Tour

Last night – seeing the weather forecast days before – we thought it would be raining like hell during the concert, but fortunately, the weather changed in the afternoon and it was rather sunny in the evening. It got a bit chilli, but nice during the gig. It was very lovely from Hotel Tylösand that they put ponchos in the picnic bags, just in case. Thanks for caring!

Micke Syd and Anders Herrlin were around the hotel before the concert, so we expected to maybe have a guest appearance by them on stage. But it didn’t happen. Anyway, very cool that they were checking out PG unplugged.

The crowd was happy to welcome Per & Co. on stage at 20:45. The band was in great form and sounded fab! The audience was rather a clap-along than a sing-along crowd this time. But their clapping was loud!

Before playing Småstadsprat, Per said what’s written on his prompter: to set Capo 2 on the guitar. This time Micke N-S also wrote „Are you doing everything that I write here?” on the prompter. Per read it first and started laughing, then he read it out loud, turned towards Micke and said „Yes, I do!” Everyone laughed.

When Per started counting in for the start of Det hjärta som brinner, Chris maybe started to play too early, so they stopped and Per wanted to start counting again, but then he realized maybe it should be Chris, so he told Christoffer he should start counting, for God’s sake. Haha. I would say it was in the Top3 best songs last night.

Tuffa tider was cool too, here we could hear the crowd singing along. Before PG started to play the ukulele, he stated it’s the world’s weirdest instrument.

It Must Have Been Love always gets a loud positive reaction from the crowd, but last night it got an even longer applause than usual. Sounded beautiful, of course.

Ömhet and Sommartider were outstanding this time too.

When the guys and girl went off stage after the first encore, Christoffer put his hat on Per’s head, then PG put it on Helena’s mic stand.

When the gang came back for the second encore, Per sat down and took his 2 rings off one by one and wiped his fingers. Was it too much disinfectant gel on the hands? Haha.

Before the last song in the second encore Per asked the crowd if we want more. Of course he got a loud yes and he said it’s „lillördag (little Saturday) after all, so what do you think about Om du bara vill?” And so the concert ended with ODBV again.

The setlist was the same as at gig #4 and #6. So maybe Per thinks it’s the perfect setlist and they keep it as it is from now on?

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Tycker om när du tar på mej
6. Det hjärta som brinner
7. Tuffa tider
8. Juni, juli, augusti
9. Pappa
10. It Must Have Been Love
11. Ömhet

Band introduction

12. Här kommer alla känslorna
13. Min hälsning

Encore 1
14. Vandrar i ett sommarregn
15. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
16. Sommartider
17. När alla vännerna gått hem

Encore 2
18. Vid hennes sida
19. Honung och guld
20. Om du bara vill

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per after the concert:

Amazing gig #7 last night at #hoteltylosand. Super crowd + tight band + no rain! Who can ask for more? Number 8 tonight, folks!

My plan was to skip the middle 2 concerts, but fate had other plans, so yesterday I suddenly found myself in Halmstad again.

Before the show, Anders Roos put even more cameras on and off stage. Will be exciting to see the results. Åsa and BoJo checked the stage set and BoJo had his intro speech again. He was funny when he told it’s getting darker, so people who would have picnic on the grass part of Solgården should go to the middle of that area when they want to come down, because there are stairs with lights and after some drinks it’s easier to find the way down there. Haha.

Surprisingly, the concert started at 20:45. All of a sudden, the whole band appeared on stage, not waiting for the audience to get impatient. Everyone was in great mood, smiling, having fun while performing.

At the very beginning of the gig, something happened to Magnus’ setlist – either it was not updated or it got torn, he tried to move it away with his foot and later Micke N-S brought him a new one.

Before playing Småstadsprat, Per said it’s written on his prompter to set Capo 2 on the guitar. He added that it’s a low budget tour, so he has to do the job himself. Magnus said it’s not even a real tour. Everyone laughed.

