Göran Fritzon

Gyllene Tider go on a farewell tour and release new album

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We all expected Gyllene Tider to go on a 40th anniversary tour this year and now the announcement is out! It will not only be an anniversary tour, but four decades, four million sold records and several record tours later, at the same time it will be a farewell tour. The word farewell sounds a bit sad, but also promises one last summer full of joy and fun on the road! And hey, the band will live on forever through their music and their name is forever written in Swedish pop history and in fans’ beating hearts. 😉

There will be 17 concerts with the premiere in GT’s hometown, Halmstad and the last show in Fredrikstad, Norway. 15 gigs in Sweden, 2 in Norway. All tickets go on sale at 9 am on 5th February on livenation.se and livenation.no, but if you check Gyllene Tider’s Facebook page, you’ll be able to buy your tickets in a presale. See Live Nation’s promo video HERE!

Tour dates

4th July (Thursday) – Halmstad, Brottet
6th July (Saturday) – Malmö, Mölleplatsen
10th July (Wednesday) – Helsingborg, Sofiero Slott
12th July (Friday) – Skövde, Boulognerskogen
13th July (Saturday) – Linköping, Stångebrofältet
15th July (Monday) – Uppsala, Botaniska Trädgården
17th July (Wednesday) – Lysekil, Pinneviken
19th July (Friday) – Ronneby, Brunnsparken
20th July (Saturday) – Kalmar, Fredriksskans
24th July (Wednesday) – Piteå, Pite Havsbad
26th July (Friday) – Rättvik, Dalhalla
27th July (Saturday) – Stockholm, Sjöhistoriska
31st July (Wednesday) – Karlstad, Mariebergsskogen
2nd August (Friday) – Eskilstuna, Sundbyholms Slott
3rd August (Saturday) – Göteborg, Slottsskogsvallen
8th August (Thursday) – Trondheim (NO), Sverresborg Museum
9th August (Friday) – Fredrikstad (NO), Dampskipsbrygga

 

Per Gessle:

40 years is a long time and it’s absolutely fantastic that we as a band and our music have managed to touch several generations of Scandinavians. I’m fortunate to have been playing with Sweden’s best pop band. Anders’, Micke’s, Göran’s and MP’s expertise has given me endless opportunities to write powerpop just the way I longed for as a teenager.

Anders Herrlin:

I think it’s a perfect opportunity to end now. Everyone in the band is still active musicians and is in many ways better than ever. All of that we can bring in the new album and the summer tour – and say goodbye with all flags still flying.

Micke Syd Andersson:

This tour feels like our thanks to the amazing audience we have had a love story with for so many years. It will feel like a single long birthday party you share with friends and family – the end of an incredible journey you can only be grateful for having been part of.

Göran Fritzon:

It will certainly feel a little sad to go on Gyllene Tider’s last tour, but everything has an end. It’s just so hard to believe that it has been 40 years since everything started. But I have my Farfisa organ close at hand in the music room, so I feel I’m ready.

 

New album in spring

The band chose to record their seventh and last studio album in France.

Mats ”MP” Persson:

This is the first time we go abroad and record, so it will be incredibly fun. Per has recorded fairly simple demos to leave all the doors open for the band to arrange the songs together. Since we all come in with different ideas, quite unexpected things can happen, such as when we tested reggae arrangement for an ukulele song – which became ”Tuffa tider”.

Per Gessle:

We are like five brothers who don’t hang out on a daily basis, but when we meet, something happens that one can’t put a finger on. Personal chemistry? 1 + 1 = 3 theory? I don’t know, but we have always agreed on our love for pop music. With the summer tour we say thank you and farewell and I bend my neck and smile. Thank you all.

 

Bäst när det gäller – Gyllene Tider’s new song is out!

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Gyllene Tider together with Linnea Henriksson made the official Swedish Soccer World Cup song. “Bäst när det gäller” (Best when it counts) premiered on Nyhetsmorgon, TV4 today. Per Gessle, Micke Syd Andersson and Linnea Henriksson were on TV to talk about the song and soccer. It was also revealed that a video to the song will be shot this weekend. Cosmos Music made available an official lyrics video until then.

