Gyllene Tider – GT40 – Halmstad – 10th August 2019 – #19

Who would have thought that the tour will come to an end so fast? Last night we had the most emotional closing gig one can imagine! 19 shows in 17 towns in 2 countries, 28 different songs performed live by  7 most amazing and most energetic musicians accompanied by sing-along crowds! That was one hell of a tour!

We always thought that the tour should end in Sweden, even if the first last gig was announced to happen in Norway. Fortunately, after a while the band decided to do a real last show in Sweden, at the place where it all began, in Halmstad. This way GT played 3 concerts in their hometown of which the first two sold out in no time and the last also attracted 10000 people and became a very special one.

Changes vs. the first 2 Halmstad concerts already began with the support act. Chris Kläfford got sick, so he had to cancel his performance and the other Halmstad support act, who we already saw twice in Halmstad and once in Gothenburg, Christof Jeppsson took over and played for 30 minutes before Gyllene Tider. His warming up the crowd was great!

The weather was not on our side on the premiere gig in Halmstad, then the next day we had a concert in the sun. Yesterday the weather forecast said rain all day and for 2 weeks from then on, but except for the heavy showers during the day and pouring rain at the time when the gates were opening at 6 pm and some short raining moments until the concert started, we had a great night. One couldn’t ask for more, to be able to focus totally on what’s happening on stage and not caring about any ponchos or whatever.

The band had a live soundcheck at 5 pm. We could hear (and see) them rehearsing Vill ha ett svar! and Marie i växeln. We saw Niklas Strömstedt at Hotel Tylösand before, so we thought he might be a guest artist for the night. Then at the soundcheck we could be sure about it, because he joined the guys on rehearsing Marie i växeln. When we heard what songs they rehearsed, we applauded and cheered them. Micke Syd thanked for it shouting into his mic. Haha. The security team set up some more fences to hide the view to the stage from the outside, so then we all had to leave and get back to the line at the entrance.

The gang hit the stage at 9 pm, as usual, to the intro tune of the Pink Panther Theme. Front row fans were holding up ”SISTA DANSEN SISTA CHANSEN” letter by letter at the very beginning. Micke Syd recognized it and showed thumbs up. The others were probably more occupied with the starting of the show.

Those who saw all 3 shows in Halmstad got 3 different setlists. The last setlist was different to all other sets too, which is too cool. To have a special setlist for the last show. Instead of Skicka ett vykort, älskling they opened with Vill ha ett svar! At last! We expected this song to be played since we first heard them rehearsing it in Linköping. And there you go! It rocked big time! Another addition was Marie i växeln. We could already hear this song live on the GT40 tour, but not in this arrangement. Niklas Strömstedt joined the guys and girls on stage for this song and the audience went wild. It was an incredibly energetic performance! After the song Per said Niklas wrote the text to it and they did this song together in 1912. Haha. We got 24 songs last night and this means that both encores consisted of 3 songs, so Billy was also performed and they didn’t skip Tylö Sun either. The set had a great flow and the crowd didn’t stop cheering the band and sing along to all songs. It was a loud experience.

Per talked to the crowd after Juni, juli, augusti and said it’s the last show on tour and it’s sad, but lovely at the same time. The crowd couldn’t stop shouting ”ojojoj ojojojoj ojojojojojojojoj” before Per started talking before Vandrar i ett sommarregn. It was amazing. The band loved it too.

I will miss the intro talking of Micke Syd before Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! so much. He should really come up with a stand up show in the future. Haha. He talked lovely about his wife, Helena and the song itself. And for one last time, he could put on his shiny jacket and sing.

There was a shocking moment at the concert. We were used to be worried about Marie during the Roxette concerts that she wouldn’t fall over, but we never had this with Per. Now we could almost get a heart attack when he fell over during En sten vid en sjö i en skog. I’m not sure there was anything on the stage that caused it, because the crew always pays so much attention to make everything nice on stage, even the small staples they usually pull out of the stage’s surface to make sure no such thing can happen. So I would say it was rather either the adrenalin or Per being exhausted after an incredibly busy last week with almost no days off. 7 gigs in 9 days, hey! Rock ’n’ roll! Fortunately, he could get up in a few seconds and go on in his Duracell bunny style during the whole remaining show. Superhero! Haha. His guitar just had to be switched to another one. I guess it got tuned out because of the falling.

