Some fans who were there in Borgholm sat into their cars right after the show and drove to Malmö, some others stayed in Borgholm for the night and travelled to the next tour stop only the next day. For the 14th show, the queue was not as long as in Borgholm, but still a lot of hardcores showed up, due to Malmö being an easily accessible city for most.
The security team was the least prepared at Mölleplatsen. They literally started the preparations only 10 minutes before the gates opened. This means the supervisor showed the controlling people how the ticket looks and where they should stand. Also the dustbins got to the gates only 5 minutes before we all could enter and the scanners were given out to the controllers only 1 minute before 6 pm. No surprise the whole insläpp was a mess in the end. People who were queueing all day got let in after those people who arrived only half an hour before the gates opened and when you were queueing in the ”wrong” line inside, because that was for the guestlist (which wasn’t marked anywhere at all) they sent you back to the end of another queue. The most incompetent security team in Sweden ever. Not only at the entrance, also inside the venue. Whatever. This should be our biggest problem in life. 😉
When we were already inside, I looked around and checked the merch stand. I was surprised, because I saw a tee with the tour dates on it and I remembered there was none. I went to the stand and asked the girl who worked there if it was new. She said she got them only that day. And that’s the only T-shirt with the dates on. A pity that it’s out only now, almost at the end of the tour. Next time it’s useful to print the dates on ALL tour tees already at the beginning. Real tour tees always have the dates on. But still, better late than never.
Strandels and Good Harvest were the support acts and they get more and more cheering from the audience day by day. And they like it. The more we hear their songs, the more we like them. Andreas Dahlbäck was very busy during GH’s performance. He filmed them with his phone from the left side of the stage and later he went to the other side with 2 of his drumskins and was writing something on them. So we were sure he would again throw them to the crowd at the end of the show. And he did. We would love to see what’s written on those drumskins, so in case you are the one who caught them, just send us a message with a pic on Facebook.
What was very lovely to see in Malmö is that some hardcore fans, not only from Sweden, brought their kids to the gig to show them what it’s all about. Now that there is no age limit, it was a great chance to bring the whole family together and enjoy the concert this way. Kids were also in the front and they even caught guitar picks from Per. Haha. They got enthusiastic. I’m sure it wasn’t their last PG concert.
The setlist was the very same as in Borgholm. We expected more songs or a bit of a change at least. Tittar på dej när du dansar maybe? Haha, I know I know… Well, PG and the band were in top shape. The crowd could have been more active. They were singing along, but not more than that – I mean from row 3-4 or so. They rocked out the most to Ljudet av ett annat hjärta. What is strange that in other places Spegelboll keeps up the jumping and dancing party mood of the audience, but not in Malmö. OK, the front row rocked to Spegelboll as well. Of course. We love those 3 party songs, Ljudet av ett annat hjärta, Spegelboll and Gå & fiska! coming after one another.
During Det hjärta som brinner Mr. G was rocking so hard that his mic turned down, but both technicians, Peter Fredriksson and Micke N-S were rushing to it from the 2 sides of the stage and set it back to normal. It was funny to see.
It Must Have Been Love sounded beautiful in both Per’s and Helena’s performance. Mr. G even posted a video of it on Roxette’s Facebook page:
Malmö last nite: Truly amazing version of IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOVE. You should have been there! Helena, Malin-My and this group of ppl knock me out every night!!! Probably the best band I’ve ever played with. Lots of love from P.
Besides some very nice comments, there were some related to Helena is not Marie and that Marie can’t be replaced, etc. That is not the case. Can’t be said enough times ”Roxette is Marie and Per”. This is what Per thinks too, so no need to worry about anything. And really no need to be rude with a most lovely person.
Sadly, probably because of reading those comments, Helena felt she had to justify herself and shared the video too:
Here is a clip from the other day ! The Malmö audience was wonderful, thank you. When I sing the song I think about Marie. Who sang the song before me. But now her health stops her from doing it. When I was 9 I got my first album of her and she has been a great inspiration to me, as a solo artist and a fantastic composer. “Sjunde vågen” is my favourite song of hers. And “Sparvöga”. I wish she could have sung this song of Per many more times. Now Per wanted to perform it and he asked me to help him out. Per is an incredible composer, constantly transforming. He’s a real artist to me. The least I can do is put all my prescence into the song, and sing it my own way. That is what Marie would have done.
So lovely words! What Helena does with IMHBL and how she makes it her own is exceptional. It makes no sense to compare one singer to another, Marie to Helena and vice versa. Marie is Marie and Helena is Helena. Helena is a unique Artist with a voice of an angel. The ovation she gets each night (not only after IMHBL, but several other songs – Första pris, Tycker om…, Varmt igen) is a great confirmation of what she is doing is just adorable and perfect. And she is not only an amazing artist, but also a wonderful person!
Per couldn’t help himself, he posted the song again some hours later:
Have to post this one again. So proud to be playing with these guys and dolls! /P.
You must love how he is handling such situations.
During Kung av sand it started raining, but fortunately, only for 2-3 songs. Åsa was there in Malmö, filmed a lot (watch the vids on YouTube, GessleHome Vids!) and when the rain came she also went backstage to get a poncho for herself and came back to the front to take vids of the party songs.
When Per presented the band with the dating site story and he mentioned Helena is from Skåne, the county where Malmö is situated as well, the crowd was cheering her even louder. Then he introduced Malin-My and said she is also almost from Skåne, she is from Holmsund. Up North. Magnus is the other band member from Skåne. Actually, from Malmö. So he also got a louder cheering. Per said without Magnus there is no breakfast. Mister Magnus said he knows Clarence can say something in real Malmö style. And he asked the audience to be silent and Clarence said something that sounded very strange and probably only the Swedes or at least those from Skåne could get what it meant. Then Per introduced Ola, almost from Skåne as well, from Luleå and then Mr. G presented the guy in black gloves, Andreas. After all this, Chris went on with his psychedelic När vi två blir en intro to The Look. Not only the intro, but the ending of The Look was psychedlic again and the way Helena is acting with the crowd during the song since some concerts ago, she just rulez!
