Good Harvest

Per Gessle – En vacker kväll in Borgå, Finland – 26th August 2017 – #21

by

When the tour started 2 months ago, I knew that time would fly fast, but I wasn’t prepared for it to be flying THIS fast. The last ”En vacker kväll” concert was a festival show in Finland, at Popkalaset in Borgå. When we bought our tickets, we already saw there were priority tickets and the rest and there was a weird seating plan on the website, but we thought it might be a mistake how the crowd area was shown. It wasn’t. The thing is, the organizers separated the priority area from the standard area in a strange way. If you had a priority ticket, you could stand on the right side, if you had a standard ticket, you could stand on the left side. Huh? And since the separation they solved with 2 lines of fences, they even erased 2 nice front row spots. Haha. Whatever.

At this festival, Per Gessle was the headliner again, he was to start at 22:00 and there were 7 acts before him. One of them was Good Harvest, playing after 16:30. Another band was One Desire, they also performed at the festival in Vasa. During their performance there were fireworks and fire flames on stage and it looked quite cool. Would be fun to see such things – or at least confetti cannon – on some future PG tour. Just saying. By the way, good that we had some fire, because it was freezing cold and during One Desire’s gig we had a heavy rain shower too.

Right before Per, Egotrippi, a Finnish pop band was the last act. It seems that Mr. G likes what they are doing, as he posted one of their songs, Matkustaja on Roxette’s Facebook page the day after the concert, stating that it’s an amazing song. Egotrippi of course saw the post and they felt honoured, even wrote a nice comment under the post.

After Egotrippi, we saw the dark grey clouds coming and while the stage was being prepared for ”Per Fucking Gessle” (to quote the presenters, LOL), a heavy shower started hitting us again. Thank God it lasted only until the 2nd or 3rd song in the set and then was no more rain during the night.

We missed Åsa in Vasa, but she joined  the gang again in Borgå and filmed a lot. She enjoyed the show as much as we did. At least this is how I saw it. The crowd was cool. Loud sing-along people, putting their hands in the air quite often. And this was the first time on tour when during Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång) the crowd was dancing together. 2 to the left, 2 to the right. Even Åsa joined the choreography, dancing on the left side of the stage. It was lovely!

We got the same setlist as it was in Vasa, including 19 songs. So great that it didn’t get shortened. The only difference vs. Vasa was that Good Harvest joined Per on stage for Honung och guld, just like in Uppsala and Eskilstuna.

During the band presentation each band member got a huge applause and shouting from the crowd, but the biggest applause went for Magnus, who had his 50th birthday after concert day. The band and crowd sang the Swedish birthday song, ”Ja, må han leva!” to him. It was awesome! HERE you can watch my video recording of it.

Per and the band were in great mood. They had much fun on stage. You could feel they knew that was the last time they played together, so they enjoyed every second of it to the full. Hopefully, it was a last play-together just for a while though.

I wanted to mention some highlight songs, but actually, probably because for me it also felt different being the last show, I could mention all songs as highlight during the evening, for this or that reason. It was a fab closing gig, that’s for sure.

 

At the end of the concert, before performing Småstadsprat, Per talked to the audience, saying this was their last show on tour and he wanted to thank the band, their families, Live Nation and everyone who helped them, as well as all the people who came to the concerts. He said: ”We love you!” and sent kisses to the crowd. Tears in our eyes…

After Småstadsprat, Per applauded the crowd and the front rows. They took a bow, waved goodbye to us and off they went. It’s always so emotional when a tour ends and we don’t know when we see each other again.

The band and crew celebrated the end of the tour and Magnus’s birthday after the concert.

Per after the final show in a post shared on HIS Facebook page:

TOUR FINALE BORGÅ. Thanx everyone for coming to these 21 fab gigs. Some of the best months in my life! Had so much fun. Love this tour. Love this band. Love these crowds. Love these songs. See you soon again! /P.

