Per Gessle

Roxette will be on tour until August 2012; 50 concerts done, 80 to go!

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Per Gessle reveals in an interview with Hallands Posten that “after Göteborg [concert #50], we still have 80 concerts to go”. The tour will go on until August 2012.  “As soon as we leave a city, the tour promoter wants to book us again, which is the best feedback one can get”, tells Per to Jan-Owe Wikström.

Per also comments on the success of “Radio” on the radio, “we’ve never been played on the radio as much as nowadays.” And it is specially thanks to Latin America, Russia and Eastern Europe, “where we are very successful.”

Per also says that he thinks Marie is in a great shape. “Last week in Locarno was the best I’ve seen of her since, right, the 90ies”, says Per.

As we know, the band is working on a new album, “2rism”. They have already recorded 5 songs and have booked more studios around the world.

“Charm School” has sold half a million copies, which indeed is great nowadays.

Some thoughts about the tour dates.

  1. So far they have done 50 concerts.
  2. Per says they still have 80 to go, and until August 2012.
  3. Of these 80, we know already 23 of the dates (July until December 2011).
  4. This means there are 57 (if the 80 is a fix number and not just estimation) dates still unknown.
  5. Conclusion: save the whole 2012 for more! 🙂

Thank you Thomas from Sweden for the link!

Per Gessle reveals to Expressen: Roxette is recording a new album

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Roxette is already underway with recording a new album. At the same time the band’s successful World Tour that began earlier this year will extend – and continue throughout most of 2012.
(p) Lionel Zaragocin
– We’ve already started recording new songs for our next album which will be a continuation on “Tourism”, says Per Gessle.

Per Gessle, Marie Fredriksson and the rest of the “new” Roxette has received a nine-day vacation from the hectic tour. Expressen met Per Gessle related with the opening of photography exhibition with Terry O’Neill’s classic 1960s images of Tres Hombres Art in Tylösand.

– Some concerts are like a big karaoke-show, the audience sings along, all the time, says Per’s wife Åsa has been for most of the tour.

– I and MP were in the studio in Halmstad yesterday and wrote a new song, Per reveals. – New album is being recorded during this tour, in local studios and during the soundcheck. Just as the “Tourism” from 1992. All material is new. Working title is now “2Rism”

(c) ExpressenPer found a part of previously unreleased recordings. – Here are the songs with young Marie, before she became ill. We will use the song and record new backgrounds. Like Stones did when they found some leftover from the cult classic “Exile on Main Street” and Springsteen’s “forgotten” recordings of “Darkness on the Edge of Town” that was released as “The Promise”.

– These successes are pure bonus for us, that we had not counted on. We cannot compete with today’s artists like Lady Gaga and other pop based on beats, arrangements and a visual idea. It is not easy to do powerpop 2011. Yet we have just played for almost half a million people. When the tour is complete, we will reach 1.3 million.

Source: Expressen

Thanks to Emilio Gimenez Bahl for the picture.

New album sets from Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle and Gyllene Tider

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As you may know from The Daily Roxette article, EMI Music Sweden is going to release the box sets with the orginal, mostly Swedish albums of Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle and Gyllene Tider on August 17th.

Ginza.se has recently revealed the covers of the first two album sets (Marie & Per) and tracklisting for both. Looking at the price it is very likely that these albums will be released in cardboard sleeves with no booklet inside. There are no bonus tracks either.

Read more

Brazilian Q&A with Per Gessle: Who knows, we might pop up in South America again

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In March 2011, the RoxetteBrasil.net website asked Brazilian Roxette fans what they would like to know about the band if they could ask. Among all the questions, we chose the best ones and here they are:

ROXETTE BRASIL: First of all, thank you so much for being in Brazil again! You have made a lot of our dreams come true. How does it feel to be in Brazil after 12 years? What are your best memories of our country? What do you think about the Brazilian fans?

We certainly love to play Brazil. South America has always had a special place in our hearts. Very generous, warm and loud people. We like that!