Det hjärta som brinner sounded so good that Per said it was nice, best so far. Actually, the crowd was also very active from the beginning, singing along not only to Sommartider, so Per told it’s the 6th gig at Hotel Tylösand and it feels to be the best so far. I can only agree with him!

When Per got the ukulele from Micke N-S, first he had to sort out the cable and then talked about how cool it is to play the ukulele in a sold-out Ullevi. Then added it’s not bad to play at Solgården either. Tuffa tider sounded fab with the very loud audience.

Juni, juli, augusti also became a lovely sing along song and the reaction to the possibility of the concert ending with Min hälsning was the longest „neeeej!”-s and loudest „boo!”-s so far.

Mr. G wiped his nose with a tissue more often, so at one point he just said it’s pollen season.

Vandrar i ett sommarregn became the first song in the first encore and in the second encore now Honung och guld was the second song. This way the concert had the same order of songs as the 4th gig.

The crowd was really amazing! Clapping, singing along, shouting, cheering! All you need at a real concert – besides an awesome band on stage, of course! We had it all last night!

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Tycker om när du tar på mej
6. Det hjärta som brinner
7. Tuffa tider
8. Juni, juli, augusti
9. Pappa
10. It Must Have Been Love
11. Ömhet

Band introduction

12. Här kommer alla känslorna
13. Min hälsning

Encore 1
14. Vandrar i ett sommarregn
15. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
16. Sommartider
17. När alla vännerna gått hem

Encore 2
18. Vid hennes sida
19. Honung och guld
20. Om du bara vill

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per about the gig:

Wow! What an evening we had last nite at Hotel Tylösand. Gig #6 and the best so far in my book. Relaxed band + a super crowd. Have to love that. Some days off now. And the sun is shining. Have a fab weekend y’all!

I had to skip last night’s gig unfortunately, so don’t expect a very detailed report, but I thought it’s nice to have the setlist saved at least.

It was almost 21:00 when the concert started and it lasted almost until 22:45. I hoped for Du kommer så nära (du blir alldeles suddig) to be added to the set, because Uno Svenningsson performed at Hotel Tylösand on 20th July. I thought he would stay and join PG & Co. on stage, but he rather enjoyed the show sitting in the audience.

There were 2 slight changes in the setlist vs. the previous gig: Jag skulle vilja tänka en underbar tanke was now the first song in the first encore, just like at the first 3 concerts and Vandrar i ett sommarregn went to the second encore as the second song. Honung och guld wasn’t played this time. Still 20 songs! Yay!

And we are already at halftime… 5 gigs done, 5 left!

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Tycker om när du tar på mej
6. Det hjärta som brinner
7. Tuffa tider
8. Juni, juli, augusti
9. Pappa
10. It Must Have Been Love
11. Ömhet

Band introduction

12. Här kommer alla känslorna
13. Min hälsning

Encore 1
14. Jag skulle vilja tänka en underbar tanke
15. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
16. Sommartider
17. När alla vännerna gått hem

Encore 2
18. Vid hennes sida
19. Vandrar i ett sommarregn
20. Om du bara vill

Thanx a lot for helping out with the setlist and pics, Nathalie Feiling!

Per after the show:

Amazing gig yesterday at Hotel Tylösand. Thanx everyone for joining in! See you tonight!!!

After we entered Solgården and we occupied our seats for Per Gessle’s 4th unplugged gig, Per suddenly appeared in front of us and left the stage area with BoJo through Leifs Lounge. Some hesitated to go after him, but you can’t leave your spots just like that. Haha.

I haven’t mentioned it before, but there is no PG mix tape for these shows. And you realize it immediately, when such songs as Daddy Cool are playing from the speakers before the gig.

Anders Roos was on spot and like at the first and second concerts, he took photos again.

The concert started almost at 21:00, but only after Åsa and BoJo checked the stage set, BoJo informed about what he had to inform the audience about and the crew placed the instruments and Mr. G’s ginger tea to their spots.

The band entered the stage with a huge smile on their faces and the crowd gave them a loud applause. Per greeted us and mentioned the great summer weather (it was actually even hotter than the day before) saying „it’s a bit too warm for us over 60”.