In another post shared on Roxette’s Facebook page:

Tour finale in Borgå, Finland last night. Awesome. Thanx everyone for showing up and singing along during the last seven weeks and givin’ us an endless amount of good vibes. Priceless! Love to y’all. See you soon again! /P.

Mr. G also shared a lovely tour finale picture of the gang, including Åsa. Pure love!

All photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Setlist

1. På promenad genom stan
2. Vilket håll du än går
3. Juni, juli, augusti
4. Det hjärta som brinner
5. Segla på ett moln / Första pris
6. Min plats
7. It Must Have Been Love
8. Honung och guld (together with Good Harvest)
9. Kung av sand
10. Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång) / Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
11. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
12. Spegelboll
13. Gå & fiska!
Band presentation
14. The Look (with Säkkijärven polkka as intro)

Encore:
15. Varmt igen (with Queen of Rain as intro)
16. Tycker om när du tar på mej
17. Joyride

Encore 2:
18. Sommartider
19. Småstadsprat

Videos:

It Must Have Been Love
Ljudet av ett annat hjärta: 1; 2;
Band presentation
The Look
Tycker om när du tar på mej
Sommartider

Articles, pictures:

Uusimaa.fi
Svenska.yle.fi
Photo Minna Hatinen
Janne Ekman

 

Per Gessle – En vacker kväll in Eskilstuna, Sweden – 19th August 2017 – #19

by

Unbelievable, but the last show on tour in Sweden is already history. The 19th gig on 19th August in Eskilstuna was a blast despite the not too kind weather. We got a heavy shower for half an hour at 18:30. The crew had to cover the instruments and wipe off the water later. Strandels were lucky and by the time they came up on stage, it had stopped raining. It was still too cold though. Good Harvest were not that lucky. It got so windy  that even the backdrop had to be held by crew members to keep it at one place, not that it hits the girls while they perform. Just at the time they came up on stage after 20:00, we got a heavy shower again. The girls and their guitars got soaking wet, but at half of their performance they said they saw the sun already and the rain would stop falling. And in some seconds it indeed stopped raining.

So when it was PG’s turn, there was no more rain. Per mentioned in his first talk that this is the last show on tour (well at least in Sweden) and the audience was loud and cheering. When Per was talking about looking for a song which he hadn’t played live before now he said he found 470 such songs and he thought to play them all at the show. The crowd gave him a loud woohoo and applause. Oh, how we would have loved it… if he played all those songs! But of course, it was ”just” the usual intro to Honung och guld. And this time Mr. G asked Good Harvest again to join him on stage for the song. After it ended they hugged each other and the girls went off the stage. HERE you can watch my video recording of it (Per’s talk and the song).

There were mosquitoes not only in Borgholm, but in Eskilstuna too. At least Per told the audience he had swallowed some and had to drink before he started the band presentation. In Borgholm it was Per’s nameday, in Eskilstuna it was Magnus’s nameday. Magnus asked Per if he knew what day it was, Per said it was Saturday. Then Magnus said no, it’s Magnus nameday and he thought to ask for a little tribute for himself. He said he would say something what the crowd should repeat after him. He would be happy if we did so. The text was: ”Happy nameday, Magnus! Among all who are standing on the stage now we love YOU the most!” He was really happy about it and thanked the crowd for being so kind. Everyone laughed. Per only said: ”What a fantastic personality!” Haha. HERE you can watch my video recording of the whole band presentation.

 

Playing for the last time in Sweden, the band was really tight. I wouldn’t say they were the same energetic as in Uppsala, but certainly you could feel the show was a special one for everyone. The Look was a highlight for sure. And Ljudet av ett annat hjärta and Sommartider. After Sommartider the crowd didn’t want to stop clapping and shouting. Per thanked the audience for coming and being so amazing. He used the occasion to thank Good Harvest and Strandels for being a great support for him during the whole tour in Sweden, they did a fantastic job. Then he went on with Småstadsprat to close the concert.