Some minutes later there was a funnier moment. It was when he was licking a guitar pick to make it stick more to the finger, but he already started singing with the pick in his mouth. Too cool!

Before När alla vännerna gått hem Per thanked the crew, Live Nation, the management and the fans for their support over the past 40 years. During his talking, fans were holding up ”TACK” signs (it was the idea of long-time fan, Tina Engmann and Basia Konarzewska helped her with the physical prints to be handed out to fans with instructions when to hold up the signs). The whole band loved it. Since my tour mate, Sandra Knope and me attended all 19 concerts on tour, we wanted to make a special sign for them, so we held up our own TACK signs during the last song. The fun thing was that when we were preparing it at Hotel Tylösand, Micke Syd was coming to us, so we had to hide it and we laughed and he laughed. But once he saw all the TACK signs held up by all fans at the concert, he couldn’t hold back his tears. He brought some drumsticks to the front to hand it out to fans in the front. It was so nice of him and made many people very happy to get such a goodbye present at the last show. Micke asked one fan to hand over a TACK sign to him and he held it up on stage.

Actually, everyone got quite emotional during the last song, of course. Many fans were crying after the show, realizing the fact that this was the very last time they could see their favourite band live.

After the show, the band had a closing party at Hotel Tylösand and since it’s a tradition that fans go to Leif’s when there is any concert in Halmstad, we also went there to have a party and say goodbye to each other. The band members arrived one after another and were stopped by the fans for a small talk or a photo. Micke Syd was the coolest among them. He was walking around Leif’s quite often, went to all the groups of fans and had some talk with them. He is one most lovely person. This morning, when we had breakfast at the hotel, he came to us to say hi and while he was talking to us, a woman took pictures of him from the table next to us. When we said goobye, he stepped to the woman and asked her if she filmed him. The woman was a bit distracted and then shocked by Micke Syd’s suggestion to take a selfie together. Haha. After Micke left, the woman was crying of happiness. Amazing!

It was an incredibly professional, wonderful tour. Enjoyed every second of it. Det är över nu and it couldn’t have had a most beautiful ending. Hats off to all on and off stage! It stays a memory for life in everyone’s heart I’m sure.

Setlist

  1. Vill ha ett svar!
  2. Juni, juli, augusti
  3. Det hjärta som brinner
  4. (Hon vill ha) Puls
  5. Flickorna på TV2
  6. Vandrar i ett sommarregn
  7. (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän
  8. Det kändes inte som maj
  9. Marie i växeln (with Niklas Strömstedt as guest artist)
  10. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
  11. Tuffa tider

BAND PRESENTATION

  1. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga!
  2. Kung av sand
  3. En sten vid en sjö i en skog
  4. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
  5. Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly
  6. (Kom så ska vi) Leva livet
  7. Tylö Sun

Encore 1

  1. Billy
  2. Det är över nu
  3. Gå & fiska!

Encore 2

  1. När vi två blir en
  2. Sommartider
  3. När alla vännerna gått hem

All pics in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

GT after the show:

HELLO WE MUST BE GOING! Oj vilket emotionellt fyrverkeri det blev på Brottet i Halmstad igår. Över 10.000 pers kom o spenderade några timmar i Gyllene Tiders varma småstadsbubbla. Underbart.

Det blev en annorlunda konsert. Lite nya låtar dök upp och Nicholas von Strömstedt hjälpte oss med “Marie i växeln” (som han o jag skrev texten ihop till 1979!). Och bandet börjar låta riktigt bra nu!!!!! Tight och självklart. Lite sådär “på tå” som ett ungt popband ska göra, hahaha!

Vi skulle vilja tacka alla er som kommit och hjälpt oss att göra den här turne’n till den i särklass coolaste och bästa GT-turne’n i historien. Ni är helt fantastiska som står där längst fram och bara öser ur er energi, kärlek och spontanitet. Om ni någon gång tror att “det spelar ingen roll”… så har ni fel!!! Det betyder otroligt mycket för oss! Obetalbart.

