Tour

Per Gessle’s Roxette – Prague, Czech Republic – 7th October 2018 – #1

by

Another year, another tour! The Per Gessle’s Roxette tour premiered last night in Prague, Czech Republic. Being it the first show, Mr. G & Co. did a longer soundcheck. They started at appr. 4 pm and it lasted for about 1.5 hours. We could hear the gang playing Spending My Time, Listen To Your Heart, The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye, Fading Like A Flower, Opportunity Nox and The Big L. and since the doors were closed, we sometimes could just hear noises we couldn’t recognize. Haha. It was a nice teaser for the gig anyway.

The gates opened a bit after 6 pm. The first thing we could check was the merchandise. I already shared some pictures on our Facebook page, so you could see there are T-shirts mostly, also ones that include the dates. The correct dates and places this time, woohoo! There is a gym bag which is new, Small Town Talk CD and the rest we know from past tours (RoXXXette power bank, PG’s tour photo book from last year, Roxette’s 30 Biggest Hits CD, The RoxBox CD, PG cards from the tour last year).

The security guys told us 900-1000 tickets were sold as far as they knew. It was a cozy place and it was very hot inside. There was a support act, Robin Mood and before and after him we could of course listen to Per’s mix tape, which didn’t change much vs. the last one. Great songs to get into the mood. When the setting up for PG & Co started, I could have a glimpse of the setlist while the technicians put it to each band member’s spot. Running through it I was happy with all the songs and even the length of the setlist, however, I missed 2 songs badly: Vulnerable and Name You Beautiful. I hope they pop up later on this tour.

The show started at appr. 21:00. The setlist was as follows:

1. The Look
2. Milk And Toast And Honey
3. The Finest Prize
4. Crash! Boom! Bang!
5. Dressed For Success
6. She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
7. Spending My Time
8. I’m Glad You Called
9. Small Town Talk
10. I Have A Party In My Head
11. It Must Have Been Love
12. Opportunity Nox
13. The Big L.
14. Fading Like A Flower
15. Silver Blue
Band presentation
16. How Do You Do! (in a medley with No. 17)
17. Dangerous

Encore
18. Queen Of Rain
19. Doesn’t Make Sense

Encore 2
20. Joyride
21. Listen To Your Heart
22. The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye

 

The Look: After seeing the opening song, I was quite surprised. It’s not the obvious choice of starting the shows with, but it’s definitely a great direction. Start with a huge uptempo hit and grab the audience already at the very beginning. It worked totally fine! I decided to go live on our Facebook page with the tour opening, but I couldn’t keep my camera steady after a while, I got too much into the mood, so stopped filming in the middle of the song. I realized it only after the live stuff started that Facebook changed some settings, so landscape doesn’t work for live videos. Sorry for that. Haha.

After the first song, Per talked a bit to the audience, mentioning it was the opening gig on their European tour and that he likes Prague, because it’s a beautiful city. He also recognized some familiar faces. He also mentioned he’s been writing songs for more than 40 years, which is crazy. He said most of the songs he wrote for Roxette and during the night they dig very deep into the Roxette box of songs, but he also sneaked in a couple of his solo songs.

Milk And Toast And Honey: One song Per mentioned during the interviews lately, that it’s among his choices, because he loves it and they never played it live before (which is not true, we all know, but well… time flies). It sounded great in this arrangement and it was nice to hear Per singing in it. He said after the song that it felt good.

The Finest Prize: Last year we could hear the Swedish version of this song live, Första pris and somehow it felt obvious they would include the English version on the setlist. Love it, no matter in which language, and it sounds fab live!

Crash! Boom! Bang!: After TFP Per talked to the audience again and told about their journey to Capri in 1993 to record CBB. He said there were very expensive pizzas and a very drunk producer, haha, he said he is just kidding, it was the drummer. Per started singing it, then Helena sang the other half of the song. Sounded beautiful! Only one person shouted ”Marie!” during the song, but that was the only one occasion during the whole show.

