Per Gessle nominated as Hallandian of The Year for the third time!

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It’s the third time Per Gessle is nominated as Hallandian of The Year. The first 2 winners in 2019 and 2020 were Janne Andersson and Boris Lennerhov.

The prize is awarded by the Marketing Association in Halland in collaboration with Hallandsposten and Hallands Nyheter. Hallandians themselves have been able to participate and nominate people who they think have helped to put Halland on the map in 2021.

Canita Dagård, CEO of the Marketing Association in Halland says she’s been bombarded with nominations in emails until recently and she thinks it’s great fun. They have tried to find a good mix of professions, men and women and try to get people from all over Halland. It has been tough to choose the five candidates, but they are happy with the selection.

Voting runs from 22nd November to 5th December.

The winner will be awarded at the breakfast gala in Halmstad Arena on 16th December and HP will broadcast the award ceremony on television. In addition to the honor, the winner will also receive a large banner at Halmstad Airport and have a portrait hanging next to the previous winners at the airport. In addition, the winner will receive a unique painting painted by Halland artist Dagmar Glemme and small medal.

To vote, one send an SMS to 72010 with the text “HP ÅH” and the nominee’s first name. Voting is only allowed once per person.

The 5 nominees are: Per Gessle, My Feldt, Filip Gemzell, Jennifer Wegerup and Annika Andersson.

The jury’s motivation for nominating Mr. G:

Per Gessle is one of the country’s foremost artists and songwriters. Through his creative power and musicality, he has put Sweden and Halland on the world map for over 40 years. A musical genius who has gilded many people’s lives. After the success in summer with sold-out concerts at his Hotel Tylösand, Per embarked on a long-awaited tour in Sweden. He is one of three Swedish artists who topped the Billboard list, the most powerful charts in the music world.

Good luck, Per!

Per Gessle Unplugged Tour – #5 – 20th November 2021 – Uppsala

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Second gig in a row this week happened in Uppsala last night. The venue was the city’s concert hall where the sound was just amazing again.

When Per greeted the crowd he told the last time he remembers he was at this venue was 2007 when Nick Lowe played here. He said he hopes „this evening will be at least as good as it was then”. Someone in the crowd said it will be better. Haha.

The audience was rather reserved at the beginning of the show, but song by song they got more and more into the mood and were singing and clapping along, even discussing stuff with Per. E.g. at one point Per asked if everyone enjoys themselves and someone asked him if he has a good time on stage. Per replied they have much fun.

There are also more interactions among band members each time, they are kidding each other most often and this adds to the fun mood on and off stage.

Per did good with the capo in Uppsala. He probably practiced it enough times by now. Even if he mentioned at the first capo fixing that it usually doesn’t go so well for him, he managed to do it right and during the rest of the show he was just as handy when it came to fixing the capo on the guitar.

There was no change in the setlist vs. Stockholm.

Before Det hjärta som brinner Per said it’s difficult to play GT songs when it’s not them five playing. Chris asked what he means by that and Mr. G said they sound more like a cover band. Chris said „we will see”, and they started playing DHSB. After that Chris, Magnus and Helena stood up while PG said he would play another Gyllene Tider song. He asked Chris where he was going. Christoffer said it was enough for him, he goes and drinks a schnapps.

Do I say anything new if I mention that Ljudet av ett annat hjärta sounded b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l.? The crowd loved it and was cheering also during the song. There was a little blackout for Per at the part „Värmen från en hand i hand i hand i hand”. He just skipped singing it and when he realized it he said „OK” while further playing the guitar. Haha.

When it was Tuffa tider’s turn, Micke N-S already brought the ukulele for Per and was standing behind Mr. G when Per reached out for his papers to check what’s next. It was funny that Micke pointed at the ukulele showing the audience that this is what comes next.

During the band presentation Per mentioned that he read in a review that Magnus is the most nicely dressed in the band. Magnus said he spent much time on it.

