Filmstaden members were given the chance to see a preview of Sommartider, the movie that tells the almost true story of Gyllene Tider before its premiere on 17th July.
The film tells the absurd story behind the legendary Swedish band Gyllene Tider, which has become one of the biggest pop sensations of our time. Per is the ambitious outsider at high school in Halmstad who finds a community and friends for life through music with MP, Micke, Anders and Göran. Despite all setbacks, the band fights purposefully and in the early eighties has its big breakthrough with its effective choruses and passionate lyrics about life in a small town.
Filmstaden’s members gave Sommartider a rating of 4.3 out of 5 and 93% of everyone who saw it would recommend the film to a friend. The rating and comments below are taken from the evaluation of 1139 respondents who attended the Sommartider preview.
– An incredibly fun feel-good film with fantastic music!
– A piece of Swedish pop history told in a lovely and warm way with a twinkle in the eye. A genuine feel-good film!
– A film with humor, depth and everything in between, add that it is well acted. A pearl!
– So very warm and funny! Really caught the magic of playing together with others. Feeling inspired!
– A Swedish summer film that must be seen immediately, a fantastic biography film about the pop band Gyllene Tider and Per Gessle’s legacy.
– Inspiring! Like travelling back in time and becoming young again.
– Went there with mediocre expectations, went home with a fantastic feeling in my body. The film made both me and my 17-year-old son happy to the core!
– It was very good, can’t wait to see it again.
The movie premieres on 17th July at Filmstaden. Cinema tickets are released on 26th June. Buy your tickets HERE!
Stills are from Nordisk Film Sverige’s videos (PG, MS)
Never say never. In 2019, Gyllene Tider went on their farewell tour. BUT… already in the interviews on their live DVD the same year you could sense that it just couldn’t be over. If there is one thing the pandemic was good for, it’s that the guys changed their minds, especially Micke Syd, and decided to do yet another comeback. I think no one is against it. Haha. They can come back as many times as they want to.
For the sold-out premiere, the weather was amazing. The sun was shining all day and despite the forecast a day before, there was no rain at all.
The guys did a soundcheck in the afternoon, so we could hear a couple of songs and could be sure those would be on the setlist.
There were many fans waiting for the doors to open at 18:00. Fans from quite some countries besides Sweden: Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Poland, Spain, Hungary, the UK, Switzerland, etc. Once we got in, we could check out the merchandise. A lot of people started queueing for T-shirts and stuff.
The support act on this tour is Uno Svenningsson. Great choice! Swedes know him very well, he has songs they could sing and dance along to. One of the songs on his setlist was Bara få höra din röst, the one that he wrote together with Per. This time it wasn’t performed as a duet (with PG), Uno sang it alone.
After Uno and his band left the stage, their instruments were brought off stage as well and the crew finished preparing the set for GT. While Uno was performing, he had his own backdrop and when it was removed, we could see there was a huge LED wall in the background. What the LED wall had as a design turned out right at 21:15.
The whole show started with a cool intro, where the guys appeared as cartoon characters – what we could already see in an earlier teaser –, driving that car from the tour poster. They appeared on the screen one by one and while Göran was on, the band walked up on stage. Then it was Per’s character’s turn on the screen, but then the real Per also appeared on stage and so we couldn’t finish watching the little cartoon. It was probably planned like this, but I think it would be nice if we could watch it until the end and the band would come up on stage at that point.
Just like in 2019, Dea Norberg and Malin-My Wall joined the Golden Guys for the tour. When all seven of them were there in front of us, I had the thought in my mind that hey, these guys don’t look like they are not sixty anymore. They were all shining, full of energy and enthusiasm, happy to be on stage again. We need no more farewell tours! Haha.
Since it was an obvious show opener, I wasn’t too surprised that the first song they played was Gyllene Tider igen. I still think that this should have been their lead single from the album. An amazing hit that got us into GT uptempo mood immediately.
Per was wearing a very cool, white Hux Flux jacket, but already after the first song he took it off and gave it to Micke N-S. PG welcomed the audience at GT’s 8th summer tour and their 5th comeback tour. He said they are super happy to begin the tour on home turf in Halmstad and it’s nice to see so many people. Many well-known faces as well.
Juni, juli, augusti was the second on the setlist and it was followed by Det hjärta som brinner. Both songs sounded fab and the crowd loved them.