Dressed For Success: Speeding up a bit, Per asked to tighten our shoelaces. And we needed it! Great party song and the clapping coreography still works.

She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio): To go on in party mood, PG’s left leg stomping at its best and swaying his hips during the whole song. This song is still great both on the radio and live! After playing it, Per asked the crowd if we were having a good time and we shouted yeees! He said he trusts us. Haha.

Spending My Time: Before they started performing it, Per said it’s a very special song for him, he wrote it on the same day as Joyride. It turned out to be one of the songs Helena was singing alone. Which was a bit strange, we expected it being divided half-half between Per and her. It’s also a very special song to fans, a real Marie-song, so probably this could have been the hardest part of the show for Marie hardcores, but the arrangement was so different vs. how Marie sings the song that it makes no sense to compare. It became a totally different song and Helena sang it beautifully. She got a huge applause from the audience and she was so happy about it. Once you would think the song was over, but they went on playing it after some seconds of pause. By the way, Helena is standing in the back with Malin-My and is singing into a mic on a stand, but when she sings in the front, she holds the mic in her hands.

I’m Glad You Called: This was probably the most hilarious part that we could eye-witness during the show. Everyone has to see it live! Per acting! Haha. Singing a duet with Helena, without the guitar in his hand, standing there (and walking away!) like a schoolboy. So lovely! For this song, Magnus, Clarence and Andreas went off stage and only Malin-My, Ola and Christoffer stayed there to play behind Per and Helena.

Small Town Talk: Per told the audience he went to Nashville to record his latest solo albums and now they would play the title track of the English album. Malin-My started with her wonderful violin-playing. So beautiful! Then PG went on with the first verse and I thought it would be Helena singing the rest, BUT: a huge surprise in this one! The part sung by Nick Lowe on the album is sung by Chris live. It was amazing! He has such a beautiful voice and together with Per this song sounded fabulous! We were all very happy that Christoffer got THIS moment during the concert (instead of playing a local song again 😉 ). The crowd loved it to the full and he got a huge applause, he got distracted, he said after the show when we congratulated him.

I Have A Party In My Head: LOL! Another hilarious moment! When the intro started to play, it sounded like Opus’s ”Live Is Life”, so Per sang: Na Na Nana Na. It was so cool! The crowd just laughed out loud. 🙂 Then came the flutes, the flutes! Of course, on this song. One could guess it during the rehearsals when Per posted a picture of Helena and Malin-My. Sounded great!

It Must Have Been Love: Per introduced the song as one he wrote during the soundcheck earlier yesterday. Haha. I would say it was in the very same arrangement as during Per’s tour last year and the crowd loved to sing-along.

Opportunity Nox: If you ask me, THE best part of the gig started here for 2 songs. We wished so much to hear OppNox live again and we got it! And it’s still rocking! Wonderful party song!

The Big L.: Party on! Malin-My came to the front next to Chris and rocked her violin.The whole song was superb, we were jumping so much!

Fading Like A Flower: Per said let’s stick to the ’90s a bit. The ’90s were great. He asked Magnus what he thinks and Magnus said he hardly remembers, he was very young. Per asked him about the girls, Magnus said they were great. Then Per joked and asked about the boys, haha, Magnus asked if there is something else Per wants to know. Then the song started. This was the only song that didn’t really work for me in this arrangement and it was another song sung only by Helena. She sang beautifully and all, but this song is living in its rocky version. Hard to beat.

Silver Blue: Per and Helena were singing it half-half. Sounded beautiful.