There was a standing ovation after the first encore and when PG & Co. got back on stage for the second encore, everyone sat back into their seats for Vid hennes sida. Then for Sommartider Per stood up and said we can also stand up if we want to. Of course we all did! After Sommartider the crowd gave a veeery long applause, so Per was walking a bit on stage and went even to Chris to adjust his hat. We stayed standing for the last song as well.

Helena changed her outfit for leather pants and silk top. Looked fab! And she of course sounded fab too and the audience confirmed it by applauding her loudly every time she was singing.

Per’s leopard shirt took a rest after the summer session at Hotel Tylösand, but it’s now back and it rulez!

At the very end, when the band was saying goodbye, Chris put his hat on Per’s head after one bow and put the hat back on his own head after the next bow. Per was adjusting his hair after this.

After the concert some stayed at the venue to maybe bump into Per and the band and they were lucky to meet the gang. Some went to a bar where it was a karaoke happening. Sommartider was a good choice from our side, because it was welcomed by also those ones who didn’t belong to our gang.

We are at 1/3 of the tour. Next stop is Göteborg, where the guys and girl perform twice!

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Min plats
6. Tycker om när du tar på mej
7. Det hjärta som brinner
8. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
9. Varmt igen
10. Tuffa tider
11. Juni, juli, augusti
12. It Must Have Been Love
13. Vilket håll du än går

Band introduction

14. Här kommer alla känslorna
15. Min hälsning

Encore 1
16. Födelsedag
17. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
18. När vi två blir en

Encore 2
19. Vid hennes sida
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per after the show on his social media sites:

Uppsala hej hej. Fantastisk kväll med en fantastisk publik. Lördagsgodis minsann. Tack för att ni kom förbi. Syns snart igen! /PG

Thanx all of you Roxers coming to so many of our Unplugged gigs. Noticed many of you in Sthlm + Uppsala. Appreciate your presence + that you’re fighting the freezing Swedish November! Keep it up! Lots of love from PG

Per Gessle Unplugged Tour – #4 – 19th November 2021 – Stockholm

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It was 2 weeks ago the last time I saw PG & Co. live and I missed them so much! This unplugged tour is just really amazing! It seems that this „leg” of the tour is going to be the most filled with international fans. Stockholm and Gothenburg are easier to be reached from abroad and so last night there were fans from Poland, Germany, Brasil, Portugal, Finland, Hungary, Argentina, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK and I know the US will also represent itself at one of the upcoming gigs. Very nice to see so many trying everything to be able to get there at the shows despite the known difficulties of travelling these days.

We could see Jonas Isacsson in the crowd, as well as Mats Olsson. It was also the first show on this tour where Show Security Sweden appeared and did their job. Some of you might remember our most favourite security supervisor, Atli who was also there last night. It was lovely to see him again. He told they work together with this venue and this was the first concert since the remodeling and rebuilding of Filadelfia Convention Center.

The concert started at appr. 19:45. The audience was already impatient at 19:30 and started clapping to have the band on stage as soon as possible.

The only change in the setlist vs. Gävle was that Födelsedag got back on the setlist and Vandrar i ett sommarregn wasn’t played this time. That means the setlist was the same as in Norrköping.

There were several funny interactions among the band members and I highlight one of them. Before Min plats PG asked Magnus if it’s difficult to play the double bass. Magnus said it’s very difficult and Per’s reaction was that one can notice it. Everyone laughed. Then Mr. G had a little trouble with the capo again, he first fixed it on the guitar in the wrong place, so Christoffer asked him if it’s difficult to play the acoustic guitar. Haha. At a later song, Per tried to fix the capo again and started telling an anecdote, but he realized he can’t do two things at once and shared this realization with the audience too. He either talks or he fixes the capo. Haha.

After Min plats, Per asked Micke N-S if he could get a guitar which is better tuned than the one he just used, so MNS came up on stage immediately and gave PG another acoustic guitar.

Ljudet av ett annat hjärta is top top top at every gig! Probably this gives the crowd the biggest surprise during the shows, how beautiful it is in this acoustic arrangement and so it always gets a long long long cheering and neverending applause from the audience.