“Bäst när det gäller” is available digitally on the usual platforms. There will be a physical release as well, a 7″ and a 12″ vinyl single on 1st June. The 7″ version is a limited edition single, released in 500 copies. The guys are in blue jerseys on the 7″ sleeve and in yellow on the 12″ sleeve. You can pre-order the singles at Bengans or Ginza or CDON.

Tracklist for the 2-track 7″ single:

  1. Bäst när det gäller
  2. Bäst när det gäller (Instrumental)

Tracklist for the 4-track 12″ single:

  1. Bäst när det gäller
  2. Bäst när det gäller (Bridge & Mountain Remix)
  3. Bäst när det gäller (Galavant Remix)
  4. Bäst när det gäller (Instrumental)

Per says, to write the official song is of course a huge challenge and you can’t say no to that. The guys in GT were extremely proud when they were asked. Mr. G says he already had the title in his mind for a while, but now he had the reason to write the text as well. It became a little story about a couple who are the best when it counts, but also a text filled with soccer references that most recognize.

Bäst när det gäller

När vi träffades i vimlet
Det var ett hat trick att minnas
jag kom från farmarlaget
Du var populär

Du sa du älskade fotboll
Jag såg en sol igenom fönstret
hur kan man låtsas att det regnar
när du ser ut så där?

Vi är bäst när det gäller
Vi är bäst när det gäller
Vi är bäst då när allt står på spel vi är bäst då när allt kan gå fel

Liksom dårar på nätet
Gillar vi ringarna på vattnet
Vi vill att världen ska få veta
Vår karaktär (eller vad säger du, Per?)

Att aldrig tappa kontrollen
Att aldrig ta nåt med en klackspark är aldrig tvåa på bollen
När du ser på mej så där

Vi är bäst när det gäller
Vi är bäst när det gäller
Vi är bäst då när allt står på spel vi är bäst då när allt kan gå fel

© Per Gessle

 

Official Swedish Soccer World Cup song by Gyllene Tider

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It’s all about sports these days. First table tennis, now soccer! Gyllene Tider together with Linnea Henriksson will make the official Swedish Soccer World Cup song. The title is “Bäst när det gäller” (Best when it counts).

Per says, to write the official song is of course a huge challenge and you can’t say no to that. The guys in GT were extremely proud when they were asked.

Mr. G says he already had the title in his mind for a while, but now he had the reason to write the text as well. It became a little story about a couple who are the best when it counts, but also a text filled with soccer references that most recognize. The song is already recorded and will be released at the end of May. The recording sessions took place mid March when Per posted a picture of himself and Linnea in the studio.

As Micke Syd says, they recorded “Bäst när det gäller” with experienced technician Stefan Boman and Christoffer Lundquist mixed it later. To the question how it sounds, Per laughs and replies ”just like when Halmia takes the lead in Örjans vall on a beautiful day”.

 

Gyllene Tider – Dags att tänka på konserten – DVD is out!

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We had to wait a year to be able to relive the sommartider of our lives, but now here it is! Gyllene Tider’s Dags att tänka på konserten was released on 23rd July. I would say it was worth the waiting. Even if it’s ”just” a DVD (I mean no Blu-ray around – who knows why…), the quality is great and what we can see on the DVD is simply fantastic. It contains a complete concert (24 songs, 1 hour 36 minutes), a documentary (1 hour 6 minutes) and 3 videos. Photos on the cover and in the DVD booklet are by Anders Roos. He’s the photographer who took those amazing shots for the Alla tiders Gyllene Tider book, which was written during the tour.

 

Concert

The stage scenes are from Skövde, but the crowd scenes are mixed from 2 concerts. Besides Skövde, some crowd cuts are from Eskilstuna, so if you were there at the last 2 concerts of the tour, there is a high chance you will see yourself.