Band presentation: Per said he wants to introduce his amazing band whom he bribed to join him. Magnus said it wasn’t cheap. Haha. This time the introduction started with Christoffer, then came Ola, then Andreas (straight out of prison, haha). Then Per said that’s it. He was kidding and turned to the other side to introduce Clarence (the Mozart of Hammarby), then Magnus, then Malin-My (on violin and flutes and platform soles, haha) and ”last but not least, Helena Josefsson on lead guitar”. Haha. Per got used to introducing Chris as the last but not least, that he just added the lead guitar automatically. Helena’s reaction was she played air guitar. Haha. Per said it’s getting late for him. 🙂

How Do You Do!: One of those 3-chord songs again. The crowd went crazy and started clapping so hard. It was great to hear it live again!

Dangerous: How it was a medley during the Roxette tour, it was arranged the same way this time again, right after HDYD. After this song, the gang went off the stage. The crowd was shouting Gessle, Gessle and clapping and whistling too. It didn’t take much time until the band and Per came back on stage.

Queen Of Rain: The first song of the first encore, another song from the ’90s. Per said he wrote it for the Joyride album, but it didn’t make it, because they had too many ballads. They kept it for later and it became a single. The crowd was happy to hear it. Another song that was sung by Helena.

Doesn’t Make Sense: What a fab song this still is! It was wonderful to hear it live again! Chris went absolutely wild on this one, together with Andreas. The gang went off the stage again to come back for the 2nd encore 2 minutes later.

Joyride: Per came up on stage and he said they had a wonderful evening and hoped we did too. The first song of the 2nd encore was Joyride. There can’t be a show without it. And Per turning around and around and around with his guitar during this one is still a must. Haha.

Listen To Your Heart: It was in the same arrangement as last year, Helena singing it. She got a huge applause in the end.

The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye: Great closing song, awesome to hear it live! Nicely arranged version that gives the song another life. Loved it!

 

Regarding the stage set, on the background Per’s drawings were proyected and sometimes videos and also the Per Gessle’s Roxette tour background during the band presentation. So a bit of a mix, but I have to see another concert or even more 😉 to be able to pay more attention to the background as well.

The stage clothes are very nice and I like how they all fit each other. Now everyone is in the same style of clothes. I can’t identify with the platform boots of Malin-My and Helena though. Haha. And hey, there is no nail polish for Mr. G!

Åsa was there and filmed a lot, so the vids will surely pop up on Mr. G’s sites soon. One thing I can tell, the videos don’t give it all back. You can only judge how a concert is when you are there. I know many fans were skeptic about the whole thing and it’s mainly hard for Marie supporters to deal with this, but with all my love towards Marie, I have to say this concept worked. No one wanted to replace Marie, no one wanted to act or sing like Marie. The songs got another life, different arrangement, different style. And all sounded great. Even Per and the band were quite nervous in the beginning, you could see it, but with each song they got the confirmation that what they are doing is good and they enjoyed it to the full. So give it a chance and attend a show to be able to judge yourself. You can still get your tickets HERE.

 

Per about the premiere show:

THANX ALL YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO SHOWED UP AT THE PRAGUE SHOW. OPENING NITE = NERVOUS ARTIST + MUSICIANS. IS THE SHOW TOO LONG? TOO BORING? TOO MANY BALLADS? TOO MANY SINGALONGS?

YOU MADE US FEEL THAT WE HAVE A GREAT CONCEPT AND CONCERT IN THE CAN FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY OVER THE NEXT SIX WEEKS OR SO. THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK AND FOR BEING THERE!

WE CERTAINLY HAD A BLAST . EXTRA SPECIAL THANX FROM ME TO MY OUTSTANDING BAND WHO MAKES MY MUSIC SOUND INTELLIGENT AND SPECIAL AND PROBABLY BETTER THAN IT ACTUALLY IS.

SEE Y’ALL IN LEIPZIG!

P.

All pics in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

More photos:
Musicserver.cz
iDNES.cz
ireport.cz

Videos:
Dressed For Success

 

BOXETTE: 7 things we hope could happen with this release

by

Over 4 years ago we have prepared a comprehensive summary of all Roxette concerts we know have been recorded professionally on tape. Some of these have only been shown live on TV, others were lucky enough to become official releases and there is even one or two that were streamed online in dark days of slow internet. And for the most of these cases they weren’t showcasing the whole concert.