Per mentioned that they wanted to play a tribute to their favourite Dutch band. When they grew up, all music came from the US and England, but they found a band in the Netherlands. He asked which band it could be and he said someone was shouting Focus. Ekseption was another band. PG said he saw them at Folketspark in Halmstad in 1973. It wasn’t his cup of tea. Per told Anders that he knows he liked Golden Earring. Micke Syd once shocked the band by coming to the rehearsal with a George Baker Selection record. Micke Syd asked for cheering from behind the drums. Haha. The guys started singing „una paloma blanca”. Then Per said there is another band they all liked and it’s Shocking Blue. They had a mega hit called Venus. MP started to play a little Venus, Micke Syd joined in with the drums and Per was dancing a bit. Then he said there was another song, he translated it and it became the first track on their first LP. Skicka ett vykort,älskling.
Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig, a song from the new album was next. Amazing on the album and awesome to hear it live. Such a powerful song and performance!
Introducing the next song, Per said there was a time before Internet and Netflix, when there were only two TV channels. Everyone knew which song was coming. Flickorna på TV2 is still such a hit!
We had been wondering for which songs the checkered guitars would be used. Now it turned out. Chrissie, hur mår du? is a song that MP and Per wrote in their rehearsal studio in 1980.
The guys got back to the faster songs and they played Puls and En sten vid en sjö i en skog.
The black and blue checkered guitar was brought back for Per for Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång, which he wrote when he moved to Torsgatan in Halmstad. It was at the time when he was hanging out a lot with Marie and he showed this track to her too.
When we saw the ukulele, we knew it’s Tuffa tider’s turn. Micke Syd came to the front for that and Göran as well, to play the melodika a bit.
Per said the crowd is amazing. He picked up his ginger tea mug and said he is drinking some of this secret stuff. He said everyone is wondering what’s in the mug, he is wondering too. Haha.
Here came the band presentation. First Per introduced the ladies, Dea and Malin-My. He said they joined the rehearsals on the 5th day, when the boys already slept in. Then the girls brought everything to life again. PG introduced MP and Göran, then Anders and last, but not least, the band’s own Greta Thunberg, Micke Syd. Haha. Then Micke introduced Per and said that in a weak moment PG promised to swim 1000 meters in the pool if the first gig would be a good one. Haha.
Per got the black and red checkered guitar and Micke Syd asked the audience if it’s OK for him to spend 3 more minutes in the front. He got a lot of questions on social media if he would sing on tour. So they thought they go ahead with this 1981 song, Min tjej och jag. Dea and Malin-My came to the front to sing with Micke. Micke said he is so old he needs two girls. Haha. He dedicated this song to a couple who got engaged yesterday. When he finished the song he said he goes back to his seat. When Per came back to his mic, he said it’s hard to top Micke.
Kung av sand was next, so we could see Mr. G playing the harmonica again.
PG said a GT movie is coming, but in 1981 they already made a movie, Parkliv! He said it’s available on a satellite channel, because it’s so cheap. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta was released as a single to that film and Per wote it on the tour bus. They rehearsed it at some soundchecks and then released it.
Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly came right after and it didn’t get any slower when a medley of 3 songs came: (Kom så ska vi) Leva livet / (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän / Tylö Sun. It was a medley, but almost the complete songs were played and the transition from one song into the other was very fast.
Here they all went off stage and the audience started singing Sommartider. We were clapping and screaming. The band came back after a short while. Per changed his outfit to complete white and Anders got rid of his cool red jacket. The first song in the first encore was Billy. Then it got uptempo again with Det är över nu and Gå & fiska!
The guys and girls went off stage and Per was still carrying his guitar. Micke N-S rushed after him and PG gave him the guitar back.
Of course, they all came back for a second encore. Per said it’s an amazing night and thanked the audience. He said premieres are always special and this one is quite good. The audience cheered and agreed.
They played När vi två blir en and then Sommartider. Both songs sounded awesome!
Before playing the goodbye hit, Per thanked the audience once again and said it was an absolutely wonderful night. He added he hopes everyone will have a fantastic summer and that we see each other again soon. Haha. We were joking that tomorrow is quite soon. He also said if we read it somewhere that they quit, we shouldn’t trust the media. Haha.
Micke Syd came to the front again and sat down on the edge of the stage on the left side, while Dea came to the front and sat down on stage in front of Anders. They performed a touching version of När alla vännerna gått hem.
At the end of the show they all took a bow together and waved goodbye, then left the stage.