When the show ended, Per pointed at the band to made the audience applaud for them, then they took a bow. Before they went off the stage, Andreas threw a drumskin to the crowd. I met the guy who caught it and could take a pic of it. See the photo what Andreas drew on it. Haha. While Per was walking off the stage, he pointed at the fans in the front rows, thanks for coming. It was lovely!

Aw… the last show in Sweden. Impossible that this tour is really coming to an end. It’s always so hard to accept it. OK, 2 more shows in Finland. It would have been nice to end the tour in Sweden though.

Anders Roos was there at this show as well and Åsa also shot a lot of videos. There was a guy on the right side of the stage who filmed the whole show with a big camera. Let’s see what we get to see from it! 😉

Per after the show, thanking for Eskilstuna and also for the whole tour (so far):

BYE BYE SWEDEN. Oj, det gick fort. “En vacker kväll”-turne’n (för Sveriges del) är över. Fantastisk final vid slottet i Eskilstuna igår. En av de allra bästa giggen if u ask me, avslappnat och gungigt. Helena, Malin-My och bandet satt ihop precis så där bra som man gör när man spelat ihop ett tag. T o m “The Look” lät extra tung!!!! Och “Småstadsprat” har verkligen träffat folk mitt i hjärtat, jag har märkt det undan för undan under turne’ns gång. Man blir stolt. Good Harvest lät som en dröm i “Honung och guld” för andra kvällen i rad. Thank you, ladies! Och vilken mäktig och stor publik som kom. Lyssnande, spejande men sugen på hyss hela tiden. En grym final.

Vill passa på att tacka alla underbara människor som kommit till konserterna under sommaren. Alla åldrar har synts till. Alla med olika och personliga relationer till mina låtar. Vi har filmat här och där så det kommer att bli ett härligt minne framåt jul + Anders Roos har plåtat alldeles för mycket så det dyker säkert upp en vass fotobok så småningom. Funderar också på att göra en live LP-platta. De här bandet låter så speciellt och den här turne’n är helt unik, det vore kul att föreviga. Vi har spelat in alla konserter så det finns många golden moments att välja på. Christoffer, har du tid?

An extra special thank you to all our international adorable friends who stood by our side (front row) at so many shows. You mean so much more to us than you can imagine. Lots of love from all of us!

Två gigs i Finland kvar, sen är det new balls. Ha en härlig vecka. Snart kommer hösten. /P.

So adorable! I love that he never forgets about the fans and this extra special thank you to all the international fans (FRIENDS!) is so heart-warming. It means so much to all who came from the different corners of the world. So, we can’t wait to have the concert film, the photo book and if Chris has enough time, a live LP! Fingers crossed!

 

All photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Setlist

1. På promenad genom stan
2. Vilket håll du än går
3. Juni, juli, augusti
4. Det hjärta som brinner
5. Segla på ett moln / Första pris
6. Min plats
7. It Must Have Been Love
8. Honung och guld (together with Good Harvest)
9. Kung av sand
10. Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång) / Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
11. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
12. Spegelboll
13. Gå & fiska!
Band presentation
14. The Look (with När vi två blir en as intro)

Encore:
15. Varmt igen (with Queen of Rain as intro)
16. Tycker om när du tar på mej
17. Joyride

Encore 2:
18. Sommartider
19. Småstadsprat

Videos:

På promenad genom stan
Juni, juli, augusti
People came of all ages indeed, kids enjoying Juni, juli, augusti
Det hjärta som brinner
It Must Have Been Love: 1; 2;
Honung och guld
Kung av sand: 1; 2;
Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång)
Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång: 1; 2;
Ljudet av ett annat hjärta: 1; 2; 3;
Spegelboll: 1; 2;
Gå & fiska!: 1; 2;
Band presentation including Christoffer’s intro to The Look
The Look: 1; 2;
Tycker om när du tar på mej: 1; 2;
Joyride: 1; 2;
Sommartider: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5;

Articles, pictures:

Ekuriren.se

 

Per Gessle – En vacker kväll in Uppsala, Sweden – 18th August 2017 – #18

by

After a few days off, getting closer to the end of the tour, Per Gessle and his band performed in Uppsala. It started as a rainy day, but fortunately, from afternoon it was all good and it stayed fine during the concert too.

