Per Gessle and Micke Syd Andersson on TV4 about the GT farewell tour

Per and Micke Syd appeared as guests on TV4’s Nyhetsmorgon and were interviewed by Jenny Strömstedt about the upcoming Gyllene Tider farewell tour. Watch it HERE!

When Jenny welcomed the guys, she noticed that they were wearing black clothes and asked if it is kind of grieving the ending of the band. Per and Micke Syd said nah, they are tough. Haha. Micke Syd said they were Sweden’s kindest pop band in the 80’s, so they are working on becoming tough.

Jenny asked what the fans think about the fact that it’s going to be Gyllene Tider’s last tour. Per replied that there are a lot of reactions. Micke Syd started singing Här kommer alla känslorna, but Per told him it’s not a GT song. Micke Syd said but it fits. Mr. G continued answering that GT means so much to a lot of people and it’s awesome. Micke Syd joined in and said fans say for example that their songs are the soundtrack to their lives. They grew up with Gyllene Tider. Per said it’s mainly their 80’s songs that he wrote when he was 19-22 years old. Back then he wouldn’t have thought they would be on a 40th anniversary farewell tour.

Then a short part of Parkliv tour film was shown and after that Micke Syd told the story that even if they beeped out the sound when Per told the phone number of Micke Syd’s mum’s hairdresser salon in the film, fans could read Mr. G’s lips and Micke’s mum got angry by constantly getting tons of calls after that. Jenny asked what the fans wanted. Micke Syd said ”talking to me” and Per joked ”having their hair cut”. Haha. Jenny asked how it worked with the fans back then. Both Micke and Per said they all lived with their parents and it was quite strange when fans were hanging around their houses. They were stealing washed clothes for example. Per said when he turned 21 he got 3400 mails, so his mum’s house was full of them. They also mentioned they had to check in at hotels on different names,picking different names each time. But of course, over the years it got calmer and the guys in GT also grew up and could handle it better. Jenny said that everyone tells about GT that they are like everyday people and so nice. The guys agree that they are nice.

Jenny mentioned that back in the days there were 2 big bands, Gyllene Tider and Noice in Sweden. They talked about the differences and Per said Noice was a big town band, while GT was a small town band. Micke Syd said this fact also determined that they had different mentality.

Per told that the band broke up in 1985 and since then they have always been doing something together on project basis. Like in 1996 or 2004 or 2013. The guys said they have a unique sound and when they play together it’s fantastic. They can’t put their finger on what it is about that uniqueness, but it’s like them 5 become 1 then. Per said when he plays GT songs with other musicians, they don’t sound like Gyllene Tider at all. There is a special style they have in GT and it shows up only when they 5 are playing together.

Jenny asked what the roles are in the band and if Per is the boss. Per said nah, he comes always as the last. Micke Syd told things are changing, but there are of course things that haven’t changed in the band. They also talked about how they play a song from 1980 these days. Micke Syd said they become young again on the inside despite the fact that he will soon turn 60. Per’s reaction to that was ”60?! Shit!” Haha. Jenny asked if it is the same feeling to sing about love now, when they are a little bit older. Per said when you sing a song you also act. Of course, when there is a song you wrote when you were 19 and sing it when you are suddenly not 19 anymore the song becomes different, it gets another meaning.

Per said GT is loved by so many people and one can’t take that for granted. It’s awesome to look back on their 40 years history. Micke Syd said there are so many memories related to their songs one can also see that on fans’ faces on the concerts.

At the end of the interview Jenny asked the most important question, if the guys can guarantee that this will really be a last time they go on tour again. Micke Syd nodded and Per replied ”it feels like that”. Jenny said it was quite a diplomatic answer.

 

Gyllene Tider go on a farewell tour and release new album

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!

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

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”.

 

Per Gessle – En vacker kväll in Uppsala, Sweden – 18th August 2017 – #18

After a few days off, getting closer to the end of the tour, Per Gessle and his band performed in Uppsala. It started as a rainy day, but fortunately, from afternoon it was all good and it stayed fine during the concert too.