It was simply amazing to see them live again! It was a perfect night with a tight band full of energy. Everyone was in top shape already at the first show. It was a completely different feeling than in 2019. Maybe back then there was this stress on them by announcing it as the last tour. Now they don’t need to prove anything, just enjoy being on stage and see all the happy faces in the crowd. Everyone is happy and it will stay like this for this whole summer.
Next stop is Halmstad, a second show at Brottet.
Setlist
1. Gyllene Tider igen
2. Juni, juli, augusti
3. Det hjärta som brinner
4. Skicka ett vykort, älskling
5. Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig
6. Flickorna på TV2
7. Chrissie, hur mår du?
8. (Hon vill ha) Puls
9. En sten vid en sjö i en skog
10. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
11. Tuffa tider
Band presentation
12. Min tjej och jag
13. Kung av sand
14. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
15. Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly
16. (Kom så ska vi) Leva livet / (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän / Tylö Sun medley
Encore 1
17. Billy
18. Det är över nu
19. Gå & fiska!
Encore 2
20. När vi två blir en
21. Sommartider
22. När alla vännerna gått hem
All photos in the article by Patrícia Peres
PG after the show:
Yeehaa! What a night! Opening show of the mighty Hux Flux tour and, my God, this one blew our minds! Thanx a million for singing along and making this 7-piece combo feel so proud and totally speechless. Love + positive energy everywhere. New dice tomorrow. Hard to beat this one but we’ll have a go! Cheers, P&Co
As we already informed you about it, Per Gessle and Tommie Haglund wrote music together. Tommie Haglund represents classical music, he has composed chamber music, works for orchestra and for choir. For the song the guys cooperated on, Per has written the lyrics and Tommie has composed the music. The title is Making Something Out Of Nothing and it’s about getting older and looking back on your life and the choices you made.
The song will premiere at the Tommie Haglund Festival in April. The event will consist of 7 concerts (2 orchestra concerts, 5 chamber music concerts) and 3 panel discussions. The concerts are filled with music by Tommie Haglund together with music by composers who have influenced Tommie. Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra from Colombia performs the concerts together with Swedish and international soloists. The festival takes place between 22nd and 24th April 2022 in Halmstad and 28th April in Falkenberg.
Making Something Out Of Nothing premieres on 24th April at the concert Nordiskt ljus starting at 16:00 pm CET at Kulturhuset Najaden in Halmstad, but before that at 15:00 pm CET there will be a conversation between Per Gessle and Tommie Haglund who will discuss how music from different genres speaks to us and why music has an important role in our lives. The panel discussion will be led by Ella Petersson.
Making Something Out Of Nothing was recorded on 1st September 2021 with Emmi Christensson soprano (she will sing it live in April) and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Joachim Gustafsson (music director of Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra). The song will be released on vinyl with Emmi singing on side A and an instrumental version on side B. It’s out for the festival.
All info about tickets and the festival itself you will find HERE. Direct link to the event related to Per Gessle & Tommi Haglund’s discussion and the song premiere on Ticketmaster’s website is HERE.
Gyllene Tider started their GT40 farewell tour yesterday in Halmstad. Still hard to believe that this is their very last tour, but well… there are 18 more gigs to enjoy their playing live. If you don’t have a ticket for any of their shows yet, do yourself a favour and get one! Try to find a concert that is not sold out yet and go see them live!
Weather God in Halmstad seemed not to be on our side. It was raining all day, sometimes only showers, sometimes heavy rain. No sun at all. I was thinking of past gigs in the rain and as I remembered, all of them turned out fab, so there was nothing to be afraid of.
The guys had their soundcheck in the afternoon and we heard they were rehearsing Vandrar i ett sommarregn among other songs. How stylish. Haha. The gates opened at 6 pm and a few hundred people were let in. The rest of the audience arrived continuously a bit later. When we entered we could see the stage. It looked wonderful! The old Gyllene Tider logo above the stage (that appeared in different colours during the gig), GT40 written on the backdrop screens and on the side screens. From this, one could think the backdrop would show different designs during the night and yes, the whole projection was of premium quality and each song got its own backdrop. Beautiful!
The crew was constantly wiping off the stage, because even if there was a roof above it, the rain didn’t let it stay dry.
There were 2 support acts: Christof Jeppsson, a Halmstad troubadour who was on stage from 19:30 and then Chris Kläfford, known mostly from Swedish Idol. He entered the stage some minutes after 20:00. Both acts played for appr. 30 minutes.