Life goes on, GT tar Blå Buss #3 tillbaka till sitt pojkrum med en termos och småkakor tätt intill. Kanske hälsar vi på Henry i hans tvåa på Nyhem, vem vet? Han behöver verkligen en cookie!

Det har sannerligen varit en härlig gyllene resa med en sprakande start för 40 år sedan och ett ännu härligare avslut. Musiken finns kvar, vi också. Och ni med! See you around!

Gyllene Tider – GT40 – Fredrikstad – 9th August 2019 – #18

Originally, Fredrikstad would have been the closing gig on the GT40 tour, even if no one believed Gyllene Tider should end their 40-year-long career in Norway. The concert was sold out quite fast, so it had to be moved to a bigger venue and yes, that got sold out soon too. 10000 people got hold of a ticket for the show.

The gates opened at 4 pm, but most of the people queueing were there to find a seat on a bench close to the drinks and food court. There were 2 support acts and the first (they were singing their own songs) started at 18:40, the other started some minutes after the first act ended. The latter band performed covers and they sounded quite cool.

Per, as usual, talked to the audience for the first time after Juni, juli, augusti, but before that, Micke N-S came and changed his guitars and checked the prompter, because it probably didn’t show the things it should. Mr. G went out to tell MNS about it already during the song. So when he started talking he thanked the crowd for waiting for GT for so long and mentioned that Fredrikstad is actually one of their very last shows. He asked the people to sing along and dance if they find the place for that. I was in the 2nd row now and it was tight there too.

I don’t know what happened to the black and white Rickenbacker Mr. G always plays on Det hjärta som brinner, but during the song there was a very quick guitar change. MNS came up on stage and like a shot from a gun, Per took his Rickenbacker off and grabbed the other black guitar and played on. It stayed for Puls and Flickorna på TV2 too.

During Det kändes inte som maj (which rocks live big time!) MP started a bigger circle around the stage and Per joined in the fun. He was following MP until he got back to his own position on the left.

Micke Syd’s intro talking to Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! was entertaining again and hey, even if he got the lyrics sticked on the stage now, he didn’t have to look at it. By the end of the tour he seems to have learnt the lyrics. Well done! When we met, I asked him about the lyrics in Trondheim, why he didn’t have them sticked on the stage floor. He said it was simply forgotten to be taken inside from the truck. Haha. The finger smacking and swinging worked well on this crowd too.

When Per stopped to talk before Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly, he couldn’t start talking right ahead, because the audience started on with the ojojoj ojojojoj ojojojojojojoj. It was so loud and the band was happy to hear the crowd reaction. It happened several times during the concert. Per said they leave the 80’s and go on with the 70’s. And play some disco. Fast reaction to that was a short disco drum session by Micke Syd. It was funny and a nice little addition.

I always think the band reached their highest level of performing at the actual show I attend, but they can always top it. And that with hardly any days off between the gigs during the past few days. They are a.m.a.z.i.n.g., all them 7 wonderful people!

The setlist was exactly the same as in Trondheim: 21 songs, only 1 encore. At the end of the gig Anders Roos took a picture of the 5 guys with their backs towards the audience. That’s what they skipped in Ullevi.

Fredrikstad was a fab show, but I’m happy that it wasn’t the last stop on tour in the end. Gosh! It was anyway the second to last show! Sista chansen, sista dansen tonight in Halmstad! There are still a few tickets left, so get yourself one if you haven’t decided yet about coming to the concert.