Before the support acts came up on stage, we saw Mr. G leaving the backstage area with BoJo. First we thought they just walk around in the botanic garden, discussing stuff, but later when we saw other band members and support acts leaving to the same way, we realized the bathroom area was at a different place than the wardrobes, so they all had to walk a bit. And seeing PG walking back to the backstage area with a toothbrush in his hand, accompanied by BoJo was priceless. Lovely!

We also saw Niklas Strömstedt being there at the gig again. (He saw Per in Stockholm too.) Then while Strandels were performing, Micke Syd appeared on the side and came to the front row. We could sense there was another surprise in the making. Also, at 19:34 on Facebook Micke Syd shared a pic on which he and Per appear in PG’s wardrobe backstage.

Per was again like a Duracell bunny on stage, bouncing around, stomping full of energy and the band were also on a high. Everyone! Ola was jumping more than ever, Andreas went psychedelic on the drums, Chris went wild all the time, Malin-My rocked the violin, Helena was jumping around a lot and singing like an angel on the ballads, Clarence kicked ass behind the keyboards and Magnus was bouncing over more to the left side of the stage, having party with Ola and Chris. The whole show was very energetic, everyone was in top top top shape. Not only on stage, but also off stage. The crowd (8542 people) was loud and partying hard and jumping the most during Ljudet av ett annat hjärta, but also joined a bit the waving choreography for På promenad genom stan and was singing along loudly to almost all of the songs. Småstadsprat was a loud sing-along at the end of the show. I would say at least 70% of the audience let their voice heard.

The first surprise came with Honung och guld when Per told the audience he thought he would ask a little help from Good Harvest, so they joined Per on stage. The girls already rehearsed the song in Linköping and it sounded beautiful in Uppsala. HERE you can watch my video recording of it.

During Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång, while Åsa was filming Per, Mr. G was looking straight into the cam and was dancing a bit. Hopefully, it will make it into the GessleHomeVids collection on YouTube. It was quite cool!

During The Look, Per lost his voice a bit and let the crowd sing one line or so. It was fun and he was smiling at it.

 

For the second surprise, namely MICKE SYD, we had to wait until the 2nd encore, which since Linköping comes too fast after the gang goes off stage after the first encore. They don’t let the audience wait more than a minute, Andreas comes back and starts his psychedelic intro to Sommartider. This time Per invited Micke Syd on stage and Micke came up with his tambourine. The crowd was cheering him and he shaped a heart with his hands. Lovely! He was bouncing around the stage, singing in the mics of Chris and Magnus and getting close to Andreas as well. He definitely had an adrenalin rush, it was visible. We loved it! Haha. When it was the crowd sing-along part, first Per went to the left side, Micke Syd to the right, then vice versa and they animated the audience from both sides. After they finished the song, they hugged each other and Micke Syd went off the stage. The tambourine fell out of his hand and he was too cool kicking it away. HERE you can watch my video recording of the whole song. The first and last time I recorded Sommartider in its complete, that’s for sure. Next time I rather jump along! Haha.

This gig was also photographed by Anders Roos. Let’s hope we see tons of action pictures from this show, because it was full of such moments.

Per after the concert:

UPPSALA HEJ HEJ. Grymt gig igår i den sagolika Botaniska Trädgården. Mycket folk, drygt 8500, och underbar stämning för att uttrycka det milt. Vi är ett välsignat band som får all den här responsen och kärleken från publiken varje kväll. Inget att ta för givet. Jag hoppas att vi ger åtminstone en bråkdel tillbaka. Och herregud, visst var Good Harvest magnifika i Honung & guld och plipp-plupp så dök Micke Syd upp! Och var hör han hemma om inte med en gaffatejpad tamburin pumpandes åttondelar i Sommartider. En vacker kväll. /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 (together with Good Harvest)
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 (together with Micke Syd)
19. Småstadsprat

Videos:

Juni, juli, augusti
Honung och guld
Spegelboll
Joyride
Sommartider: 1; 2;

Articles, pictures:

Uppsala Nya Tidning
24uppsala.se
Uppsala Nyheter