We all couldn’t wait anymore for Gyllene Tider to come up on stage and guess what! It stopped raining 10 minutes before the show! But it’s Sweden and we thought it wouldn’t last until the end of the concert, so it came back after an hour, at Kung av sand. But no one really cared. The gig was so amazing! And sold out! Appr. 11000 people went to see GT on the first Halmstad night on this tour.
The intro was the theme song from Pink Panther. First we didn’t realize it would be the intro, but the guys suddenly appeared on stage and the crowd was cheering them loudly. Their stage clothes looked fab on them, I immediately saw that Per’s black nails are back too and hey, it wasn’t only the 5 guys performing this time, but 2 ladies joined them for doing backing vocals (and more): Malin-My Wall and Dea Norberg. We know them well from previous Roxette and Per Gessle tours. Everyone on stage looked excited and maybe a bit nervous. It was a premiere gig after all. But they shouldn’t have been worried about anything, all turned out to be fantastic!
Setlist
Skicka ett vykort, älskling
Juni, juli, augusti
Vanliga saker
Det hjärta som brinner
Vandrar i ett sommarregn
Flickorna på TV2
(Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän
Det kändes inte som maj
Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
Tuffa tider
BAND PRESENTATION
Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga!
Kung av sand
En sten vid en sjö i en skog
Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly
(Kom så ska vi) Leva livet
Tylö Sun
Encore 1
Skrot och korn
Det är över nu
Gå & fiska!
Encore 2
När vi två blir en
Sommartider
När alla vännerna gått hem
It was a good choice to start with uptempo songs. Per first talked to the crowd after Juni, juli, augusti. He greeted the crowd, welcomed us on GT’s 40th anniversary tour and said it ’s nice to see so many people here despite the wonderful Swedish weather. He mentioned they are happy to start the tour at home in Halmstad and the audience was happy about it too. He asked us to sing along and dance if we can, but it might be tight for that. Haha. Then came Vanliga saker from the new album and it sounded cool live too. Det hjärta som brinner was quite obvious that it would appear on the setlist being one of the guys’ favourites. Then it slowed down a bit with Vandrar i ett sommarregn which is from the album Puls and GT never played it live before. Before they played this song, Per was kidding Anders with his 80’s title, Sweden’s most good-looking guy. A story that never gets old.
Flickorna på TV2 is still on of Gyllene Tider’s biggest hit, no matter what year we are in and what the lyrics contain. It was great to hear the song live again. Per also said it’s still fun to play. Another hit (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän came after that, a real party song. Then the (for me) most GT-ish song from the new album, Det kändes inte som maj was played. Another uptempo gem that made the crowd clap along heavily.
Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång was introduced by Per as a song that is about dreaming and was curious if we recognized it. We did, of course! Sing along guaranteed! Dubi dubi dam da!
Per’s beautiful colorful ukulele was brought to the stage and he said when he was listening to Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple in his room when he was a kid, he never thought one day he would be performing on an ukulele in front of 11000 people. It was Tuffa tider’s turn and after Micke Syd changed is shoes, he also came to the front. Göran also came and played melodika in the front next to Micke Syd.
Per first introduced the new members of the band and greeted Dea and Malin-My. Then one after another introduced the guys in GT. Halmstad’s own boogie king, MP and the pride of Oskartsröm, Göran. Referring to Sweden’s most good-looking guy, Per said, you know who it is on bass, Anders Herrlin! Micke Syd was sitting in front of his drum set and stood up when Per introduced him, last but least. Haha. They high-fived each other and then Micke introduced Per as the best from Simlångsdalen, Per Håkan Gessle. Then Micke Syd said now it would be him standing in the limelight and Per sat in front of Micke’s drum set, still holding the ukulele in his hands. Micke Syd told we probably think he would sing Min tjej och jag, but he wouldn’t do that again. He said we all grew up and Per anyway wrote a new song for him. He asked the crowd to hold up their hands if they could sing along. Many held up their hands, Per did that too. Haha. Micke Syd switched on the pre-recorded drumming on this song, put on a shiny jacket and he stayed in the front to sing Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! Per was playing the ukulele during the song, the girls supported Micke too and it sounded cool! At the end of it Micke Syd sat next to Per and then Per jumped up and played the last chord on the ukulele in front of his mic and said it’s hard to top what Micke Syd did now.
Kung av sand brought the rain back, but it really didn’t matter. We enjoyed the concert regardless, hearing such a beautiful ballad. Then came 5 good old uptempo songs one after another, real party again. It wasn’t a medley, actually, to my surprise, there was no medley at all during the whole show. We got complete songs only, which is a plus! There was no pause between these 5 songs, only a guitar change before Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly.