One must love two things about the setlist. It changes every time and it’s growing! Even if the changes are only slight ones, it’s still very cool to experience several songs in this arrangement. Hopefully, it stays like that for the rest of the shows.

Juni, juli, augusti stayed on the list from yesterday, as well as Pappa. It was wonderful to hear both songs again. Until the first encore nothing has changed.

Besides the lovely anecdotes to each song, there were some funny happenings, e.g. for Här kommer alla känslorna Per would have had to change guitars, but he wanted to start playing the one he had in his hands already. Micke N-S came up on stage to help with the change and then Per stated „ahaaa, I have to change guitars, of course. It’s not so usual that I do anything alone in my life.” Haha.

Another funny story is when Per said they thought to finish with Min hälsning and the audience burst out into a loud neeeej! (= noooo!), someone shouted „Billy!” Per reacted „Fattar du vad det handlar om?” Everyone laughed. The guy was not tired of shouting Billy later too, but unfortunately, it wasn’t played. Maybe it will turn up on the setlist sometime later?

Of course, the set couldn’t end with Min hälsning, the audience was shouting „en gång till! en gång till!” and clapping loudly, so the gang came back on stage and there came the first surprise in the setlist. Instead of Jag skulle vilja tänka en underbar tanke the first song in the first encore was Vandrar i ett somarregn. Per said they didn’t play this one before, just at the soundcheck before the concert. It was very nice. Last time we could hear this song live was on the GT40 tour in 2019.

Sommartider was again the best crowd pleaser and now during När alla vännerna gått hem many mobile phone lights were switched on. It looked lovely.

Even if the guys and girl said goobye, took a bow and went off stage, the concert didn’t end there. When they came back for the second encore, Per thanked for the crowd’s kindness and said it’s a magical evening and they are happy to play for us. Before Vid hennes sida he mentioned again that he hopes it was not the last, just the latest GT album for which he wrote this song. The crowd of course went loud after hearing these words.

The second encore consisted of 3 songs last night. Honung och guld found its way back to the setlist and is now the second song in the second encore. Before playing it, Per told the story when Marie and he were doing promos and TV stuff all around the world at the end of the 80’s and once when they were in the Netherlands, someone shouted from a balcony: „I love your record!” Mr. G realized it was Tom Petty and he replied: „We love your record too!” He said Tom Petty is one of the artists who influenced him the most. Honung och guld is a song which is quite Tom Petty-ish.

It gets darker during the evenings in Halmstad and why I mention it is because it would be nice to put some more lights on the band when they all take a bow in the front. With only the stage’s background lights they are much less visible.

Some of us bumped into Helena who left right after the concert and we could thank her for her wonderful performance. She was together with Ulrika Lorentzi, a friend of hers who she is also making music with and it turned out they were off to another concert. Busy life of a performer.

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Tycker om när du tar på mej
6. Det hjärta som brinner
7. Tuffa tider
8. Juni, juli, augusti
9. Pappa
10. It Must Have Been Love
11. Ömhet

Band introduction

12. Här kommer alla känslorna
13. Min hälsning

Encore 1
14. Vandrar i ett somarregn
15. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
16. Sommartider
17. När alla vännerna gått hem

Encore 2
18. Vid hennes sida
19. Honung och guld
20. Om du bara vill

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per after the show in Swedish and in English:

Wow! Fantastiskt gig igår igen på Hotel Tylösand. Svettigt… (man börjar sjunga konstiga saker vid 30+ grader!) men det blev verkligen en underbar kväll. Tack alla för positiv energi och att ni får oss alla att känna att vi tillhör samma familj. Vilken ofattbar resa det här har varit hittills. Ett koncept jag aldrig gjort förut och nu vill jag bara att det ska bli onsdag nästa vecka blixtsnabbt. Så vi kan fortsätta spela för er! Stay safe + sound, syns o hörs snart igen.