Setlist

1. Skicka ett vykort, älskling
2. Juni, juli, augusti
3. Det hjärta som brinner
4. (Hon vill ha) Puls
5. Flickorna på TV2
6. Vandrar i ett sommarregn
7. (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän
8. Det kändes inte som maj
9. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
10. Tuffa tider

BAND PRESENTATION

11. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga!
12. Kung av sand
13. En sten vid en sjö i en skog
14. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
15. Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly
16. (Kom så ska vi) Leva livet

Encore

17. Det är över nu
18. Gå & fiska!
19. När vi två blir en
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem

All pics in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

GT after the show:

FREDRIKSTAD!! Wow! Vilken fantastiskt ynnest att få spela i er vackra stad och få den här responsen. Tack alla 10000+ som dök upp igår och sjöng och dansade med oss. Vilken kväll det blev, sköna spontana inpass från bandet blandat med enorm allsång från alla er! Svårt att toppa!!! Nu är vi tillbaka på hemmaplan i Halmstad och ska försöka avsluta GT40-turne’n med bravur ikväll på Brottet. Kommer att bli grymt! See ya there! /Love from GT

Gyllene Tider – GT40 – Trondheim – 8th August 2019 – #17

After 1 day off, the band travelled to Norway, actually almost to the end of the world, Trondheim. The weather forecast said it would be raining all day, so we got prepared for a poncho party, but fortunately, the forecast changed every hour and in the end, believe it or not, the rain started falling only half an hour after the gig ended. Yay!

When we got to the venue, no one was waiting in the line. That’s Norwegian style, we expected it to be like this. We went to drink something at a restaurant nearby and I asked the owner how big Gyllene Tider in Norway is, because I knew that Sommartider is a big hit in the country, but other than that I had no clue. I also know that the last time GT played live in Norway was in the beginning of the 80’s. The owner said they are very big, mainly their 80’s hits. Good! After 5 pm people started queueing and from the line we could see the band arriving at 17:45. The gates opened at 6 pm and we thought it would be the easiest entrance ever. Haha. It wasn’t. We started walking in, but then the security guys inside showed us a long long way uphill that we should go further there, because the closer way was for the VIP and fast track people only. Gosh… Then I realized that there was another entrance and people were let in through that too. That was a fun running race for some of us uphill then downhill. But we could still reach the best spots in the front.

This time there was a Norwegian support act, a band from Trondheim, The Kids. There are some similarities between them and GT. E.g. they were founded 40 years ago, they broke up, but had a comeback in 1996, there were 5 guys and 2 girls on stage etc. BUT… they were a bit surreal. The singer changed his stage outfit for each song, so once we could see him as an Indian, then as a cowboy, etc.There was one point when a ”nurse” – a guy in a weird mask came up on stage and tried to give an injection to all members of the band. Then I started thinking: ”what the hell is that I’m seeing…?” Oh well. At least they were entertaining. The singer anyway looked like a Steven Tyler wannabe. Some of his actions / moves on stage made me think, if only Per would do that or this, but… that will never happen. Haha. Oh and they played for an hour!

After they left the stage, the crew had 1 hour to remove The Kids’ instruments and stage elements and set up GT’s stuff. The stage was very small and there were no 5 screens in the background, but 1 bigger this time. I was wondering how the projection would look on that setting. They could manage it quite well. The GT40 sign with the star in the middle they projected as if there were 5 separate screens, but during the songs most of the projections were complete big pictures in the background, not divided into 5 parts. There were 2 screens on the sides as well, just like in other venues before, for showing those in the back what’s happening on stage and also showing the audience every now and then.

Per talked in Swedish of course. It’s still so cool that Norwegians and Swedes can understand each other’s languages so well that they can speak their own and the other will always know what they are talking about. After Juni, juli, augusti Mr. G greeted the crowd and told this is GT’s last verse, the tour is getting towards its end. He asked the people to sing along if they knew the lyrics.

The audience was loud, but not really a singing-along crowd. They shouted and cheered for the guys and girls and the songs. They were very good at that.

A certain songwriter wrote 2 complicated lines in Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång. It’s not the first time the Jumbo-taxi lines are either mixed or changed to some nanana singing. Last nite it was the latter and it was great to see that PG got over this so easily. Always lovely to experience such differences. Those 2 lines sounded cool this way too.