After Tylö Sun, Per thanked the crowd and they all went off stage. But the concert didn’t end here of course. The crowd wanted them back and after a few minutes, giving the chance for Per to change clothes they came back and played their first encore of 3 songs, starting with Skrot och korn from the new album. Per thanked for the crowd for staying there despite the weather, he said we are fantastic. Skrot och korn was a cool addition to the setlist too. It was nice to hear a fourth song from the new album. Then 2 uptempo hits from the 90’s and they went off stage again.
Many of us wondered if the second encore would contain Billy or Puls and if the guys finish the set with Sommartider, but the last 3 songs started with När vi två blir en, another must-play-live GT hit. The guys and girls then performed Sommartider with crowd sing along, but it wasn’t the last song. They kept När alla vännerna gått hem to say goodbye to all. Before the last song the girls went off stage. Per told the crowd they are wonderful and thanked for coming. Micke Syd came to the front, only Göran stayed in the back, at his Farfisa. At the end of the show both Micke Syd and Per thanked the crowd again, Per told to take care of each other. The girls came back, Göran came to the front and they took a bow and waved goodbye. The girls went off again and the Golden Guys stayed there for some more time to take a bow again and off they went.
Gosh! It was such an amazing tour start! I liked everything about it. The setlist (maybe adding at least 1 song from DATPR would have been nice though), the stage, the stage clothes, the energy of these guys being almost or over 60, but still rocking big time, the addition of the girls who were partying throught the whole concert. Is it tonight yet??? Let’s see how the second Halmstad show will be. The sun is out, just saying! 😉
All pics in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.
Lägesrapport 5 juli 2019. Oj, klockan är redan 3 på eftermiddagen. Dags för nytt kaffe. Solen lyser! Det gjorde den minsann inte igår. Tack alla som pallade med höstrusket på Brottet i Halmstad och gjorde vår premiärspelning till en enda lång fanfar! Vilken underbar publik vi har!!!! Ofattbart bra!!! Svårjobbat rent tekniskt för oss såklart, många instrument stämde ur sig blixtsnabbt i fukten, golvet ute mot publiken var glashalt men vad gjorde det när man bara såg glada miner överallt. Nya tag ikväll. Vilken turne’ det här kommer att bli!!!! Love from the GT camp via P.
4 days ago Per Gessle’s most awaited solo tour started. The pre-premiere gig at Leif’s Lounge was a real good appetizer for what was about to come in July and August, so we couldn’t wait anymore to see and hear Mr. G and the band on a huge stage under the Swedish summer sky. The premiere gig was held at Sofiero Slott in Helsingborg. This place I remembered from 2013 when Gyllene Tider played there. Besides recalling images of 5 amazing golden guys on stage, I also remembered 2 other things: all the people were coming with picnic baskets and the sound was so weak back then that we could hear our voices better than Per’s and also the sound of the instruments was very low. So I was wondering how the show would be, if the sound could be better after 4 years and if the Swedes come to have a picnic again.
Hardcore fans arrived from several countries during the day: besides Sweden, there were fans from Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and maybe from even more countries. So the front row seemed to become very international to cheer PG on his big night. The security team was very helpful and nice, they seemed to understand our insanity of waiting for our favourite artist during all day.
While we were waiting for the gates to open at 6 pm, we could hear the soundcheck that started at appr. 4 pm. The stage was too far away to see clearly what was happening, but the sound was great outside. Gave us high hopes for it to be awesome at night too. What PG and the band rehearsed were På promenad genom stan, Vilket håll du än går, Det hjärta som brinner, Segla på ett moln which lead into Första pris, then Mahi Nana, woohoo Tittar på dej när du dansar,It Must Have Been Love, Honung och guld, Varmt igen, Tycker om när du tar på mej, then we could hear some drum tacts from Soul Deep, then came Småstadsprat, Dressed for Success and Min plats. The whole soundcheck lasted for about an hour. Åsa was there at the venue too and she came to greet us some minutes after 4 pm, during the soundcheck. She was as nice she is always with the fans.
The gates opened at 6 pm and just as we thought, after we got to our places in the front, no Swedes were coming closer to us. They all landed their baskets on the grass, far away from the stage and started having their picnic. Haha. Still such a funny thing. But good for us.