There were quite few concerts released on VHS, some received laser-disc treatment (do you remember what that was?) and only selected saw the light of DVD revolution, not to mention Bluray nor streaming-days. Currently only Roxette’s “Travelling the world”, a release covering 2012 gigs, is available to mass audience, while some of you might still find MTV Unplugged circulating over the auction sites as a part of 2006 out-of-stock RoxBox.

For a very long time there have been discussions when we could expect re-release of major Roxette concerts and each time Per Gessle answered Warner and Team Rox are investigating what’s possible. This week Roxette Cafe, Facebook-based fan site, has found a plan to release a 4-DVD box called “Boxette” on the Slovenian site. The box includes:

  1. SWEDEN LIVE ’88 (filmed at Himmelstalundshallen in Norrköping, Sweden on 16 December 1988) & LOOK SHARP ’89 (filmed at two concerts at Borgholm Castle on the Baltic Sea island of Öland on 25/26 July 1989)
  2. LIVE-ISM ’91 (performance at Sydney Entertainment Centre in Australia on 13 December 1991)
  3. CRASH!BOOM!BANG!LIVE! ’95 (recorded on 14 January 1995 at Ellis Park Johannesburg, South Africa)
  4. ROOM SERVICE TOUR ’01 (recording from the Globen Arena Stockholm on 16 November 2001)

The 4 DVD collection will be housed in a hardcover book with a 24 page booklet with new interviews including one with Per Gessle. Though we have not received any press release from Roxette management team yet, Per already shared this on Roxette and Per Gessle Facebook profiles, making  it officially. Still it’s unsure if the provided information is full and final nor when this would be released.  And as Sandra Knospe noticed, the cover picture was taken almost exactly 29 years ago on the 12th of July 1989 – obviously without that pink Instagram filter 😉

Is that release a good news, you may ask? Idea-wise and from fans perspective – it’s excellent. I found its name funny in that very peculiar Gesslish style (RoxBox or It must have been lunch are another examples). Are there any risks? Potentially. It depends how much involvement and care Warner and Rox team have given to this project.

Here’s the list of 7 things we hope could happen with this release:

1. Sound

Everyone connected to the Internet at the end of 2001 remembers how exciting it was to wait for the second to last Roxette concert during the Room Service tour in Globen, Stockholm. It was about to be streamed all over the world free of charge to anyone that was willing to watch. Crazy jolly times! And how disappointed many of us were when we noticed (heard, to be more precise) that the whole concert had those awful metal noices in the background. Back in the day both Marie and Per said the quality of Stockholm gig would not be high enough for a DVD or home video. “Recording a concert for a DVD would mean cameramen running around on the stage. It would destroy the night,” said Per, Daily Roxette reported back in 2001. 18 years later it became an option as it seems for the reason one can only speculate. Better late than never, but we hope the sound would be remastered across all releases and if necessary replaced with soundboard recordings that we know exists for most of the concerts. Do I need to say that older concerts would also gain a lot with improved sound? After all, if Roxette studio albums got newly remastered back in 2009, why not Boxette-concerts?

2. Picture

Fans living in the 90s surely fondly remember times where VHS was the only way to watch something on demand – anywhere and anytime, though looking for a certain song was certainly an effort. But every time the concert was played, the quality got a little bit worse and after few years VHS recording looked like an out-dated movie taken from the vaults. Together with sound remastering, one can hope picture remastering was done as well. We obviously understand it takes time and money (and most of all – efforts) to do so, but as we have waited so long for that release, this would be a clear sign for everyone it was done properly with all the deserved respect to Roxette legacy and to 2018 audience needs. And hey, we’re hoping master tapes were found in the EMI/Warner archives as it would be the only way to get it right and in better quality. We’re already fed up watching VHS-rips of ’88 performances or a blurry internet connection version of 2001 Stockholm gig. Fingers crossed for 16:9 ratio as well if possible. And a colour version.

