Jan-Owe Wikström did an interview with Per Gessle for Hallandsposten almost ten years after Roxette’s last concert in Halmstad. Per brings the Roxette band for two gigs at Brottet.
Then it was with Marie Fredriksson, now he performs with Lena Philipsson.
Lena has grown into the role in a fantastic way. Marie can never be replaced, but Lena really does it in her own way so we are not a cover band. In addition, Jonas (Isacsson) is back, who is very much Roxette’s guitar sound.
15,000 people saw the concert on July 22, 2015 at Örjans Vall, which would be Marie’s last with Roxette at home when the following year she was forced to step down due to health reasons and then tragically died on December 9, 2019 from the consequences of her illness.
To keep Roxette’s song collection alive, including four US number-ones, Per went on tour in 2018 under the name Per Gessle’s Roxette. But it was in connection with the recording of the duet album Sällskapssjuk that he realized that Lena Philipsson was the right person to take the place next to him on stage.
Since then, Roxette has had two concerts in South Africa, nine in Australia and ten in Europe before the tour reaches Sweden; Gothenburg on July 23 and 25, and Halmstad on July 26 and 27.
Out in Europe, Lena is a completely unknown name, but the fans have received her in a fantastic way. But here at home, Lena is a big name in her own right, so it will be very exciting to see her meet her home audience.
I mean, there’s a big difference between her today and the first gig in Cape Town, and that’s how it should be. Because it’s on stage that you grow together as a band and learn how everyone behaves, what roles they take. You can never work that into rehearsals, and it’s the same with the social side – that it works there too.
Then we have deliberately included some songs that Marie never sang live. “What’s She Like?”, which is very strong in the musical, is one that Roxette never played live before. Likewise “Vulnerable” – mostly because I thought it was boring to sing, but the audience loves it, hahaha.
During the journey, he has also received confirmation of how strong Roxette is as a band with sold-out concerts in most places.
Yes, we are reaching a new audience, which is fantastic. In January 2024 we had 10.4 million unique listeners a month on Spotify, now we have 17.8 million, which is almost a doubling with 70 million listens every month.
To Jan-Owe’s question what he thinks the reason behind is, Per replies:
On the one hand, it’s a treasure trove of songs that shouldn’t really be possible to fail with. On the other hand, we represent a kind of music that is becoming increasingly rare, because pop music is no longer made in the same way, with a bridge before the chorus or a key rise. And that benefits people like me – especially with the song catalogue that we can build on.
I saw a documentary about Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys who recently passed away. It would have been impossible for him to have a hit today, when most things are artificial and programmed with many songwriters for each song. And it will get worse with AI.
When Roxette reaches Sweden, it will be standard concerts, while in Europe it has been about festivals where Roxette has in many cases been the headliner.
It’s different to play at festivals. Partly because it’s a shorter set, and partly because the audience is there for many different artists, unlike when it’s pure Roxette concerts where everyone has come for us. So if you play a lesser-known song, some people go and buy beer.
Initially, the second Halmstad gig was the end of the tour, but it is already clear that there will be a continuation in the autumn with gigs in Linköping and Stockholm in Sweden, among other places in Europe.
Yes, for each gig, five new offers appear, so the schedule will be filled afterwards. Because if you want, this is just the beginning of the continuation…
Pics by Åsa Gessle