As I already shared some pictures on our Facebook page, there is of course new merchandise. You can buy T-shirts (6 different ones), a crew-neck sweater, a sailor bag, a lithography, a corkscrew, a set of 3 wine glasses in a nice case and a pack of cards. Hm. It might be hard to find out what to include in the merchandise and then you have to decide on the design too. Well, next time it would be worth asking the fans about it. Just saying. To those who plan to buy any of the above mentioned, it might be useful info for you that the wine glasses have tussilagos printed on them. Not engraved, printed. So you might not be able to wash them in a dishwasher. At least we wouldn’t try to. 3 glasses. 3? Could be 2 or 6. Interesting anyway. Another funny thing is the corkscrew and its design. To print ”Per Gessle” with silver on a silver coloured (plastic) surface wasn’t the best of ideas. OK, everyone can decide on what he / she is into and would buy from the merchandise. What we all miss are mugs and keyrings and T-shirts with the tour dates on the back. And more PG pics on the merch stuff, instead of signs. The tussilagos are fine though. And how about merch guitar picks? Besides all what I listed above you can also buy the standard ”En vacker natt” vinyl and the CD, as well as the Mazarin LP at the merch stand.
After checking the merchandise, we got back to our places. While standing there waiting for the support acts, we saw photographer Anders Roos on stage. We talked to him shortly and it turned out he would be at several shows to take photos. So let’s hope there will be a nice photo book of this tour too.
Good Harvest was the first support act to perform. The 2 girls, Hanna Enlöf and Ylva Eriksson got on stage at 19:30 and played for about 25 minutes. They sound beautiful together and their guitar playing is also wonderful. Their songs and covers are really unique.
After Good Harvest, the stage was set for Strandels, Tova and Sixten Strandell (sister and brother) and a young guitarist and drummer. They performed both own songs and covers too, starting at 20:10, playing for about 25 minutes. They got the crowd into a bit more party mood.
Before, after and between the support acts PG’s mix tape was on. The good old crew, the technicians were busy with setting up the stage, having everything ready for THE show. Some minutes (maybe 3-4) after 21:00, the band and Per appeared on stage.
Here comes the setlist and then I go into details:
1. Min plats
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Vilket håll du än går
4. Juni, juli, augusti
5. Det hjärta som brinner
6. Segla på ett moln / Första pris
7. Tittar på dej när du dansar
8. It Must Have Been Love
9. Honung och guld
10. Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång) / Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
11. Kung av sand
12. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
13. Spegelboll
14. Gå & fiska!
Band presentation
15. The Look (with När vi två blir en as intro)
Encore:
16. Varmt igen (with Queen of Rain as intro)
17. Tycker om när du tar på mej
18. Dressed for Success
19. Joyride
Encore 2:
20. Sommartider
21. Småstadsprat
As Min plats was the opener at Leif’s Lounge, we expected it to be the first song on tour too. You could sense Per was so nervous (during the first 3 songs maybe), his facial expressions showed it and his moves too. He messed up the first verse in Min plats and he had to check the screen in front of him several times to make sure he sings the correct lyrics. It was probably not visible to all in the crowd and mostly hardcore fans realized it only anyway. Mr. G was so cute in this situation. I think the crowd’s reaction during and after the songs encouraged him to think all was going fine and he let his nerves ease. Really after 3 songs there was no sign of being nervous at all.
Before the next song, Per said ”I thought to play songs from my whole, ridiculously long career. I’ve been writing songs since more than 40 years now…, which is a little odd, because I’m only 33.” Then they went on with the 2nd song. You can’t go wrong with På promenad genom stan. The crowd loved it and was singing along loudly. Sha la la… he-he-hej!
Vilket håll du än går was a nice addition to the setlist, it wasn’t played at Leif’s Lounge. Why I liked it so much is because I love when Per plays the harmonica. When the crew was setting up the stage, we could already see there were harmonicas attached to Per’s mic stand. I couldn’t wait for him using them. The song sounded cool live, with Malin on the violin and all.
Before Juni, juli, augusti, Per talked a bit to the crowd and said he hoped they had nothing against a little Gyllene Tider. Oh, we had nothing against it, of course. Party time! Just like with the next song, Det hjärta som brinner. On this one, Ola came to the front with his guitar and was rocking it hard. Also had a funny interaction with Mr. G.
Then it was time to calm down a bit. Helena and Malin started singing Segla på ett moln while Per was changing his guitars next to Micke N-S. Before Per got back to the stage he was singing along (without a mic). This intro lead into Första pris. Malin’s viloin playing here was heavenly too and Helena’s singing as well.
