusikIndustrin.

On the social media/internet front we got three new official pages on Facebook: The Per Gessle Selection, Gyllene Tider and Marie Fredriksson. Per kept us very busy with many comments about his songs and old demos on Roxette Official as well as with videos and everything possible about the GT tour, wine and the studio sessions that started in October. Roxette Official reached 900.000 likes as well.

For RXB it was a year to be proud again. We interviewed the following nice girl and guys: Marie, Micke Bolyos, Micke Syd, Micke N-S, Martin Sternhufvud, Emil Jonsvik, Sven Lindström, Favela team (Blu-ray) and we made 14 fans happy with meet & greets and other contests. Our busiest month was November with 26 articles, we wrote 206 articles in total. And once again we broke our own number of visitors record and we reached no less than 26.000 likes and we wrote 766 posts on our FB page.

And last but not least, we shared beautiful memories of fans about the Roxette concert in Switzerland, meeting GT in summer and the GT book release party, as well as showed how the magic friend power works when it comes to do something together: the thank you messages to GT from all over the world after the tour and the Roxette poster flashmob in December.

Thank you for reading us one more year! We will be celebrating our 5th anniversary next year and we already have many ideas how we can celebrate this big time!

And with this said there is just one last thing to mention: cheers to a wonderful 2014!

RXB Team

Photos: Per drinking wine: Anders Mellden. Marie and Emil Jonsvik: Pernilla Pettersson. Marie Dimberg: Jonas Ekströmer. Meet & Greet in Gävle: Thomas Evensson.

 

Our personal Roxette highlights 2012

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itallbeginswhereitends

I got used to writing down a kind of retrospective about my personal achievements and failures some time ago. Besides bringing some memories and smiles (or tears) back, it boosts your ego a little bit and reminds you of what you achieved, how you changed or what you learnt after a not so positive moment. All in all, a good thing to do that leaves a sweet taste in your mouth.

So I proposed the RXB team to pick up our personal Rox-highlights of 2012, since we had so many articles and there have been mostly ups in 2012 again. It means, at least for me, to go back to my memories and pick up the most special moments.

Judith:

My #1 is definetely Roxette in United States, specially New York and Boston. It was a very special trip for me, first time in US, and and two amazing concerts. New York specially left me with my mouth open more than once (more than one standing ovation and everybody singing along!), a very special short chat with Marie and being able to share this with my loved one and many dear friends. It will always be in my heart and mind.

Next highlight kept us waiting almost until the end of the year, but it was worth it: It all begins where it ends, the Roxette documentary. It premiered on Swedish TV channel SVT on December 26th. Many memories of great times spent with my Roxer friends, many familiar faces, also many tears when going back 10, 8, 6 years in time. But again what remains are a lot of smiles, fun and love.

And as they say, last but not least, and after a lot of thinking: Travelling. And all what the album means. Roxette on tour, us travelling around the world, a 2nd album in 2 years, the smiles, Marie’s victory “yesss!” gesture every night on stage, and all the magic moments we’ve spent together.

Looking forward to 2013, which looks very promising. Some, but not all, are rumours, picked up by fans from Per and Marie during the tour, or comments by Per here and there on the net: the live Roxette DVD/ Blu Ray and the documentary to be out hopefully the first quarter of 2013, a book about Roxette, then the more uncertain Per’s projects (will it be Per solo? or GT?), Marie’s projects (solo album, tour?), some more (hopefuly white) wine to be added to the Gessle Selection…

So let’s just sit back, enjoy the good memories and relax. And to all of this I can only say “Cheers! and happy 2013!” while holding a glass of Furet. Delicious I must say. And if you haven’t already, go and read all the interviews on TDR with Marie Dimberg, Christoffer, Pelle, Clarence and Per!

Kirsten:

Thinking about 2012 I can only think of one Roxette-related highlight. Due to my new job, less free days, less money and an illness that makes it hard to feel as good as when I was young – it wasn’t easy for me to follow my favourite band around the world. This is kind of ironic, because since 2002 my biggest wish was Marie being healthy again and for Roxette to go on tour again (and me with them). Now, that they did it – I couldn’t follow them. That’s the way life goes.

Nevertheless, I saw two shows in 2012, the one in Amsterdam and the one in Kaiserslautern. And the whole day in Amsterdam is definitely my Number one, the top of the list. We were all waiting at the airport for the Stockholm plane to arrive. Finally, when the doors opened and Marie came out, everything wasn’t as it usually is. We had all the time we wanted to say “hi” and give her our presents. And Marie hugged nearly everyone who was around – with a big smile. I was one of the lucky girls who got a “hello again” and a hug. I enjoyed that moment a lot – and those three or five seconds mean more to me than a signed CD or vinyl.

