A mini-documentary about Roxette’s 2012 world tour and “the special relationship between the band and the fans” as Colin van der Bel of TDR describes on his blog. It was recorded on June 29 in Amsterdam and Per Gessle and other band members were interviewed for that occasion. A must-watch!
According to an article on Aftonbladet, Per Gessle is going to start recording a new solo album soon, “I have booked a studio for a solo album,” he tells Aftonbladet.
The reporter asks him about the rumous about a Gyllene Tider comeback next year, to what Per answers it’s a 50-50 chance that there will be a tour. “We have talked about it for many years, it’s not easy to come back. I think it’s a fantastic pop band, but it’s not in my hands.” He also explains that the other GT members are booked for other things, so it would be a lot of shifting and replanning to make it true.
He also tells that he doesn’t think the songs he wrote for his solo album could work with Gyllene Tider “It’s two different things”.
Per is not sure if a solo tour could be an alternative, “I don’t know, we thought of doing something with Roxette in 2014 so it might be good to take it easy,” and adds, joking, “I am not 50 anymore”.
My personal comment: In any case, 2013 is surely going to be an interesting year – and I don’t believe the “take it easy” part of it.
The two red wines that are part of The Per Gessle Selection, “Furet” and “Kurt&Lisa”, were presented yesterday to the Swedish media.
Aftonbladet also talked with Per, he revealed why the label on “Furet” doesn’t feature him but a bicicle in front of his childhood home, “it’s not allowed in the EU to have children on bottles of wine.” You will find some pictures of the event in Aftonbladet‘s article. This blog also has a short review of the wines.
The winery producing Per’s wines is Allegrini, located just north of Verona, Italy. Allegrini is the leading producer in the Valpolicella Classico area and one of the most highly acclaimed wineries in Italy and throughout the world.
The wines were initially made for Hotel Tylösand but Per felt that they turned out so great that it would be a shame if they were not made available commercially. “Kurt & Lisa” and “Furet” will be available at Systembolaget on November 1st. “Kurt & Lisa” is a limited edition (1000 bottles).
Some of Allegrini’s wines have more than 90 Robert Parker points or some Gamero Rosso glasses so we might be in for a treat! I will tell you in November.
In the latest Swedish Kanal 5’s “Breaking News” show it was announced Per Gessle has released two types of wines under the line “THE PER GESSLE SELECTION” – one called “Furet” (part of Halmstad where he grew up) and second “Kurt & Lisa” (Gessle’s parents).
Here below you can see how those two wines look like. At this point it is unknown where you can purchase them or how good they taste – the show’s wine expert gave them five “suns”, though.
Update: As written on Roxette.se and Dailyroxette.com the wines will be cost 249 SEK (Kurt & Lisa) and 149 SEK (Furet) and will be available at Systembolaget upon request. The wines were offered as “house wines” at Hotel Tylösand but “they turned out so amazing I wanted to have a go on the commercial market as well,” tells Per to TDR. More wines will be added to the selection yearly.
While Roxette was in New York, Per Gessle met Per Bjurman, journalist of Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet. Gessle hasn’t revealed anything new, but there are some facts that we should take into consideration thinking about Roxette and Gyllene Tider’s future. Those are the most interesting quotes from him.
The tour has been the world’s weirdest rehab, Marie’s in a top form again. What we’ll do in the future depends on how she reacts for not playing.
It is a bit special with the US. Knowing how much radio airplay we still get over here, we should’ve sold out Madison Square Garden, but like twenty years ago, we play in a theater. People here recognize the songs very well, but not us as artists. They are constantly singing at our gigs.
We’ve talked about it [Gyllene Tider’s reunion] every year since 2009 and yes, we are “on speaking terms”. We have been there all the time, we just think differently.
But nothing is set, so I cannot confirm it. First we must decide what to do with this band [Roxette]. Above all, it is all about Marie. This tour has been the world’s weirdest rehab she’s started and the question is how it affects her to take two years off. Maybe it’s better for her that we continue to play, I do not know. These are difficult questions.