No rest for the wicked! Without a break, the third show in a row in the North was the last gig on the Per Gessle Unplugged tour. What an amazing acoustic joyride it was, starting out in Tylösand, Halmstad with 10 summer sessions, then 9 shows in autumn 2021 and 12 in the spring of 2022!
As Per said after Skellefteå, it takes at least 30 gigs to get a band really together. For the 31st gig they were as tight as hell and enjoyed their last show very much. All we could hear from them on stage was pure perfection musically, performance-wise and regarding story-telling and jokes as well.
Up in the North the crowds seem to like the GT and Mazarin songs the most. The audience in Luleå was the most active during these tracks, but still they were quite reserved during the whole concert. Maybe because it was Wednesday. Or because on Thursday there will be the ice hockey championship final and they save their voices for that occasion. Haha.
After PG greeted the crowd, he asked if everyone had a good meal and drink. The crowd replied „yes” and Mr. G said they did too. While Christoffer here usually says he didn’t, now he said he had the dinner of his life. Per explained that Chris is vegetarian and he just ate a pork chop. Chris informed it was the first in 10 years. PG said the whole band is still in a state of schock. After that, Per mentioned that tomorrow is the hockey final, to which the crowd reacted with a loud cheering. Per said in Halmstad they only have handball and football. He thinks they have a hockey team too, but he doesn’t really know. He said „good luck, anyway, for tomorrow”.
The low-budget-tour capo-fixing joke worked fine last night too and this time when Per managed to fix it and said he finally learned it for the last show, Micke N-S was laughing so loud we could well hear it in the audience – at least in the front. Haha.
Before Det hjärta som brinner Chris said Göran Fritzon is not there. PG said it’s regrettable, but they try to play it without him. After the song, Magnus, Christoffer and Helena left the stage and Per told the Parkliv! story before Ljudet av ett annat hjärta. He again mentioned that it’s a pity that Christoffer went off stage, because he would admit that his favourite film is Parkliv! At this point Chris came back with his special moves for some seconds to confirm.
Magnus had his bass solo session during Tuffa tider, which was very cool in Luleå too. After he got back to his seat, he jumped up again, came to the front and threw his guitar pick towards the audience.
Per talked a bit longer before Min hälsning, saying that this is the last show, the 31st unplugged concert. He thanked the band for coming along and Chris and Helena thanked Per too. Mr. G then turned to the crew and thanked them for their fantastic job. He said they are also working with him since many years. PG also thanked MP for the sound and the audience for coming and gilding the evening.
The crowd stood up before the first encore and was clapping until the gang came back on stage. Before När vi två blir en, we could listen to Per’s anecdote that one can write certain songs when he is very young. He mentioned Flickorna på TV2 as an example, but he said they wouldn’t play that one. Christoffer tried to play it last night again, but after playing only for 5 seconds he said „that’s it”. Haha. Later someone shouted Flickorna på TV2 in the audience, so that the band plays it, but Per said – referring to Christoffer’s trial – „we already played that”. Haha.
After the first encore the audience stood up again and PG came back with the band for the tour’s last encore. Sommartider was a highlight as usual. The crowd didn’t stop clapping after the song and so Christoffer played a little Ljudet av ett annat hjärta (the fast version).
Before performing the last song on this tour, Per said „what a closing of this tour!” and turned to the international fans in the front row. He said „an extra special thank you goes to all our international friends here up front. Thank you for coming to the shows! We appreciate it, of course!” Isn’t he the most attentive artist on earth?
Most people stayed standing for När alla vännerna gått hem and so the very last show also ended with standing ovation!
Before the band took a bow, we showed our banners to the guys and girl and they appreciated it. TACK notes prepared by Basia Konarzewska and a big banner we created with Sandra Knospe, not wanting to miss out on the O’boy jokes during this leg of the tour. Our banner said: ”O’boy! Vilken turné! Vi tror det aldrig kan bli bättre än så här! Tusen tack!” (”O’boy! What a tour! We think it can never get better than this! Thanx a thousand!”) And it’s true! It was a very special tour and we enjoyed this setting so much it’s gonna be hard to beat. But we know Per will try it, of course! Lucky us! Haha.
Unbelievable that these 10 + 21 shows are over now, but that makes us already looking forward to a next tour that seems to be PG Roxette! Are the dates out yet?
Setlist
1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Min plats
6. Tycker om när du tar på mej
7. Det hjärta som brinner
8. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
9. Varmt igen
10. Tuffa tider
11. Juni, juli, augusti
12. It Must Have Been Love
13. Vilket håll du än går
Band introduction
14. Här kommer alla känslorna
15. Min hälsning
Encore 1
16. Födelsedag
17. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
18. När vi två blir en
Encore 2
19. Vid hennes sida
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem
Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.
Per after the gig on Facebook:
THANK YOU/TACK! Först ett stort tack till den fantastiska publiken i Luleå. Vilken härlig avslutning vi fick. Otroligt roligt att få vara här i er vackra stad och att få spela för er. Vilken kväll det blev!!!
Och sen tack till alla som kommit från när och fjärran för att förgylla våra konserter. Det här har varit en av de häftigaste turnéerna jag varit med om. Ett helt nytt kapitel för mig och mitt fina lilla band och crew. Jag hoppas verkligen jag får möjligheten att göra en fortsättning på dessa akustiska spelningar, det känns som att vi kan dra detta framåt några snäpp ytterligare framöver. Time will tell!
Nu är det paus i två dagar. Nästa vecka sätter jag igång promotion-arbetet med PG ROXETTE-äventyret. Första singlen kommer ut 3 juni. Den är grym! Och videon är badabam. Jag har världens bästa jobb. Tack alla!
PS. I won’t translate this cos I know you’ve all learned Swedish by now hahaha. Impressive!
On Twitter:
Thx everyone for some beautiful weeks on the road. Superb finish in Luleå last nite. This is one of the most rewarding tours I’ve ever done. I’m so proud of this band+crew. The love+feedback I’m getting from you guys are truly unbelievable. More to come!! Badabam from PG.
And on Instagram:
Tack för en av de finaste turnéerna jag varit med om. Fantastiskt att få spela för er alla. Grym avslutning i Luleå igår. Vi syns igen. Promise.