Sommartider got a similar drum intro as in Borgholm. It was fantastic in Malmö too, Andreas went totally wild on this. Adrenaline on top!
MALMÖ Wow! Vilken vacker kväll!! Grym och stor publik, taggat band, bara lite regn (rätt snyggt i Kung av sand!) och good vibes överallt. Tack för att ni kom förbi och sjöng och delade minnen med oss!!! Syns igen! /P.
All photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.
Setlist
1. På promenad genom stan
2. Vilket håll du än går
3. Juni, juli, augusti
4. Det hjärta som brinner
5. Segla på ett moln / Första pris
6. Min plats
7. It Must Have Been Love
8. Honung och guld
9. Kung av sand
10. Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång) / Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
11. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
12. Spegelboll
13. Gå & fiska!
Band presentation
14. The Look (with När vi två blir en as intro)
Encore:
15. Varmt igen (with Queen of Rain as intro)
16. Tycker om när du tar på mej
17. Joyride
Encore 2:
18. Sommartider
19. Småstadsprat
Videos:
På promenad genom stan
På promenad genom stan & Juni, juli, augusti
Vilket håll du än går
Honung och guld
The Look: 1; 2;
Tycker om när du tar på mej
Sommartider
Articles, pictures:
Sydsvenskan
Skånska Dagbladet
Pppress.se
Trelleborgs Allehanda (for subscribers only)
Annika Nilsson: 1; 2;
Before the gig started, during the support acts’ performance, Åsa, Chris, Clarence, Helena and their families as well as Magnus’ family went up to the side windows of the castle and we waved to them, they waved back. Andreas also went up and probably took pictures from there. Later Victoria (Sweden’s crown princess) and her husband, Daniel also appeared in the window and enjoyed the show from there. Victoria rulez! 
Regarding the sing-alongs, I think also the acoustics of the place helped a lot to make them sound beautiful, because during a lot of songs I heard a loud sing-along, but when I looked back, I couldn’t see too many mouthes moving. Anyway, the crowd was best at clapping that’s for sure. Or better said there were several active groups in the audience, the first 3 rows, of course and then in the middle a bigger group and on the sides some more. Those who were sitting in the back didn’t get up from their seats. Not even during Sommartider…. Hej hej… Yeah, we know, it’s mostly the Swedes and they are not the ones who like to stand up, no matter what. But at least they were clapping hard.
At the venue there was no queueing, you arrived and you were just let in after you got a nice paper wristband. Hardcore fans (Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, the UK) could get to the front row very easily this way. As the stage was on the seaside, we could go and have a look at the beach. It was a very nice setting. While walking on the beach, Andreas Dahlbäck came to us and we had a little chat with him. He is a very nice guy, very down-to-earth. Among other things he mentioned that Per asked him to find out something different as the intro to Sommartider. So we expected something new from him at the show.
As Ola Gustafsson was born in Luleå, very close to Piteå, the crowd was cheering him loudly, mainly when Per introduced him during the band presentation. Malin-My Wall is from Holmsund, also not too far from Piteå, so the crowd was cheering Malin-My loudly as well. Per liked it so much that he repeated Holmsund several times, then even Magnus joined in mentioning Holmsund and the crowd was still cheering.
We arrived in the afternoon and realized that not too many hardcore fans chose to take part in the festival. I could count them on one hand. While changing our tickets to wristbands we could hear the technicians’ soundcheck and there was no band soundcheck that day.
The crowd consisted of very young people, but they knew the lyrics and were singing along loudly to almost all songs. During Tycker om när du tar på mej, when Helena was singing, the crowd started singing parts that Helena didn’t sing. It sounded absolutely awesome! The most dancing, jumping and clapping along was to Sommartider and The Look, but yeah, Joyride as well. Actually, the audience was open to any songs and they loved each of them unconditionally. Even the security guys were dancing with each other! So lovely! People were cheering Per loudly: ”Gessle! Gessle! Gessle!” And also before the encore there was ”En gång till!” and ”Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh” as well. Loved it! So even if we had the shortest setlist that night, it was a fantastic gig!
So, the shortest setlist. It could have been 18 songs even, but Puls (which would have worked very well with the Östersund crowd) and Småstadsprat were cut off. They were there on the original setlist though… Actually, Pet Shop Boys came after Per & Co, but only at 00:30 and even if they had a lot of technical stuff to apply on stage, our gang would have had the time to play at least 2 more songs. Btw, the crowd stayed loud during Pet Shop Boys as well. They were really a fab one! I wish such crowds for each gig!
Luckily it didn’t rain! We had been checking our weather apps the whole day and were happy to see the forecasts were wrong again.
It Must Have Been Love was one of the big woooows of the night. I started crying right from the beginning. What can I do? I just miss Marie so much and well. It just happens. On the other hand, it sounded so good and was happy to hear it live again. When Helena started to sing wooow!! She has a wonderful voice and she does a great job making the song hers. All in all a very nice sweet and emotional tribute to this jewel. Also incredible response from the audience.
After Tycker om när du tar på mej it was time for Joyride. My least favourite of the setlist. I wish they would have kept Dressed For Success instead of this! Or exchanged it with any other Rox song. Be it Dangerous or How Do You Do! or any of the other 500 songs by Per that he has never played live before…
Åsa was there at Skansen and 