Gyllene Tider tour premiere – report from the front row

by

Actually, it’s about 4 hours after the show when I start writing this article. Still can’t sleep, as it was such an out-of-the-world experience. After becoming a Roxer in 1991 and listening to Marie’s and Per’s solo albums, I found Gyllene Tider in 1994. Never had a chance to attend any gigs back in 1996 or 2004, but now my time has come. The tour premiere couldn’t have been any better! Halmstad, front row. What else could you ask for? If you like at least some of the GT tracks, you should definitely see them live one day. What energy on stage! Per was like a Duracell bunny, just like we got used to it during Roxette’s World Tour – or even more energetic – and that voice, yeah, it will surely kill me one day! Micke Syd makes you want to play the drums and DJ Fritzon’s Farfisa magic is just awesome. MP and Anders are demigods of guitar playing, but just because Chris is God. 😉 It’s still not too late to buy your tickets to any of the concerts (except Helsingborg, which is sold out). If you are attending any gigs, maybe don’t read further and don’t check the pics, to have the ”aaaaah moment” when you’re seeing them for the first time this year.

Stage design

Hats off! It was so well-designed. As you could see on our Facebook page, we had a chance to listen a bit to the soundcheck and at the stage design for some time – until the security staff told us to please, go away. Before the concert started, there was a big black curtain with a white Gyllene Tider logo on it, so we knew there will be an intro and of course, some adrenaline involved. And we were right. The curtain fell off right after the intro. Check the setlist section for details. During the show there was a huge, awesome background monitor, on which several designs appeared, related to the songs or just close-ups from the stage or the crowd. There were several cameras, but we don’t know it yet, if they were there to ensure a great visual experience or because of a tour DVD.

 

GT_curtain    Mikael_Nogueira_Svensson_plecs

Curtain at the beginning and Mikael Nogueira Svensson (Per’s guitar technician) arranging the plecs on the mic stand (with a plec in his mouth)

 

GT_tour_background_monitor_2013_01     GT_tour_background_monitor_2013_02

Background monitor

 

Setlist

Intro: a funny (maybe 3-5-minute-long) cartoon with the well-known drawing on the big screens on the 2 sides, with a mix picking a little part from several songs, even from Knallpulver

1. Gå & fiska!

2. Det blir aldrig som man tänkt sej

3. Juni, juli, augusti

4. Det hjärta som brinner

5. På jakt efter liv

6. (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjöman

7. Allt jag lärt mej om livet, har jag lärt mej av Vera

8. En sten vid en sjö i en skog

Band presentation

9. Min tjej och jag / Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång (medley)

10. Tuffa tider

11. Kung av sand

12. Flickorna på TV2

13. (Hon vill ha) Puls

14. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta

15. Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly

16. (Kom så ska vi) Leva livet

17. Tylö sun

Extra 1:

18. Det är över nu

19. Billy

20. När vi två blir en

Extra 2:

21. Sommartider

22. Dags att tänka på refrängen

23. När alla vännerna gått hem

 

Some more things to add:

  • When they came back to the stage for the 1st extra session, Per greeted the international front row. And it was really international: Australia, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Spain, Austria, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Sweden. Sorry if I’ve left out any countries.
  • Per presented ”Det hjärta som brinner”, ”Allt jag lärt mej om livet, har jag lärt mej av Vera” and ”Sommartider” as Anders’s favourite songs.
  • What a great ending with 2 such awesome songs. ”Dags att tänka på refrängen” sounded marvellous live! There were even fireworks after the show, but from the front row, we could just hear the sounds, no visual experience for us.
  • They skipped ”Arabiska nätter” – according to the official setlist that would have been the first song in Extra 2
  • Åsa was also there. She was filming a lot.
  • The security staff was very nice and helpful from the very beginning and it stayed like this until the very end.

 

Thank God, I still have 6 chances to take some more of this drug with my friends this summer. I’m without voice now, but I’ll surely recover for the next gig. If you haven’t bought your ticket yet, do a favour to yourself and go to see them live! It will worth it. 😉

 

Per_Gessle_GT_tour_premiere_2013_001          Per_Gessle_GT_tour_premiere_2013_002

The maestro is concentrating and having fun during ”Tuffa tider”

 

Micke_Syd_Anders_Herrlin_GT_tour_premiere_2013_01      Per_Gessle_Mats_MP_Persson_GT_tour_premiere_2013_01

Micke Syd and Anders in the front during ”Tuffa tider” & Per & MP during ”Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly”

 

Asa_Gessle_GT_tour_premiere_2013_01

Åsa filming the crowd

 

 

All pics in this article are © Patrícia Peres

 