My second highlight is – must agree with Judith – the Roxette docu. I watched it only some minutes ago and I didn’t want it to end. But as we all know: It all begins where it ends. So it MUST go on some day.

Patrícia:

My highlight #1 is definitely Amsterdam. Actually, so far I had the 2 best days of my Roxer life there. On one hand, it was very special to me, because that was the first time I met those many nice Roxers in person, whom I got into contact with via Facebook. It seems to be a cliche, but Roxette IS connecting people indeed. On the other hand, I met Marie and Per and the band in person. Kirsten already wrote about the Marie moments, so I won’t repeat how lovely she was with all of us at the airport. The fun we had while taking the group pics with Per was unforgettable. He was in an extremely good mood, smiling all the time, which made the group pics even brighter. Even the one that was taken by Christoffer after having some problems with the zoom. The gig was FANtastic and I’m happy that Colin made the documentary in Amsterdam, so I have something more to save in my memory regarding that magical night. I said 2 best days, as the day after the gig I met Marie and Per at the airport again. They were still all smiles and took their time with us before they were leaving for the Kaiserslautern gig. I had a chance for a small talk with Per, which meant so much to me. These are the experiences one can save in his/her heart forever and smile anytime thinking about these moments.

Highlight #2 for me is Gdansk. That was the last gig for me and for many other Roxers during the Neverending Tour. What a gig it was! I enjoyed it to the full and it was so damn good to see that Per & Marie + the band enjoyed themselves on stage, too. They were all smiles during the whole show, even when we messed up Spending My Time. Better say, we didn’t mess up the lyrics, but when it would have been OUR turn to sing, we just wanted to shout ”Roxette!” and clap our hands and be happy to have them. Then we realized this is not what they expect from us, so we started to sing at last. There was real magic in the air all night!

My highlight #3 won’t be a surprise. It’s the documentary. I could watch it 24/7/365 and I just want more of this beauty, so I can’t wait for the DVD to be available. Actually, I can’t wait for anything that is waiting for us in 2013.

I stated it many times already, but I have to say it again: Roxette is worse than any drugs, but this drug is the one I’ll never give up on.

Tomasz:

2012 was more of a continuation of what Marie and Per did in 2011. I did not expect much, but it turned to be a good year. Or even an amazing one comparing to drought era 2003-2010. I have never been travelling much in my life, so getting the TRAVELLING album and the second Polish gig ever in Gdansk/Sopot were a clear sign – “this is the way you should follow”. Meeting new people down the road was also exciting – fans from various corners of the globe came to celebrate Roxette in Poland – my one and only “holy mass” this year. Some new PR activities for the duo were done on the Polish soil, some interviews given, few releases sent – business as usual. How odd and how brilliant at the same time!

Among all goodies released this year we could find also wine bottles (bought, but not tasted… yet), books (psychology of psychos who we certainly are), TV shows (it’s only playback), interviews and THE documentary. 58 minutes of a high quality pleasure and with long Marie interview parts. The best decision taken this year was to do this documentary in Swedish – finally Mrs Bolyos could speak up her mind. Thanks a lot, dear Favela film makers!!

Hoping 2013 will be even better for all of us – we’ll be drinking new wines, listening to new albums, working new overhours to afford new tours and annual visits to Stockholm. “Just like fireworks in the sky, watch the sky!”

We wanted to post some list of numbers here but we’ve written so much already.  So after more than 300 articles and 850.000 visits this year, just one last thing: thank you for your support, for reading us, sending in news, the nice face-to-face talks we had and sharing this one thing that connects us! And thank you Per and Marie and co for another fantastic year!

Ah, and we are glad Patrícia joined our team!

Have a great 2013!

Idea for Gyllene Tider supporting act: Brainpool?

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This is going to be a blog entry, no news this time.

Last week, there was yet another article on Expressen about Gyllene Tider going on tour (or not) next year. Of course, we still don’t know if it’s true or not, but this doesn’t stop us from starting to plan in our heads and be creative, now that we are “bored” (and saving $$) without a Roxette tour going on.

So we start chatting about a possible tour with my friends and what comes out of it? I start thinking I would probably go to some GT concerts but ? as many as Rox? what would be a special incentive for that? Right! what if Brainpool would be the supporting act for Gyllene Tider (next year or in 2 years, who cares)?

So that, Per please, pass it on to whoever should take this decision or keep it in mind yourself. The guys at Brainpool already revealed they are working on a new album. Wouldn’t it be a great evening, listening to two of the best bands in Sweden?

Quite some seem to support this idea on FB (you have to be member of the group to read) already.
And if not, let’s hope that Brainpool tours Sweden anyway!