It was a bit cold and Per was constantly sipping from his ginger tea while on stage. I think he was even chewing on ginger. You know, some chew on guitar picks, some on ginger. But it was so strong he started coughing. And his voice slipped a bit on Tuffa tider. It felt that it was because of the cold. I do hope that he drinks enough ginger tea anyway, not that he gets a cold or influenza again at the end of the tour. Stay strong, Per and keep your voice safe! 2(+1) gigs to go! 😉

The band presentation was a bit different vs. all the gigs before. Micke Syd was so excited to be in the front in Trondheim that he forgot to introduce Per. Haha. But his intro talking to Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! was fun and I was impressed by the fact that he didn’t have the lyrics sticked on the stage floor now, but he sang the song without any mistake. Norway do you good. Yeah! The finger smacking and swinging worked well on parts of the crowd. Looked good.

The lighting and projection timings were not on top last night. The band members remained dark quite some times and the projection for example for Puls was still on while it was already Flickorna på TV2 playing. It wasn’t disturbing though. Those who saw the show for the first time didn’t even realize there was anything ”wrong”.

The setlist was the 21-song version, but this time there was only 1 encore. After the gang came back on stage Per asked the audience if they wanted more, if they weren’t freezing, if there were no mosquitoes. The latest mosquito gigs remained memorable for him for sure. Haha.

It was all worth the travelling to this show on one hand because of seeing the differences vs. the other concerts on tour so far, on the other hand seeing that the band gets better and better at each show. They were so much in harmony with each other and their playing was top!

Åsa was there and filmed many songs, but she couldn’t get to the front too easily because there was only a tiny space between the stage and the front row.

One more gig in Norway, the second to last show on tour will happen in Fredrikstad today. Time flies when you’re having fun!

Setlist

1. Skicka ett vykort, älskling
2. Juni, juli, augusti
3. Det hjärta som brinner
4. (Hon vill ha) Puls
5. Flickorna på TV2
6. Vandrar i ett sommarregn
7. (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän
8. Det kändes inte som maj
9. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
10. Tuffa tider

BAND PRESENTATION

11. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga!
12. Kung av sand
13. En sten vid en sjö i en skog
14. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
15. Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly
16. (Kom så ska vi) Leva livet

Encore

17. Det är över nu
18. Gå & fiska!
19. När vi två blir en
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem

All pics in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

GT after the show:

TRONDHEIM. Hurra vad kul vi hade igår kväll i Sverresborg. Skönsjungande, högljudd och märkbart lycklig publik + supertajt band = Pent!
Gyllene Tider har inte spelat i Norge sen början av 80-talet och det är faktiskt helt fantastiskt att låtarna fortfarande lever kvar. Tack alla.
Ikväll blir det åka av i Fredriksstad. Be there or be square.

Gyllene Tider – GT40 – Ronneby – 6th August 2019 – #16

I remember when on 19th July a few other fans and me were already at the venue in Ronneby and had been waiting for the GT show that night. At a moment I checked my e-mails and couldn’t believe my eyes. The concert got delayed because of Per’s sickness. I read up the mail and everyone thought I was joking, because no one else got a mail about it. It’s because I got the press release from Live Nation and it wasn’t the ticket selling partner yet that communicated. Then step by step the event pages on Facebook got new dates for Ronneby and Kalmar and then came another e-mail about what you could do with your tickets in case the new dates don’t fit your schedule. We all couldn’t leave Brunnsparken, we had no other plan for the day. Then the security supervisor came (our favourite, Atli from Show Security Sweden) and said he assumed we heard the sad news already. We told him we heard about it, just couldn’t decide on what to do. Most fans from those being there started rescheduling their travelling plans, calling their bosses, checking flights and accommodation etc. Tough life of a fan.

The good thing is that the gig wasn’t cancelled, only delayed. Newspapers wrote back then that 11800 people bought tickets for the show. Again, it was a Friday and the new date was a Tuesday night, so I don’t know how much it affected the number of attendants. Actually, no matter how many people went there, they were loud and had much fun at the show.

After Juni, juli, augusti Per greeted the crowd and thanked for waiting for them. He also mentioned that this is the last week of the tour and it’s incredible fun to perform in Ronneby. Well, you could see on the band members’ faces that they also feel the tour is coming to its end. The band was tight last night again, all smiles, full of energy even if there was no day off after Kalmar. They were kidding each other all the time and interacted with the crowd too.

The setlist was the same as in Eskilstuna, which means 21 songs. I felt it was coming, just still hoped for 23. Let’s see what happens next time.