The most popular songs during the night were the GT hits from the reactions I heard, but I must admit I was very positively surprised by the Stockholm audience. My experience with seated Stockholm shows so far was that people like to sit still and the biggest effort they do is their clapping – rather after the performers finished a song. Last night it was very different to all seated Stockholm concerts I attended in the past. Here the crowd was singing along, clapping along during the whole concert and enjoying themselves to the full. Loved to see that!

Before the first encore, the crowd was very loud and never stopped clapping. After the first encore they gave a standing ovation and also stayed very loud. When Per and the band came back on stage, PG asked the audience to sit down. He checked his papers what else to play and of course, the first song in the second encore was Vid hennes sida. Then it was Sommartider’s turn and PG and Magnus stood up and Mr. G told us we are welcome to stand up too. Everyone was right up on their feet! Per laughed at Chris that he couldn’t stand up, because of the instrument on his lap.

Helena kept her outfit she was wearing in Gävle and the silver angel was singing beautifully, as usual. She got very loud, well-deserved applauses from the audience.

The sound was different in Stockholm compared to concert hall gigs. Must be because of the acoustics of the spacious convention center, but both Per and the band were in top shape and their performance, as well as the active crowd made this show the second best for me on this tour so far.

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Min plats
6. Tycker om när du tar på mej
7. Det hjärta som brinner
8. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
9. Varmt igen
10. Tuffa tider
11. Juni, juli, augusti
12. It Must Have Been Love
13. Vilket håll du än går

Band introduction

14. Här kommer alla känslorna
15. Min hälsning

Encore 1
16. Födelsedag
17. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
18. När vi två blir en

Encore 2
19. Vid hennes sida
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per after the show on his social media platforms:

Amazing show tonight in Stockholm. Wow, speechless! ?? /P.

Amazing gig in Stockholm last night. Thanx everyone! Unbelievable! /PG

Thx! Tack för en helt fantastisk kväll i Stockholm. Underbar publik, generös, högljudd och fredagsglad!! Vi hade hur kul som helst uppe på scenen. Ikväll blir det nya tag i Uppsala. Syns om en stund. /PG

Per Gessle Unplugged Tour – #3 – 14th November 2021 – Gävle

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After more than a week long break, the tour’s third show happened in Gävle tonight. There was only one change in the setlist vs. Norrköping. Födelsedag disappeared and Vandrar i ett sommarregn was the first song in the first encore instead.

Ljudet av ett annat hjärta was a real highlight of the concert, of course.

It seems the gang won’t give up on standing up during the show towards the end of the gig. Woohoo! They also made the crowd stand up for Sommartider.

The crowd was a clap-along one. Helena changed her outfit to a real shiny one.

Next stop Stockholm on Friday!

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Min plats
6. Tycker om när du tar på mej
7. Det hjärta som brinner
8. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
9. Varmt igen
10. Tuffa tider
11. Juni, juli, augusti
12. It Must Have Been Love
13. Vilket håll du än går

Band introduction

14. Här kommer alla känslorna
15. Min hälsning

Encore 1
16. Vandrar i ett sommarregn
17. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
18. När vi två blir en

Encore 2
19. Vid hennes sida
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem

Thanx a lot for helping out with the setlist and pics, Carl Målberg!

Per Gessle Unplugged Tour – #2 – 6th November 2021 – Norrköping

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What I have to tell at the beginning of my report is that last night’s show was the best unplugged gig so far. Norrköping rulez!

The video of building the stage recorded by Anders Roos, shared by Per during the day was a great teaser for the evening.

The concert started a couple of minutes after 19:30 and already at the beginning you could hear that it would be a fantastic crowd. You could tell by their first reactions (clapping, cheering, singing-along, shouting) that they would keep the spirits up during the whole show. And that’s what happened.

The acoustics of concert halls are fab anyway and when a crowd is active, its very enjoyable. The crowd took it seriously when Per said after greeting them that they should sing along either if they know the lyrics or they don’t. No doubt they knew all the lyrics.