3. Bonus songs

Tracklisting provided by the Slovenian site gives us very little hope there would be something extra on this release, except for the 24-page booklet. No additional footage from the legendary Borgholm castle concert, where Listen to your heart video was shot. Nothing extra from the massive Jo-burg C!B!B! gig nor any omitted songs from the Sydney performance. We understand some songs could have been removed from the official releases due to lack of space on VHS or a certain formatting-demand from TV-channels around the world, but why not to look more deeply for forgotten treasures? Just have a look at the RoxBox case; it turned out that MTV has all the songs recorded beyond the TV broadcast that could’ve been released for the first time. Why not to have the same high expectation from this release? Dear Warner, I’m sure you can do it right.

Let’s have a closer look at the announced tracklist and what could’ve been improved:

DVD1
  • Sweden Live ’88 could be enhanced with “I Call Your Name”, “Chances”, “Goodbye to you”, “It must have been love” (pre-Pretty Woman Christmas version!) or “Sleeping Single”, that were performed during that concert.
  • Look Sharp ’89 – it seems like there are just 3 live songs we already know by heart (Dance Away – Cry – Paint) and 3 extra materials that serve as official videos for Dangeroud, Listen to your heart and Silver Blue.
    Sweden Live ’88 part:
  1. Dressed for Success
  2. The Look
  3. Cry
  4. Joy of a Toy
  5. Surrender
  6. Neverending Love
  7. Dance Away
  8. Dangerous
  9. Soul Deep
  10. Listen to Your Heart
  11. The Look
  12. Dressed For Success

    Look Sharp ’89 part:

  13. Dance Away – LIVE
  14. Dangerous – VIDEO
  15. Cry – LIVE
  16. Paint – LIVE
  17. Silver Blue – VIDEO
  18. Listen To Your Heart – VIDEO
  19. The Look (remix) – VIDEO
DVD2
  • LIVE-ISM ’91 recorded in Sydney misses 6 songs from the setlist, obviously following the VHS release. Why these 6 songs didn’t make the final release in 1992 – gods only know, but it means we have been living without Sydney versions of Listen To Your Heart (seriously?) Fading Like a Flower (?!), Sleeping Single (again!), Spending My Time (what the?), Paint and Dance Away for the past 26 years. And do we really need to see “How do you do” video here, hm? I would not mind removing it.
  1. Hotblooded
  2. Dangerous
  3. The Big L
  4. Watercolours in the Rain
  5. Church of Your Heart
  6. Knockin’ on Every Door
  7. Things Will Never Be the Same
  8. Dressed for Success
  9. Soul Deep
  10. The Look
  11. It Must Have Been Love
  12. (Do you get) Excited?
  13. Joyride
  14. Perfect Day
  15. How Do You Do!
DVD3
  • CRASH!BOOM!BANG!LIVE! ’95 – 5 songs were removed from the final cut including “Go to sleep”, “So you wanna be rock’n’roll star”, “Fading like a flower” (is there a FLAF curse that three official releases – Live-ism, MTV Unplugged and C!B!B! in a row erased that songs off the setlist?!), “I love the sound of crashing guitars” and“Hotblooded”.
  1. Sleeping in My Car
  2. Fireworks
  3. Almost Unreal
  4. Dangerous
  5. Crash! Boom! Bang!
  6. Listen to Your Heart
  7. The First Girl on the Moon
  8. Harleys & Indians
  9. Lies
  10. The Rain
  11. Run to You
  12. It Must Have Been Love
  13. Dressed for Success
  14. The Big L
  15. Spending My Time
  16. The Look
  17. Love Is All
  18. Joyride
DVD4
  • ROOM SERVICE TOUR ’01 – the second ever concert – just after 2006 RoxBox MTV Unplugged – to be released entirely. Not much to comment yet, as long as we get the better quality to what we have seen so far. My expectation here is not very high; still wondering what made this release possible after 18 long years?
  1. Crush on You
  2. Dressed for Success
  3. Listen to Your Heart
  4. Waiting for the Rain
  5. Real Sugar
  6. It Must Have Been Love
  7. The Centre of the Heart
  8. Stars
  9. You Don’t Understand Me
  10. Fading Like a Flower
  11. Spending My Time
  12. Dangerous
  13. Sleeping in My Car
  14. Milk and Toast and Honey
  15. Wish I Could Fly
  16. The Big L.
  17. Joyride
  18. Little Girl
  19. Crash!Boom!Bang!
  20. Anyone
  21. Hotblooded
  22. The Look
  23. Queen of Rain
  24. Church of Your Heart