The backdrop had something new in Ronneby too. During the Pink Panther Theme intro it turned into pink for some seconds, having the GT40 sign on it. Maybe for the last show the Pink Panther himself will also appear for some seconds. Haha. The red background with the guys’ portrait drawings appeared for a longer time and disappeared only when they started playing Det är över nu.

Det kändes inte som maj turned out to be even more fun as usual, because first Micke Syd played the intro further than he should have, to give Per some more time before he sings (or just for fun). Then later in the song, Per was looking at the prompter for the lyrics, but he shook his head towards Micke N-S showing that something was not OK and didn’t sing until a while. We were wondering whether there was nothing visible on the prompter or wrong lyrics appeared. Whatever. This song rulez!

Dea was on home turf (Blekinge) and both Per and Micke Syd mentioned it when they talked to the crowd. Per at Dea’s intro, Micke Syd when he put his shiny jacket on before Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! Micke Syd came up with Skansen and the Eurovision Song Contest (Melodifestivalen) too, since Dea is a well-known backup singer there. Harplinge Ringo didn’t keep any secrets. He also mentioned that Per slept on the bus and he was talking in his sleep.

The finger smacking and swinging on Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! worked the best in Ronneby so far. It must have looked great from the stage, because Micke was impressed and told it several times into the mic. Meanwhile, Per sprayed himself with the mosquito repellent again, because there were tons of mosquitoes in Ronneby too.

När vi två blir en – I love it! Each and every time they start performing this song, the crowd reaction is amazing. Everyone expects Sommartider and then suddenly they realize NVTBE is also a song that the guys can’t skip on the setlist.

Åsa was back and she filmed a lot in Ronneby. Helena, Micke’s wife was there too and when they bumped into each other during Sommartider, they both danced with a huge smile on their faces. It was cool.

When Micke Syd came to the front on När alla vännerna gått hem, he brought some drumsticks (with the LOVE sign on them) to the front and he gave them away to fans. He tried to pick those, who were there at several concerts and haven’t received one from him yet. Very lovely idea. Thank you!

All in all, it was yet another ”one of the best” shows. Now GT leave Sweden for Norway for 2 gigs. Next stop is Trondheim.

Setlist

  1. Skicka ett vykort, älskling
  2. Juni, juli, augusti
  3. Det hjärta som brinner
  4. (Hon vill ha) Puls
  5. Flickorna på TV2
  6. Vandrar i ett sommarregn
  7. (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän
  8. Det kändes inte som maj
  9. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
  10. Tuffa tider

BAND PRESENTATION

  1. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga!
  2. Kung av sand
  3. En sten vid en sjö i en skog
  4. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
  5. Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly
  6. (Kom så ska vi) Leva livet

Encore 1

  1. Det är över nu
  2. Gå & fiska!

Encore 2

  1. När vi två blir en
  2. Sommartider
  3. När alla vännerna gått hem

All pics in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

GT after the show:

RONNEBY YEA! Grazie för en fabulöst trevlig tisdagskväll i Ronneby. Detta var ett av de två giggen vi var tvungna att ställa in för ngn vecka sedan men nu kom vi tillbaka pigga och krya och, oh boy, vilket gensvar vi fick från er alla! Supertack. Härligt avslappnad konsert med många tokerier och skön allsång inkl spontandans. Ledigt idag. Rösterna behöver vila. Imorgon blir det Norge. See you around, folks! /GT

Gyllene Tider – GT40 – Kalmar – 5th August 2019 – #15

Kalmar was one of the 2 gigs that had been delayed due to Per’s sickness at the end of July. According to the articles published after the delay was announced, there were almost 15000 people who bought ticket for the Kalmar gig. The original date was a Saturday, the new date became a Monday, so I was wondering if this causes any changes in the number of attendants. It didn’t feel like it, but I don’t yet know the exact number of people in the audience. I just know that there were fans who had tickets for the delayed gigs, but sadly had to skip the new dates, because they didn’t fit in their schedule anymore. (Update on 7th August: 10100 people were in the crowd. So it did matter for those who had tickets for the original date.)