After Första pris Per talked to the audience again and talked about Nashville, that they recorded the song there and it was an amazing experience for them. He said he gives a holiday idea, go to Nashville. He mentioned they also recorded the next song there. And yeeeeaaah, Tittar på dej när du dansar came as next on the setlist. We really wanted to hear this song live and it didn’t disappoint. Sounds fab live too! Mahi Nana! The boogie didn’t catch the standard crowd’s feet, but we hope they will be more into it during the rest of the tour. Maybe a physical release of this single would help. 😉 Haha. The song got a big applause anyway. By the way, Malin plays both the violin and the mandolin on this one. So talented and sweet!
After the song Per talked to the crowd again. He said back in the days one learned English via pop music, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Small Faces, Pink Floyd, oh well, Pink Floyd not really. He said he thought to play one of the first songs he wrote for Roxette. And it was It Must Have Been Love. Oh well… I think we (I mean the hardcore fans in the front) were not really prepared to hear this song. It is so much Marie and we are so not over the fact that Roxette is not touring anymore (and maybe not even recording anymore) that it hurt very much hearing this actual Roxette song live – without Marie. So even if we sang along and the rest of the crowd enjoyed it, we had mixed feelings and we could easily live without this song in the setlist. Really. At the same time, it’s a big song in Per’s career, a US No. 1 and a huge hit all over the world, we know it. And seeing and hearing the standard crowd’s reaction, it will surely stay in the set. But still. It hurts.
After IMHBL came another song that was new on the setlist vs. what was played at Leif’s Lounge. It’s from Gyllene Tider’s third album, Puls and Per asked the audience if they remembered that album. The crowd’s reaction showed they remembered. He said he thought he would play a song they had never played live before, so asked the crowd to keep their fingers crossed. Honung och guld was the song.
After sipping a little from his ginger tea, Mr. G and the band went on with Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång) / Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång. The same way it was played at Leif’s, however, there these two songs were the last on the setlist. The crowd loved it very much and we enjoyed a loud sing along. Doobie doobie dum doh!
Then came another harmonica song, woohoo! Kung av sand! What a lovely song it still is!
After KAS it was time to party hard again. The crowd went crazy when they realized which song was next. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta! Helena and Malin go wild on this one, jumping like hell. This song is a real highlight and how Spegelboll comes after LAEAH is awesome! You can’t stop dancing, jumping, clapping, singing along and shouting. Not even during the next song, because it’s Gå & fiska! and you just hope the party never ends. The stage is now much bigger than it was at Leif’s and so all the musicians can go from one side to another, Magnus and the girls from right to left, Chris and Ola from left to right and Per can also run around easily. However, every now and then they still bump into each other. 6 people moving around can be tricky sometimes. Haha. But it’s so cool!
After Gå & fiska! Per introduced the band and he started it with telling that he found them on a dating site. First he introduced Helena (vocals), one his favourite singers, then Malin (violin and mandolin), who was born in Umeå, but grown up in Hong Kong, then Clarence (keyboards), an old acquaintance of Per’s wife, then Magnus (vocals, bass, dance and a little blue machine), Stockholm’s, Malmö’s, Sweden’s biggest sex machine. Per asked Magnus how he felt. Magnus said he was fine, it was a very special day. Besides having their premiere gig, it was 60 years ago when John met Paul. Magnus told the crowd if they know who John and Paul are, they get Dumle (Swedish sweet). Then Per introduced Ola (guitar and pedal steel), Andreas (drums) and ”last but least”, Professor Christoffer von Lundquist (guitar). All in the band got huge applause and shout outs from the crowd.
Then Chris played När vi två blir en as intro to The Look in his crazy style. The party mood was guaranteed again and it was yet another highlight in the set. All the guys on stage going psychedelic and the crowd singing along the nananananas. Then the band left the stage and the crowd was clapping and shouting to get them back.
The first encore was different to that in Leif’s Lounge. First all band members came back on stage and Chris started playing Queen of Rain (which I must admit I haven’t recognized until Per mentioned it, I was probably distracted by so many other things on stage, haha) and it lead into Varmt igen for which Per appeared on stage in WHITE clothes. Oh my God! How long I had to wait for this moment! You might find it stupid and I don’t really know what we, most of the fans (OK, probably most of the Gessle Girls) like so much about Per in white, but that’s a fact: we adore him in white clothes. Well, clothes don’t make the man, we love him anyway, you know that. 😉 Varmt igen sounded incredibly wonderful, it was a pure delight to hear this song live. Both Per and Helena sing beautifully.