Before the support acts came up on stage, we saw Mr. G leaving the backstage area with BoJo. First we thought they just walk around in the botanic garden, discussing stuff, but later when we saw other band members and support acts leaving to the same way, we realized the bathroom area was at a different place than the wardrobes, so they all had to walk a bit. And seeing PG walking back to the backstage area with a toothbrush in his hand, accompanied by BoJo was priceless. Lovely!

We also saw Niklas Strömstedt being there at the gig again. (He saw Per in Stockholm too.) Then while Strandels were performing, Micke Syd appeared on the side and came to the front row. We could sense there was another surprise in the making. Also, at 19:34 on Facebook Micke Syd shared a pic on which he and Per appear in PG’s wardrobe backstage.

Per was again like a Duracell bunny on stage, bouncing around, stomping full of energy and the band were also on a high. Everyone! Ola was jumping more than ever, Andreas went psychedelic on the drums, Chris went wild all the time, Malin-My rocked the violin, Helena was jumping around a lot and singing like an angel on the ballads, Clarence kicked ass behind the keyboards and Magnus was bouncing over more to the left side of the stage, having party with Ola and Chris. The whole show was very energetic, everyone was in top top top shape. Not only on stage, but also off stage. The crowd (8542 people) was loud and partying hard and jumping the most during Ljudet av ett annat hjärta, but also joined a bit the waving choreography for På promenad genom stan and was singing along loudly to almost all of the songs. Småstadsprat was a loud sing-along at the end of the show. I would say at least 70% of the audience let their voice heard.

The first surprise came with Honung och guld when Per told the audience he thought he would ask a little help from Good Harvest, so they joined Per on stage. The girls already rehearsed the song in Linköping and it sounded beautiful in Uppsala. HERE you can watch my video recording of it.

During Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång, while Åsa was filming Per, Mr. G was looking straight into the cam and was dancing a bit. Hopefully, it will make it into the GessleHomeVids collection on YouTube. It was quite cool!

During The Look, Per lost his voice a bit and let the crowd sing one line or so. It was fun and he was smiling at it.

 

For the second surprise, namely MICKE SYD, we had to wait until the 2nd encore, which since Linköping comes too fast after the gang goes off stage after the first encore. They don’t let the audience wait more than a minute, Andreas comes back and starts his psychedelic intro to Sommartider. This time Per invited Micke Syd on stage and Micke came up with his tambourine. The crowd was cheering him and he shaped a heart with his hands. Lovely! He was bouncing around the stage, singing in the mics of Chris and Magnus and getting close to Andreas as well. He definitely had an adrenalin rush, it was visible. We loved it! Haha. When it was the crowd sing-along part, first Per went to the left side, Micke Syd to the right, then vice versa and they animated the audience from both sides. After they finished the song, they hugged each other and Micke Syd went off the stage. The tambourine fell out of his hand and he was too cool kicking it away. HERE you can watch my video recording of the whole song. The first and last time I recorded Sommartider in its complete, that’s for sure. Next time I rather jump along! Haha.

This gig was also photographed by Anders Roos. Let’s hope we see tons of action pictures from this show, because it was full of such moments.

Per after the concert:

UPPSALA HEJ HEJ. Grymt gig igår i den sagolika Botaniska Trädgården. Mycket folk, drygt 8500, och underbar stämning för att uttrycka det milt. Vi är ett välsignat band som får all den här responsen och kärleken från publiken varje kväll. Inget att ta för givet. Jag hoppas att vi ger åtminstone en bråkdel tillbaka. Och herregud, visst var Good Harvest magnifika i Honung & guld och plipp-plupp så dök Micke Syd upp! Och var hör han hemma om inte med en gaffatejpad tamburin pumpandes åttondelar i Sommartider. En vacker kväll. /P.

All photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Setlist

1. På promenad genom stan
2. Vilket håll du än går
3. Juni, juli, augusti
4. Det hjärta som brinner
5. Segla på ett moln / Första pris
6. Min plats
7. It Must Have Been Love
8. Honung och guld (together with Good Harvest)
9. Kung av sand
10. Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång) / Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
11. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
12. Spegelboll
13. Gå & fiska!
Band presentation
14. The Look (with När vi två blir en as intro)

Encore:
15. Varmt igen (with Queen of Rain as intro)
16. Tycker om när du tar på mej
17. Joyride

Encore 2:
18. Sommartider (together with Micke Syd)
19. Småstadsprat

Videos:

Juni, juli, augusti
Honung och guld
Spegelboll
Joyride
Sommartider: 1; 2;

Articles, pictures:

Uppsala Nya Tidning
24uppsala.se
Uppsala Nyheter

 

En vacker kväll poll #6 – En händig man

by

We are more or less half-way with the polls. This week it’s “En händig man” – which turns 10 this year.

You can find the results of all polls so far on this special page.
[yop_poll id=”26″]

There are just two album polls left: Party Crasher and En vacker natt. The rest will be long polls for Gyllene Tider and Roxette material as well as demos and other songs not included in the rest.

In the meantime, one of the tour special guests, Good Harvest, released their debut album last week. Check this out to listen to or buy the album.

 

Per Gessle’s record label, Space Station 12 celebrates 1 year anniversary

by

21 March 2017 is for sure a day to remember for the rest of our lives. From the RXB team Judith and I had the honor of being invited to the 1 year anniversary party of Space Station 12, Per Gessle’s and Marie Dimberg’s record label. Much appreciated! The event was announced to start at 6 pm and last until 10 pm. It took place at Skyddsrummet, Stockholm.

We arrived at around 17:45, at the same time as Helena Josefsson, Christoffer Lundquist and Clarence Öfwerman. Marie Dimberg was welcoming the guests and a photographer took pictures of all who arrived in front of a black and white Space Station 12 background. We thanked Marie for the invitations and congratulated on the anniversary.

The musicians who were to appear on stage were 1 floor above the event area and were getting prepared for their performances. Per Gessle was among them, too. Some minutes after 6 pm Mr. G came down and also welcomed some guests. We had the chance to thank him too for the invitation and congratulate. He said he didn’t realize that already 1 year passed since they started this label. Time flies when you’re having fun. Thomas Evensson from TDR was taking some pics and Per kindly posed for them. Even for a group pic. Oh well, he said on Skavlan he gets depressed when he is out and no one asks for a selfie. Now he told us he will regret what he said for the rest of his life. Haha. Nah, he was really easy with it.

At appr. 7 pm a curtain was pulled away, so we could see the stage and go to the area where the performances were to happen. The stage was so tiny and low, the whole place so cozy! Of course, we, a small bunch of fans got in the front row, however it felt being too close to the stage. Everyone else was standing at least 5 steps behind us. Haha. It was funny. Then we also stepped back a bit, to have a better view of the not too high stage.

First Marie Dimberg went up on stage and she talked about Space Station 12, how they started it with Per. She talked very nicely about Mr. G and about their signed artists. She also mentioned their very good collaboration with BMG and she said they decided on a simple principle regarding what to release under SS12 and it’s that they release what they like. She also said there will be musicians on stage now who have their live debut, so she asked to applaud them. Then invited PG on stage saying even if Per doesn’t have his live debut now, he also loves being applauded. Haha.

So Per came up on stage to perform. He had Helena Josefsson (backing vocals), Malin-My Nilsson (violin), Clarence Öfwerman (keyboards) and Christoffer Lundquist (guitar) with him. Mr. G was playing an acoustic guitar while singing. He performed 2 songs, Tycker om när du tar på mej and Småstadsprat which he said we might have heard on Skavlan or whatever. Both songs sounded fantastic live and in this very much stripped-down-acoustic versions. Space Station 12 was live on Facebook during Småstadsprat, so you can watch a great video of it on their Facebook page.