RXBRA: November 3, 2010 was a special day for us fans, because it was the day you announced the world tour. In that morning Brazilians put Roxette in the 3rd place on the Brazilian Twitter trending topics. This, plus the worldwide excitement, made Roxette the 9th most typed word in the world that unforgettable morning. Per, you are very active in Twitter: were you surprised regarding this fact?

I was. And still am. I’m not that super active on Twitter anymore. I spend more time on Facebook (Roxette Official) these days. But I’m very proud that so many people in Brazil are waving the Rox flag very high!!!

RXBRA: Per, after all these years, what still drives you to write fantastic songs?

Thanx. I do my best. I love my work. I have great people around me who takes the time to understand my ambitions and ideas. Without them I’m sure most of my songs would sound terrible!

RXBRA: You are singing and playing some songs for many years, so when you play them, do you really feel your music as before, as the 1st time (words, melodies, emotions)? I mean do you get moved or it is something little mechanic now? Which song do you get easily moved by when you play?

Songs like “It must have been lunch” or “Listen to your heart” are almost impossible to rehearse these days. But as soon as you have the crowd in front of you, you’re filled with lots of energy and emotions. I love playing all those old songs over and over again. They seem to mean so much for people all over the world. It’s the greatest reward you can get as a writer.

RXBRA: Talking about writing, you wrote 1995 hit “You don’t understand me” in collaboration with Desmond Child. How did this happen? A lot of fans want to know if you are interested in working (writing/singing) with other famous faces. And if so, who would it be?

Desmond and I started working when he was in Sweden doing something else. The songs we wrote were not intended for Rox but Marie fell in love with You don’t understand me the first time she heard it. She wanted to sing on the demo! And it suddenly became a Roxette song. No, I’m not really that interested in writing with other people. Never was actually. But maybe I should try???

RXBRA: You said once in a former Official Roxette Fanclub interview from 1994 that there was a big lack in your life (talking about Sleeping in my car song.) So, did you already make love in the back seat of your car?

Ayayay. No secrets revealed (anymore!). Sorry.

RXBRA: Now, talking about Charm School, Brazilians agree with Clarence when he said it was one of the best Roxette albums. How many songs did you record in the process? Any chance we get to know one or two non-used songs as the next b-sides? Which is your favorite track and Marie s?

There are three, maybe four more around. Don’t know if we’re gonna use them. Marie’s fave track is “No one makes it on her own”. Mine is “I’m glad you called”. And “Way Out” because it’s hard to write songs like that at my age!!

RXBRA: After 10 years, you are back on tour with Roxette. What do you think about so many young people in your concerts? It must feel good to know your music survived all these years, right? Many young Brazilians were on diapers when you sang ‘Hello, you fool, I love you’ for the first time and now they are here singing with you.

Yea, it feels fab!!! It’s like that all over the world. I guess the music we’re making is quite timeless. We were never interested in trends that pass after a few months. We’re very old fashioned in that sense. Maybe it pays off?

RXBRA: Roxette fans always talk about the fact the band doesn’t have a proper live concert registered on DVD. Are there any chances to have a DVD from this tour? Is there any chance of some old concert to be released as well? And also, we are looking forward to seeing you on Blu-Ray!!!

Yea, we’re working on this!!!! Stay tuned!

RXBRA: At Crash! Boom! Bang! documentary, in spite of it was in Swedish and we hardly understood it, you said that you talked to your bottles of wine. (Scene from Per in his wine cellar). Do you still talk with them?

Talking to them? What a great idea! Forgot about that!

RXBRA: Now, what can you tell us about the band’s future? We know the tour might expand till the next year but, after this, things still are up to Marie or now you are back for good? Do you intend to comeback to close the Tour in South America?

It looks like the tour will expand well into 2012. Who knows, we might pop up in South America again before long. We’d love that! No promises, though! Cheers, P.

Roxette Brasil Team: Thank you Per for your kind attention with us and with all Brazilian fans! We hardly can’t wait for that! We bet all fans from South America will sold out the stages once again to see you! So, we hope to see you very soon again!

Big thanks to Danyela Etchart of RoxetteBrasil.net for sending us this interview.