What I felt when watching the concert was that I was there in Sweden again, on a summer night, being part of a loud crowd, seeing 5 energy bombs on stage. And it left a constant smile on my face during the whole show. Judging by what I saw, Skövde concert must have been one of the Top5 most energetic gigs. From the 2nd song the crowd was more reactive and I must say it’s amazing to see everyone doing the coreography Micke Syd shows during Min tjej och jag. When you are in the crowd in the front you can’t see such things and it must feel so great to see this reaction from your crowd when you are on stage.

Another fantastic thing to see is young and old (let’s say from 15 to 70) singing along to old and new GT songs. It’s unbelievable what music, THIS music can do to people.Too cool!

Camera angles are great, too. Grumpy Productions did a fab job. You might remember the posts (1; 2) on Gyllene Tider’s Facebook page about the camera techniques they used in Skövde. Looking good!

I left it for last, but it’s definitely one of the most important points: T.H.E. S.O.U.N.D. I.S. P.U.R.E. A.W.E.S.O.M.E.N.E.S.S.! Hats off to Christoffer Lundquist who did the mixing! So now we are in need of a live CD! Anyway, wasn’t it the case that we get one? Hm.

Documentary – Gyllene Tider sommaren 2013

It’s the same that was broadcast on TV4 last December. A fantastic one! You can read my review of it if you click HERE. Love to have it on DVD.

Videos

Man blir yr and Det blir aldrig som man tänkt sej are the official videos we already saw. Regarding Allt jag lärt mej om livet (har jag lärt mej av Vera), even if I didn’t really expect that it would be an unknown video, something new, it would have been a nice surprise if it weren’t the Humorgalan performance from May 2013.

 

One more thing I must add is that towards the end of the concert part I felt the same I felt at the end of each gig last summer: I don’t want this come to an end! But the good thing with the DVD is that you can play it as many times as you wish. This one is definitely something I’ll play several times in my life.

If you haven’t bought / ordered your copy yet, do yourself a favour and get yourself this DVD. If you attended any of the concerts, the reason why is to relive those magic moments. If you couldn’t attend any of the shows, you’ll have the chance to jump and sing along in front of your TV now. Here are the links from where you can order the DVD: Bengans, Ginza, CDON.

 

GT_DVD_front  GT_DVD_back

A fan’s story of the ”Alla tiders Gyllene Tider” release party

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Sandra Knospe was one of the lucky fans who got an invitation to the book release party. To the party being held on 10th December in Leif’s Lounge at Hotel Tylösand. She travelled there with 3 of her friends and they enjoyed the journey, the meetings, the talks and the party to the full. Here’s her complete story about the event, how she experienced it.

The “Alla tiders Gyllene Tider” book release party or a not so usual short trip to Halmstad…

© Justyna Bereza
© Justyna Bereza

It’s a week ago already, but I needed this time to realize that it hasn’t been just a dream what I experienced last Tuesday, that it really happened. Again… Who would have thought back in 1997, when I witnessed the first book release party in my life at Hotel Tylösand, also for a GT biography, also written by Jan-Owe Wikström, that 16 years later I would be there again, at the same place, for yet another GT book release party, for another great GT book, a road biography, written by exactly the same person, Jan-Owe Wikström, with outstanding pictures from Anders Roos, that really deliver the live feelings from the past GT tour and bring back soooo many fantastic and intense moments of the tour. I can tell, I was there on all 19 shows. Going through the book brings me back the memories and make them become alive again immediately and I can’t wait to find some time to finally read the whole book.

But back to where I started… When I got the invitation I knew that I wouldn’t say no. Even though it seemed to be impossible to realize. I knew I had to work a day after the date of the party, I knew I couldn’t take my precious GT car for the trip since it’s missing a proper set of winter tires and I knew that probably nobody of my friends could join me, because it all came so suddenly and seemed to be impossible to manage in just a week. And as if that wasn’t hard enough to solve, I smashed my thumb in the car door just a few days before the trip should be. But everyone who knows me also knows that this wouldn’t hold me back from going. And suddenly everything turned out just perfect. My parents offered me their little Ford Fiesta to be able to go, my thumb was at least not broken just hurting (something I can easily ignore when it comes to such events), and even 3 of my friends made it possible to join me on this adventure. Life is great sometimes, isn’t it?

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