#gtsommar #1 Gyllene Tider – Halmstad #1, July 5

by

969311_385185914920132_1338018018_n

Yesterday we spent quite a lot of time on our Facebook page following all happenings around the premiere night in Halmstad. There was no bigger suprises as long as you don’t count no “Man blir yr” on the setlist. Comapring to the GT25 tour, 5 songs were replaced including 3 new from the latest album and such pearls as “På jakt efter liv”. Though they played “Arabiska nätter” at the soundcheck, it wasn’t performed after all. According to the setlist provided by one of fans, AN was planned to be performed as the first song of the second encore, just before “Sommartider”. To give you a very quick overview of what has been performed: 4 songs from “Gyllene Tider” (1980), 7 songs (we are also counting in bonus tracks) from “Moderna Tider” (1981), 4 from “Puls” (1982), 4 from 95-96 period, 2 from “Finn 5 Fel” (2004) and 4 (as long as you consider intro to be integral part of the concert) from the latest 2013 album. We shouldn’t be suprised after all, as we all know how reluctant Per & Marie were to play new songs on the Roxette tour as well.

Comment from Per Gessle:

Superb opening of the Gyllene Tider tour on home turf in Halmstad July 5th! Thanx everyone for your support. Today: the sun is up, the sky is blue: we’re on our way to Lysekil to kick some ass together with 14-15000 GT Headbangers! Sounds like a great Sunday to me! Cheers, P.

Speaking of reviews, most of them are rather positive. Hallands Nyheter’s Hilda Blomberg calls the premiere gig “an impressive show” where “hits never end”. Daniel Claeson of Goteborgs Posten gives 4/5 for the gig saying the band has never sounded so good before and it’s clear 2013 version is the best one he has ever heard. Aftonbladet gives three out of five pluses for the Halmstad gig with no particular reason for this kind of mild evaluation, additionally calling the show “lovely party for old people” but 5/5 for Gessle’s new hairdo – strange things happen, indeed. As for Expressen, it’s 3 out of 5 from Anders Nunstedt and the biggest problem Anders has is that there is almost nothing new to the Gyllene Tider show – “they are going to earn millions of crowns on this tour, but the change [between previous tour and this one] is not worth a damn”.

But we have a very good news for you Anders, Per Gessle hopes to change a little bit on every concert (though 19 tracks are must-have on every concert). So there are still high a chance for some B-sides you will surely be excited about! 🙂

Setlist

1. Cartoon intro with Knallpulver
2. Gå och fiska
3. Det blir aldrig som man tänkt sej
4. Juni, juli, augusti
5. Det hjärta som brinner
6. På jakt efter liv
7. Dansar inte lika bra som sjömän
8. Allt jag lärt mej om livet (har jag lärt mej från Vera)
9. En sten vid en sjö i en skog
10. Min tjej och jag
11. Flickan i en Cole-Porter sang
12. Tuffa tider
13. Kung av sand
14. Flickorna på TV2
15. (Hon vill ha) Puls
16. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
17. Ska vi älska så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly
18. (Kom så ska vi) Leva Livet
19. Tylö Sun

20. Det är över nu
21. Billy
22. När vi två blir en

23. Sommartider
24. Det är dags att tänka på refrängen
25. När alla vännerna gått hem

Read more

#gtsommar 450m2 of Swedish summer

by

Marknadplatsen in Halmstad is almost ready to have a great ‘golden times’ party tonight. The brand new stage of 450m2 with two big screens on each side, lights and sound systems was built by over 200 people. The total area for the concert amenities, including toilets, refreshments is a staggering 10,000 m2. As HallandPosten informs 1500 was the number of the extra tickets released this Wednesday since the production got bigger and they were able to fit in more people than they thought in the beginning. Additionally Micke’s son Dennis will be part of the filming crew, Gyllene Tider drummer shared this information on his blog the other day.

For those who head to Halmstad, Halland Posten published list of places which Gyllene Tider’s fans should visit during their stay in town – from Hamiltons Vag till old Tits & Ass studio in Styrdal.

If you are interested in live reports from Marknaplatsen, Hallands Nyheter journalists are of help. Today at 3pm CET they will start reporting all happenings from the premiere night. Follow them here.

Corina Lesu contributed to the article.

Motivation is what drives Per Gessle

by

Hallandsposten made a long and interesting interview with Per in the garden of his house in Sandhamn. From the interview it turns out that Halmstad is the place where Per can get energy. He also mentions that Åsa is the best wife in the world and Gabriel is as interested in computer games as he was in The Beatles and all other music at the same age as now Gabriel is.

According to the article, first it was the answering machine, then the tape recorder and mini-disc, but today Per Gessle‘s most important “instrument” to record and collect his ideas is his iPhone. Later he is saving all his files to computer, too. Per’s mobile is full of cryptic names of draft files that later might become hits. The working name of e.g. ”Singel” was ”Apelsin” (= Orange – this word appears in the lyrics). Talking about hits, there are more than 1000 Gessle songs registered at Stim (International Music Agency of Swedish Composers).