Before Min plats now PG had a little trouble with the capo, it was difficult to fix it on the guitar. So he mentioned it’s a low budget tour and joked that he could call Ulf Lundell. Per mentioned they have a double bass on stage and asked Magnus if it was his. Magnus clarified that it’s Christoffer’s double bass, so PG asked Chris why he has a double bass at all. The answer was to be able to give it to Magnus to play it on this tour.

The crowd just loved Helena. Not only after Tycker om när du tar på mej, but after all songs she was singing she got an extremely loud applause from the audience. Well-deserved! After a while Per thanked the crowd and said „how kind you are!” and someone shouted „better than Linköping!” Haha.

After Det hjärta som brinner, Helena, Magnus and Chris left the stage, but before they did that, Chris saw Per had some problem with fixing the capo again and asked him if he could help, but PG told he would sort it out. He got prepared for Ljudet av ett annat hjärta and started twice to get the right intro. Amazingly beautiful this song is in this arrangement, I won’t stop mentioning it! After the LAEAH ended, all band members came back, Mr. G stood up and went to Clarence to high-five with him. Chris told Per it was quite OK, but it’s better with Gyllene Tider. All laughed.

During the band presentation Per told he works together with Clarence since 1986 and he produced almost all of Per’s music since then and all Roxette albums. The crowd gave a loud applause to Mr. Öfwerman and Per told „yeah, it’s really worth the applause… that I have endured with him”. Everyone laughed. Then he remembered Europe’s Final Countdown was out the same year, 1986 and with Chris they organized a little 1986 „fight” mentioning other songs from that year, but Chris only mentioned Genesis songs. Haha. When Per got to Magnus, he said he is the newcomer in the gang, they haven’t been working together for so long, only for 16 years or so. Magnus said it feels like yesterday. Mr. G added that Magnus is from Malmö, but he is nice anyway. PG also mentioned that the sound technician is Mats MP Persson from GT.

Huge part of the audience stood up after the band went off stage before the first encore and didn’t sit down until the guys and girl didn’t come back. At this point and some more times during the concert someone shouted Billy. But there was no Billy on the setlist. Maybe sometime later? Would be cool! The setlist was only slightly different vs. Linköping. När alla vännerna gått hem was not the fourth song in the first encore, but the last song of the concert, kicking Om du bara vill off the setlist.

When you thought there would be no bigger change at this show, the gang on stage surprised you with standing up from their seats, Chris and Per set their own mics to the right height before När vi två blir en and performed it standing. It must have been a strange feeling to stand after so many shows sitting, but it was so cool! At this point, the crowd only stood up at the end of the song, when the gang said goobye and went off stage. They didn’t stop shouting „en gång till” until the band wasn’t back.

When Per & Co. were on stage again, they sat down and the crowd sat back to their seats too. Vid hennes sida was played this way, but then came Sommartider and rebel Per thought he goes spontaneous and stands up. He said he has to stand up for this song too and if he wants to stand up, he stands up. Haha. Chris couldn’t join him because of the instrument on his lap, but Magnus followed the leader. Then you couldn’t hold back the audience either. We all stood up and stayed standing from then on. Fab feeling it was!

During När alla vännerna gått hem, the mobile phone lights were up in the crowd. Looked great! This concert also ended in a standing ovation and yeah, Norrköping really beat all unplugged shows so far.

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Min plats
6. Tycker om när du tar på mej
7. Det hjärta som brinner
8. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
9. Varmt igen
10. Tuffa tider
11. Juni, juli, augusti
12. It Must Have Been Love
13. Vilket håll du än går

Band introduction

14. Här kommer alla känslorna
15. Min hälsning

Encore 1
16. Födelsedag
17. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
18. När vi två blir en

Encore 2
19. Vid hennes sida
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per after the show:

Norrköping Yea! Helt underbart gig, fantastiskt att få spela för er. Tack alla för att ni kom förbi med all denna positiva energi, tack band och crew för att vi har så kul ihop hela tiden. Längtar efter att få spela mer! Ha en fab söndag, y’all!

Amazing gig in Norrköping. Still breathless. Thanks! ??