4. Quality

I belive I mentioned several times: we are in 2018. It means few things – political-wise it feels like we have moved quite significantly back in time, but for the most of world – except the flat-earthers out there – technology has proved to be moving forward very fast. DVD became famous in the early 00’s as you could put much more material, increase the quality of video to even 5GB compared to 700-MB CD size. Since then we have seen double-sided DVDs (remember RoxBox?). The only concert Rox & team released on Bluray (size from 25 to even 180GB, faster data transfer, better picture resolution of 1920x1080p, better sound options) was “Travelling the world”. Why not to get the same for these legendary concerts? If not for us fans, then these concerts simple deserve being served to general audience in much better quality. If you are interested in knowing more about the quality of DVD versus Bluray, there is a great Wikipedia article summing things up.

5. Extra material

We all know – the concert is one thing. But after watching Roxette Diairies and hearing about forthcoming Look Sharp! 30th anniversary release, we are sure there is so much more video material existing, recorded by Per and Åsa themselves covering backstages, soundchecks, travels and free time during the Roxette touring hey days. A short documentary special on each concert (or tour) could be provided with this behind-the-camera feeling. It was wonderful to watch the documentary on “Travelling the world” or two other docs “The Making of Joyride” or “Really Roxette” on previous DVDs. These homevideos deserve to be part of Roxette concert history. Will there be a better occassion to share them than this?

6. Streaming

We’re living in interesting times where it’s not about owning the stuff any longer, but about having access to it. So why not to try and pitch one of the global streaming platforms and make these concerts available for some time for those who would watch but are no longer collecting DVDs, Blurays or might even have no device to play it? HBO, Amazon, Netflix are looking for different stuff and maybe they could feel the Roxette niche is worth investing in. It’s worth a try. If not paid platforms, why not previously mentioned ad-supported YouTube?

7. Future releases

And does this Boxette mean no other release will ever officially see the daylight? What about magical Zurich ’91 or South American concerts recorded for TV purposes in both ’92 and ’95? Why not to include MTV Unplugged and all videos every made into that box? If Roxette days are over, group’s history needs to be wrapped up in a very decent form covering all video efforts ever made. And more.

But let’s see what the future brings. Hoping only the good.

Per Gessle – En vacker kväll – live DVD

by

1 year after Per Gessle’s most wonderful  ”En vacker kväll” tour you can now relive the whole 2017 summer feeling. We already hoped for a live DVD when we were there in Halmstad for the 16th gig on 11th August 2017 and saw so many cameras around. Then in December we could see the fantastic documentary, Gessle enligt Gessle (Part 1; Part 2), in which there was footage from the tour as well. We’d been kept waiting a bit longer, but at last, tadaaa, the live DVD was released on 25th June.

The DVD looks beautiful already on the outside. It comes in a shiny cardboard sleeve which you can take off and there is the usual plastic DVD case, including the same pictures and info on the front and back covers as the cardboard sleeve. The picture on the front cover is not from Halmstad. It’s probably from Rättvik. The black & white inside picture, showing PG + the whole band + Lars Winnerbäck from the back after taking a bow is from Linköping. Pictures are taken by Anders Roos.