Wow! Amazing gig last nite at Hotel Tylosand. Hot + sweaty (you tend to sing funny stuff at 30+ C…) but it was a truly amazing evening. Swedish westcoast at its best. Thanks everyone + see y’all next Wednesday!

Per Gessle’s 3rd unplugged gig happened last night and it was a fabulous evening again.

Before the concert started at appr. 20:45, BoJo and Åsa did a last check on the stage set, switched on the bulbs – by the way, the big metal star in front of Per’s prompter also got some light bulbs and is looking even cooler –, the crew brought the instruments up to the stage, BoJo informed about safety and behaviour, as well as where to buy the merchandise.

The crowd was impatient to see the gang on stage, so they tried to motivate them with a loud applause and they succeeded. The band soon appeared on stage and Per greeted the audience (while he was still chewing on ginger(?), haha) on this fantastic evening, stating that summer has just exploded. (It was extremely hot and sunny during the whole day.) He asked the crowd to sing along if they know the lyrics and started off with Kung av sand.

The band performed a wonderful show. It didn’t lack a surprise in the setlist. Fortunately, Ömhet was kept in, but Honung och guld wasn’t played this time. Instead of HOG, another Gyllene Tider song entered the set: Juni, juli, augusti. Who would have thought that it sounds so amazing in an acoustic arrangement!

JJA wasn’t the only surprise though. Per told his father and grandfather were plumbers and maybe he should have become a plumber too, like everyone is Roy Orbison in the Orbison family. Mr. G told his father disappeared from this planet at the end of the 70’s and he wrote a song to him last year. For the first time ever, Per & Co. played Pappa live. We could hear this song in a similar arrangement in a YouTube video Per shared last year, but it felt awesome to hear it in REAL life. Sounded beautiful! Will Mamma join the setlist in the future? Would be amazing!

One of my favourite crowd reaction part at the shows is when Per tells they thought to finish with Min hälsning. The audience wasn’t too happy to hear the gang would end the concert so soon. Per’s reaction was: „We don’t know so many songs as you would think we know.” Someone from the crowd shouted he could play for 4 hours. PG said: „Of course, 4 hours. That’s what happens tonight.” And laughed.

Sommartider can never go wrong! The crowd was most active during this song, both regarding singing along and clapping. During both Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång and Tuffa tider Per invited the audience to sing along more than at the previous two gigs.

This time they were talking about Christoffer’s studio in Vallarum again, where Per spent 500 days in the past 19 years. Mr. G told there is no hotel near, so those who record there stay at Gubbens hus. He asked Chris to talk a bit about this place. Christoffer told the story when Per was to stay there for the first time. They cleaned the house carefully, but the first thing Per saw there was a mouse running through the house and asked „w.h.a.t. w.a.s. t.h.a.t.?!” Chris is proud of Per that he stayed all 500 days in that house after the incident. The audience applauded the hero. Haha.

After När alla vännerna gått hem, Per thanked everyone for coming and wished a wonderful summer. He told not to forget your sunscreens.

The second encore is now built in the setlist. It’s just great that it could stay like this. Before Vid hennes sida, Per said he wrote this song for Gyllene Tider’s latest, not last, he hopes, but latest album. The audience shouted with happiness. Om du bara vill was kept as the final song, closing the show.

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Tycker om när du tar på mej
6. Det hjärta som brinner
7. Tuffa tider
8. Juni, juli, augusti
9. Pappa
10. It Must Have Been Love
11. Ömhet

Band introduction

12. Här kommer alla känslorna
13. Min hälsning

Encore 1
14. Jag skulle vilja tänka en underbar tanke
15. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
16. Sommartider
17. När alla vännerna gått hem

Encore 2
18. Vid hennes sida
19. Om du bara vill

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per after the gig:

Oj, sommaren har verkligen kommit till västkusten. Skålhett på scenen igår men en helt underbar plats att vara på. Trust me! Tack alla för stor kärlek, vänskap och en hel del tårar. Ser fram emot nya hyss ikväll med stor glädje!