After Ullevi, the cool black and yellow GT logo flags were used in Kalmar too, at the entrance. They are so nice! It would be something cool to include in the merchandise, since many of the fans wanted to bring them home already from Ullevi, but by the time the concert ended, the flags were taken off …  Maybe next time.

After we entered the venue I saw there were mics on the 2 sides of the stage and there were many cameras set to record, so we could be sure they were to film this concert too. And when it’s filmed, it should contain the same setlist as Gothenburg, so that mixing the materials is easier. The setlist stayed the same as in Göteborg. May I ask to film all concerts from now on? Then we would have the 23-songs-long setlist again and again. Tack!

The energy level was high in Kalmar, both on and off stage. The band was very tight, the sound was fab, the crowd was loud. The security people also sang along and danced. Awesome night it was! I must say Kalmar was one of the best shows on tour. Now it’s hard to rank, but I would say it’s among the Top5-Top6 gigs. So, just another concert that was worth to be recorded.

Per didn’t refer much to the fact that it was a delayed gig. He just said thanks for waiting for them when he first talked to the crowd after Juni, juli, augusti.

I remember in Eskilstuna there were a lot of mosquitoes. Well, in Kalmar there were even more! Once PG even mentioned he has a mosquito in his tee. I didn’t know that mosquitoes like ginger. Haha. Another funny moment was when Per sprayed himself with mosquito repellent during Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! Before the song started, while Micke Syd had his intro talking, Per fixed his hair in the ”mirror” of the ukulele’s backside. Micke N-S must have polished it properly if it was so shiny. Haha.

Anyway, on the original Kalmar date (20th July) Micke Syd and his wife, Helena celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary. Too bad the concert was delayed, because I’m quite sure we would have experienced something special before or during or after Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! Still there are a few things that made it special. First of all, Micke Syd learned the lyrics. He didn’t even really look at the text in front of his feet. Well done! Another one was that when Micke asked the audience to smack their fingers to the rythm and swing along, everyone in the crowd agreed. It looked wonderful!

The setlist didn’t change, but the backdrop changed a bit. The guys and girls found a very fitting spot for the red background on which the Golden Guys’ portrait drawings appear. It was projected now before the 2nd encore and it looked so cool! No Chrissie, hur mår du?, but at least this backdrop is saved and showed again.

At the end of the concert Per threw his remaining guitar picks to the crowd and he was so much into it last night, that he even threw MP’s remaining picks that were still there on his mic stand.

No day off, next stop is Ronneby! I haven’t mentioned the crew in my GT40 articles yet, but now I just have to. They tear the stage down so fast and then build it up some hours later in another city. Ronneby is not far from Kalmar, but still. There were other cities with many kilometres between them and the crew still managed to be on time with all. So hats off to them!

Setlist

  1. Skicka ett vykort, älskling
  2. Juni, juli, augusti
  3. Det hjärta som brinner
  4. (Hon vill ha) Puls
  5. Flickorna på TV2
  6. Vandrar i ett sommarregn
  7. (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän
  8. Det kändes inte som maj
  9. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
  10. Tuffa tider

BAND PRESENTATION

  1. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga!
  2. Kung av sand
  3. En sten vid en sjö i en skog
  4. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
  5. Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly
  6. (Kom så ska vi) Leva livet
  7. Tylö Sun

Encore 1

  1. Billy
  2. Det är över nu
  3. Gå & fiska!

Encore 2

  1. När vi två blir en
  2. Sommartider
  3. När alla vännerna gått hem

All pics in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

GT after the show:

KALMAR! Badabam! Måndagsspelningar kan vara rätt trötta och lätt avslagna MEN INTE SÅ I KALMAR igår kväll! Vilken fantastisk publik! Vilken respons! Bandet kändes grymt tight och bra, perfekta tempon och summa summarum = ett av det bästa giggen så här långt in i GT40-turne’n.
Mygg? Javisst. De smakar yummy. Hade en hel familj i min tekopp.
Tack Kalmar för att ni väntade på oss, vi var ju tvungna att ställa in för någon vecka sedan. Nu bär vi med oss ett minne för livet. /The Golden Boys + Gals