You put on the DVD and you’re right back in Halmstad. The crowd cheering before PG & Co come up on stage, clapping, whistling, shouting. Then they are all there and start playing the hits. It’s awesome to see and hear Per and his fantastic band and also to see so many familiar faces, not only on stage, but also in the crowd, from all around the world.

Goosebumps during the whole film, from the first shalalalalalalala singalong to the gang taking a bow. It’s really great to have the complete show recorded, including all the talkings, intros and of course, the fab songs. The sound is awesome, the recordings are perfect. Grumpy Production did a wonderful job filming it all.

”Ljudet av ett annat hjärta” was a highlight during each gig. A cool uptempo song among the ballads. It makes you jump up from your sofa and dance in front of the TV. And ”Spegelboll” keeps you on your feet too. And towards the end, ”Sommartider” with the adrenalin rush drum intro. Gosh! Can we just turn back time? Or maybe fast forward to October now, please! I need a tour, right now! 😉

P.S.: Thanx for including ”Tittar på dej när du dansar” over the cast & crew credits!!!

If you were there in Halmstad, it is a must to have this DVD in your collection. If you were not there, it is a must too! Get it from Bengans, Ginza or CDON and e.n.j.o.y.! Watch the trailer HERE!

 

Here we go again: 2018 solo tour setlist predictions

by

Only 4 months are left to – what is currently planned – the premiere night of Per Gessle’s solo tour in Prague, Czech Republic on the 7th of October. The upcoming tournée will take the man from Roxette across 12 countries & 21 European cities in just 40 days. For the second time ever Gessle takes himself and European fans on the English language adventure through music, lyrics and memories he has been part of for the last 30 years.

Last year over 1,000 of you, dear RoxetteBlog readers voted for your favourite songs of Gessle, Gyllene Tider and Roxette in the series of 10 polls just before the solo Swedish tour took off. We are still hoping some of your suggestions might help Mr G to prepare a setlist as the band will surely start rehearsing during late summer. So here comes a little summary of what we know, what we think we know and what we don’t know (and we might never know).

As Roxette sadly became the past, Per declares his plans to concentrate mostly on the vast Roxette catalogue during his European tour in the exclusive RoxetteBlog interview: In the perfect world Marie would have been by my side to sing and perform but that won’t happen anymore. I have to live with that. You do too. The options I have are to perform the songs without her or not perform them at all. I chose the obvious one (…) Most of the songs will most certainly be Roxette-songs. I’ll probably sneak in a couple from the new solo album as well. Time will tell.

Do we have any hints of what Roxette gems can be performed during the tour? In the generic TV commercial produced for promotional purposes you can easily see and hear 3 Roxette songs from Halmstad’s 2017 concert as follow: The Look, Joyride, It must have been love. These hits are likely to get the same treatment as last year as it’s going to be the same band that goes on European roads with Per. It must have been love with Helena on the lead might be a hard to swallow for some, but well, we’re in 2018.  Dressed for success and Listen to your heart were also performed on a brief occassion during 2017 gigs, so these are another safe bets.  Looking also at some historical data, during the Party Crasher Tour the band performed 13 Roxette songs, beside 5 megahits mentioned previously, tracks such as Wish I Could Fly / She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore / 7Twenty7 / Opportunity Nox / Church Of Your Heart / Dangerous / Sleeping In My Car / Queen Of Rain. Country arrangements, anyone?