And they go on sounding wonderful on Tycker om när du tar på mej which came next in the setlist. Per’s moves and facial expressions during this song are priceless. This song definitely means much to him. And when he goes next to Chris and they play the guitars together is so lovely too.
After 2 slow songs it was time to p-a-r-t-y and bring a little Roxette sound. Dressed for Success was next and the audience was singing along heavily to this one too. Also to Joyride which came after DFS. Everyone was a real Joyrider on and off stage. Per and Chris played their guitars back to back each other at some point. It was much fun! And time flies when you’re having fun, they all went off stage again.
The crowd was loud and wanted them back again. Of course, they came back after some minutes. First Andreas sat behind the drums and aaaaaah, he started playing Sommartider. One must love how he is drumming. A real pleasure to watch and hear him playing. Fun guy! Hej hej! The crowd went crazy for Sommartider and it became a heavy sing along again. Only this time we realized why BoJo was checking the camera (as a cameraman) before the show, because he came to the front and started filming the crowd. The pictures went on to the screens on the stage. It looked cool. And BoJo seems to be not only the nicest bodyguard and tour manager on Earth, but also a talented cameraman. Haha.
I would say Sommartider would be a PERfect ending to the concerts, but for some reason the ending song became Småstadsprat. Before they could start playing it, the crowd started shouting oj-oj-oj-oj-oj and clapping and it lasted long. Per appreciated it, thanked and sent kisses and he also applauded the audience. If it were not the blue lights on stage we might have had seen him blushing. He was so sweet! Småstadsprat sounded beautiful at the premiere show too and with it the show ended. Per thanked for the audience, told them they were absolutely wonderful, thanked them for coming and wished a wonderful summer.
We couldn’t believe the concert ended, it had just begun! And we would have been ready to relive it again (and again and again) right then. It was really en vacker kväll. More than that! A most fantastic night! Great start of the tour both for the band and for the audience (8385 people).
Åsa filmed a lot during the whole show and 3 videos Per already shared on his YouTube channel (1; 2; 3). We hope there is more to be uploaded.
Yeehaa! Tack alla ni nästan 8 1/2 tusen som kom till Sofiero ikväll. Vilken resa ni gav oss. Premiärnerver till trots…. en fantastisk afton.
End of the concert, goodbye! From left to right: Christoffer Lundquist, Andreas Dahlbäck, Ola Gustafsson, Per Gessle, Helena Josefsson, Malin-My Wall, Magnus Börjeson, Clarence Öfwerman
Micke N-S tuning the violin BoJo, the cameraman
All photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.
Aftonbladet Sydsvenskan Expressen (funny, we saw Anders Nunstedt sitting there at Sofiero and writing his review right after the show /and probably during the show he was working on it too/) Rockfoto
hd.se (for subscribers only): 1; 2; Dagens Nyheter
Before the next song, Per said ”I thought to play songs from my whole, ridiculously long career. I’ve been writing songs since more than 40 years now…, which is a little odd, because I’m only 33.” Then they went on with the 2nd song. You can’t go wrong with På promenad genom stan. The crowd loved it and was singing along loudly. Sha la la… he-he-hej!
Then came another harmonica song, woohoo! Kung av sand! What a lovely song it still is!
The first encore was different to that in Leif’s Lounge. First all band members came back on stage and Chris started playing Queen of Rain (which I must admit I haven’t recognized until Per mentioned it, I was probably distracted by so many other things on stage, haha) and it lead into Varmt igen for which Per appeared on stage in WHITE clothes. Oh my God! How long I had to wait for this moment! You might find it stupid and I don’t really know what we, most of the fans (OK, probably most of the Gessle Girls) like so much about Per in white, but that’s a fact: we adore him in white clothes. Well, clothes don’t make the man, we love him anyway, you know that. 😉 Varmt igen sounded incredibly wonderful, it was a pure delight to hear this song live. Both Per and Helena sing beautifully.
The crowd was loud and wanted them back again. Of course, they came back after some minutes. First Andreas sat behind the drums and aaaaaah, he started playing Sommartider. One must love how he is drumming. A real pleasure to watch and hear him playing. Fun guy! Hej hej! The crowd went crazy for Sommartider and it became a heavy sing along again. Only this time we realized why BoJo was checking the camera (as a cameraman) before the show, because he came to the front and started filming the crowd. The pictures went on to the screens on the stage. It looked cool. And BoJo seems to be not only the nicest bodyguard and tour manager on Earth, but also a talented cameraman. Haha.