As Per says to Hallandsposten, in terms of percentage, the lyrics take much more time to write than music. It’s often verses, quotes or events he’s picking. For example, ”Tiden är en dåre med banjo” (= Time is a fool with a banjo) is a Charles Bukowski quote.

Regarding ”Anders och Mickes första band” Per says:

It was my way of showing that we are five in Gyllene Tider, not just me.

 

Of course, we all know Per likes playing with words, he’s creating awesome rhymes. He says to Hallandsposten that ”Det blir aldrig som man tänkt sej” is about disappointment and with the rhymes ”Du kunde knappast knäppa knappar och knyta knutar på en och samma gång – du stod på fyllan bakom hyllan som en Bob Dylan väntande på varm buljong” he could express exactly what he wanted.

Hallandsposten writes it was 37 years ago when Per got his first ever fan mail – from Katarina. He remembers the letter clearly and says if he writes a song he thinks is good and then anyone else likes it too, he’s proud. He says he always wanted to succeed with his art, so today he feels that there is nothing left to prove. Therefore, being No. 1 on the charts or commercial success are not that important anymore.

To Hallandsposten’s question regarding what is driving Per, he replied:

Motivation. If I would lose it, no more melodies or chords would come to my mind. I wouldn’t be so open to ideas and wouldn’t take down what is out there.

 

Hallandsposten also asked how Mr. G can manage all the things he is doing at the same time: music, hotel, wine and even handling several social media sites. Per says:

If it wasn’t me doing it, then someone else would. And then I still should check it. So why not doing it myself? After all, it’s fun.

 

 

Per Gessle_Hallandsposten_photo_by_Jari_Valitalo

 

Original article © Hallandsposten; GT photo © Jari Välitalo

Celestte Williams contributed to the article.

 

The dates when DATPR songs were written

by

Until now you could reach the lyrics of Gyllene Tider songs on gyllenetider.com, but now they are available on gyllenetider.se as well. Next to all songs off ”Dags att tänka på refrängen” album you can find when the songs were written. All of them were born in 2012, except ”Det blir aldrig som man tänkt sej”, of which the original text (”Är det jag?”) was written in the 70s. In our Per Gessle, the workaholic article I was already writing about the demo dates. Now here come the dates when these pearls were written:

 

  • Det blir aldrig som man tänkt sej (Demo 6/8 2012): the lyrics can’t be found on the website yet, so no exact details of when this song was written, but at least we know that the first demo of it was ”Är det jag?” made on 9th July, 1979.
  • Man blir yr (Demo 26/7 2012): written on 22nd July, 2012. Maybe Per wouldn’t have enough time to write this song if Brøndby, Denmark gig (21st July, 2012) hadn’t been cancelled due to logistics reasons between Cluj and Gdansk gigs.
  • Singel (Demo 6/12 2012): written in October-November, 2012. Probably not 2 complete months were needed to write this hit, but it seems that it took the most time.
  • Allt jag lärt mej om livet (har jag lärt mej av Vera) (Demo 6/8 2012): August, 2012, but surely between 1st and 6th August, as the demo was recorded on 6th August, the Halmstad earthquake day.
  • Tio droppar regn (Demo 6/10 2012): written on 3rd October, 2012. Most probably it was such a rainy day that one had to be sitting inside and eat some glass meringue. 😉
  • Jag tänker åka på en lång lång lång lång lång resa (Demo 28/8 2012): written on 24th-25th August, 2012, between the Oriflame gig in Stockholm (22nd August) and the North American tour leg that started on 29th August, in Canada. This long journey surely had an effect on Mr. G.
  • Lyckopiller (Demo 21/6 2012): written on 17th June, 2012 in Halmstad. This was the first written among these new songs.
  • Chikaboom (Demo 6/12 2012): written on 20th-21st-27th November, 2012 in Stockholm. This was the last written among these new songs.
  • Anders och Mickes första band (Demo 5/10 2012): written on 9th September, 2012 in Calgary, so gig day in Calgary, Canada.
  • Tiden är en dåre med banjo (Demo 9/8 2012): written on 8th-9th August, 2012. During the short tour break PG must have had enough time to read some Charles Bukowski again. The quote ”Time is a fool with a banjo.” comes from him.
  • Knallpulver (Demo 8/5 2012): most probably it was born on the demo day, 8th May, 2012 in Curitiba, Brazil.
  • Dags att tänka på refrängen (Demo 28/6 2012): written on 25th-26th June, 2012. Maybe Mr. Gessle didn’t want to think about the end of the tour that was coming in less than 3 months.

 

gyllenetider.se_TEXTER