Would there be enough space on this year’s setlist to put songs less known which we haven’t heard in a while? I belive mosts fans support the idea of hearing compositions Per has created and sang himself originally on the official releases which haven’t heard live at all. One of the Swedish auction site Tradera user put a poster on sale that seems to be the official one for the Swedish leg of 2018 tour. What can come as a little surprise is the fact it includes tracks’ names that haven’t been performed by Gessle solo so far which are: Spending my time / How do you do / Fading like a flower / June Afternoon / Crash! Boom! Bang! / Vulnerable / Real sugar. Back in 2009 Vulnerable was said to be “impossible” to perform live. Have 9 years changed anything in that matter? Is it a random choice from the concert agency? Or maybe the poster is just fake? But hey, June Afternoon or Real Sugar are brilliant choices anyway.

On the top of that there is a Spotify Roxette playlist recently created by The Man himself which includes – beside obvious – incredible pearls (if you seriously consider theses songs could be performed live): “Paint”, “Jefferson”, “A Thing About You”, “Some other summer” or “Secrets that she keeps”. Unfortunately, we know such teasing on social media rarely leads to anything surprising in the end. In the last year’s poll you voted for She doesn’t live here anymore as the most desired Roxette songs that needs to be performed live. “a safe risk” with most popular Roxette songs? Time will tell, to quote our Guru.

Let’s not forget the fact the previous tour was also partially about solo material which actually received a very positive feedback from the audience back then. 11 songs performed during the Party Crasher Tour were a mix of Son of a plumber classics (Drowning In Wonderful Thoughts About Her / I Have A Party In My Head (I Hope It Never Ends) / Late, Later On / C’mon /  Are You On Old Hippie, Sir? / Hey Mr. Dj (Won’t You Play Another Love Song), highlights from The World According to Gessle (Stupid / Do You Wanna Be My Baby?) and very little off Party Crasher (The Party Pleaser / Doesn’t Make Sense). Yet another time we were said Silly Really doesn’t really translate well into a live song, so let it be. There was also a little surprise at the end – The Monkee’s (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone cover, also briefly performed by Roxette in 2010.

Looking at various interviews Gessle hopes “Small Town Talk” album (English version of last year’s Swedish solo projects) will get a little bit of exposure during the concert. If so, then the title song (Nick Lowe as a special guest in London?), “The Finest Prize” (Första pris last year was great live) or “There’s a place” (Min plats) could be live options off that album. Let’s face it, anything above 3-4 new songs will be a shocker. I’m hoping Per Gessle’s Roxette tour name anyway gives Per  a little bit of space and freedom to include his favourite English solo songs from the last 21 years. They are worth to be sang, they cannot be forgotten.

Just a quick reminder how you voted for your favourites off English solo albums last year: 1997 The World According to Gessle: Son of a Plumber: 009 – Party Crasher: 

Summing up, my prediction would be a setlist of 24 songs as it always makes a perfect 90-100-minute concert in the Gessle’s world. 16 songs would come out of Roxette and 8 would be solo tracks. But the more, the better.

What songs would you like to hear this year? See you around in Europe!

What would you like to see among the upcoming Per Gessle merchandise?

by

During the past few years we all attended several tours. Roxette, Gyllene Tider, Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle. One of the evergreen topics discussed among fans was the merchandise. There is a bunch of useful merch stuff, there are some gadgets which are good only to gather dust on a hardcore collector’s shelf and there are some which would never sell out of stock. Now, 5 months before the Per Gessle’s Roxette tour starts, we thought a poll could be an option to let your voice be heard and tell us what kind of merchandise you would happily buy during the tour. Please, vote for the ones you would definitely buy, because you find it cool, useful, a lovely thing to make you remember the tour anytime you use it or look at it. If you have any other idea to add to the list, please let us know in a comment on Facebook and we might add some more ideas to the list.

Of course, all items would ideally be printed with a PG pic or a tour logo. Regarding the T-shirts there are usually discussions about them including the tour dates or not, so there you will find two options.

Please, choose as many merch stuff as you wish, but don’t forget to choose ONLY those which you would definitely buy. This might be helpful for Mr. G’s team as well, to decide what to include. 😉

 

[yop_poll id=”31″]