Åsa was filming both songs too, so videos will surely appear on Per’s and Roxette’s Facebook pages shortly. After Småstadsprat Per told they leave the stage now and give the chance to SS12’s young artists to perform. After he left the stage we congratulated him on their wonderful performance. He thanked for it, but also said he was missing our banners in the front. We were wondering what kind of banners we could hold up for these 2 ballads and he said why not a tussilago sign. Haha. Yeah, OK. For the summer tour he gets it!

Before the next act, after some minutes break Marie Dimberg came up on stage again saying she wouldn’t sing, but please welcome Good Harvest. They performed 3 songs. All three were beautiful and one can melt hearing how the 2 girls’ voices blend! As Christoffer later mentioned, they both sound like one voice together. We are happy to see them on tour with Per this summer!

There came a little break again and Alex Shield was next to perform together with Charla K. They played Alex’s 3 songs, Charla’s debut single and a new duet that they mentioned were going to test with us, the audience. Everybody cheered afterwards, so we would say – thumbs up! We were all surprised how different Alex sounded live. He is a fantastic songwriter and now it turned out he is a great live musician as well. He and Charla K got the audience in a real party mood. It would have been fun if PG joined Alex on Good Fight as in the album version, but it didn’t happen. The song sounded cool live anyway.

We missed Fanny de Aguiar very much. It would have been fab to see and hear her live. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to perform and wasn’t present at the party either.

Rocket Fuel beer! – Picture by Judith S.

Even if Per was on stage only for 2 songs, he didn’t leave the concert hall. He was chatting with the guests and enjoying the performances of SS12’s artists while eating hot dog and drinking beer. Talking about beer, it seems that Per now is involved not only in the wine business, but the beer industry as well. There was a beer at the party, called Rocket Fuel which has Space Station 12 label on the bottle. The label says: ”Space Station 12 is an independent record label with the finger pointing at the future, always in love with great music. No matter what we release it will always be unique, interesting and something you certainly can’t live without. Just keep your ears open. And we love beer. Our favourite ones are made by Krönleins in Halmstad. Enjoy!”

Per was in a real happy mood, he even came to us asking if we were having a good time and we had a small talk. He is very proud of the acts they signed, he finds them real talented. And he is so right.

Among the guests, besides other artists, journalists, people from the music industry, TV, radio, wine people, we were happy to meet Pelle Alsing, Dea Norberg, Lasse Lindbom and see 2 members of the usual crew, Micke N-S and Peter Fredriksson. Christoffer said these events and performances are also good for them, because otherwise they don’t meet too often.

Regarding the summer tour, we got to know that besides Helena Josefsson, Christoffer Lundquist and Clarence Öfwerman, Magnus Börjeson will join and play the bass, woohoo and there will be a new drummer this time. We also heard a few times from different people that maybe they will also have a violin too… Is it July yet???

The party ended at 10 pm as it was stated in the invitation. Each guest got a SS12 bag when leaving. There were promo singles of SS12 artists inside – including Småstadsprat – and an SS12 badge. You can see this badge on the pics of Per as he was wearing one during the event.

All in all, it was really a fantastic event. We want to thank once again for letting us being part of this celebration. Good luck to Space Station 12 with finding even more exceptional artists to join the already fab team of signed musicians!

Per Gessle & band (Helena Josefsson, Malin-My Nilsson, Clarence Öfwerman, Christoffer Lundquist); Good Harvest; Alex Shield and Charla K. Pics by Judith S.

 

Per performing at the party. Pics by Patrícia Peres.

Official Space Station 12 party photos

Instapics of PG at the party: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9;

Instavideos of PG performing: Tycker om när du tar på mej: 1; 2; Småstadsprat

Instapics and vids of other Space Station 12 artists who performed: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5;