photo book

Review and CONTEST – Win an “Akustiska kvällar” book signed by Per Gessle!

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The Per Gessle Unplugged photo book, Akustiska kvällar is published today, 17th October. I’ve just had the chance to hold the book in my hands and I must say I’m in love with it. It’s a quite big, 22 x 29 cm size book with that contagious smile on the front cover shining on my book shelf now.

The paper quality is perfect for such a photo book. It’s non-glossy, so you don’t need to wear gloves whenever you want to flick through it. Haha.

The book starts with Per’s foreword, telling the story of how the whole acoustic joyride began and became a 10-gig session at Hotel Tylösand and later a concert hall tour. There is a tremendous amount of beautiful photos taken by Anders Roos, who – to quote Mr. G – „was a fly on the wall during the tour and boy did he fly!” Anders’s shots show us PERfectly how it is to be on tour with Gessle.

The pics are divided into three parts: Hotel Tylösand in 2021, the autumn tour leg in 2021 and the spring tour leg in 2022. You also get the complete list of songs played on those concerts and of course, the whole band and crew are listed.

Getting down to the photos, my personal favourites are the ones taken backstage and during the rehearsals, because those are the no-access areas for us fans. When the band is on stage, but not yet dressed in their stage outfits, but everyday clothes are special too. Besides that, there are tiny little details, such as instruments, setlists, gadgets (capo, in-ear system, etc.), wifi password of one of the theatres and hey, you can even have a glimpse of THE ginger tea from above. Gosh, so many ginger pieces during so many shows! Haha.

There are of course tons of on-stage pics from the concerts taken in different venues from various angles and distances. Close-ups and photos where you can see the whole stage set. All the most memorable moments on stage are caught, e.g. Helena singing next to Per, PG hi-five with Clarence after Ljudet av ett annat hjärta, Magnus doing his thing during Tuffa tider, Christoffer playing barefoot, PG left leg stomping while playing the ukulele and the list is neverending.

The only disadvantage of the book is that there are photos in the size of two pages where the PERson in the middle doesn’t appear the way you want to see him, hiding between those two pages. Haha. Anyway, there is still a huge amount of pictures you can enjoy, e.g. pics where Per is sitting on stage alone with his guitar, in front of an empty concert hall and the photo is taken from behind or doing exercises before getting on stage or having his make-up done or … really, many-many shots.

Each of the 1000 books is signed and includes a print of one of the pics from the book in size 18 x 24 cm. There are 30 different prints circulating.

Read more about the book and where to buy it HERE.

C-O-N-T-E-S-T!

And now… let’s get down to the contest! Here is your chance to win one of the 2 books we have received! Both books are signed by Per and include a surprise print (18 x 24 cm)!

In order to participate, answer the following questions correctly:

  1. How many Per Gessle Unplugged concerts were there between July 2021 and May 2022, including the Hotel Tylösand sessions? 31
  2. How many cities had more than 1 concert during the tour? Name all of them! 3: Halmstad, Örebro, Göteborg; (4 if Tylösand is also counted -> both answers were accepted)
  3. Which was the opening song on each setlist on the PG Unplugged tour? Kung av sand
  4. How many band members stayed on stage for Ljudet av ett annat hjärta and who were they? 2: Per Gessle and Clarence Öfwerman

You can find the answers to all questions on RoxBlog.

Send an e-mail with your name, address and the correct answers to the questions to roxblog.contest@gmail.com until 23:59 CET, 24th October 2022. The 2 lucky winners will be announced on 25th October 2022. Good luck!

UPDATE on 25th October: the two winners have been picked and informed via email about their winning. Thanx, everyone, for taking part! The winners are Marcello Fioravanti from Italy and Dawn Campbell from Canada! Congrats!

Contest terms and conditions:
– In order to participate, you have to send an e-mail to roxblog.contest@gmail.com with name, address and correct answers to the 4 questions. We will consider all e-mails we receive until 23:59 CET on 24th October 2022.
– 2 winners will be picked randomly among those who have participated and sent the correct answers.
– You can only participate once. Any attempt to participate twice or more times will lead to your disqualification.
– Prizes won’t be paid out in cash. Prizes will be sent by registered mail only once.
– The winners will be announced on this website, on our Facebook page and will also be notified per e-mail. You’ll be required to answer the e-mail confirming your address.
– RoxetteBlog will not enter into any correspondence regarding the result of the contest and is not liable for any damages, loss or expenses that may result in connection to the prizes.
– By taking part in the contest, personal data (first name, surname, e-mail address and address) will be collected. These data are needed in order to run the contest, particularly in order to match participation applications to their entries as well as to identify and notify the winners. This method of processing data is therefore required pursuant to Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit b of the GDPR to fulfil contractual obligations. The personal data collected will be processed and used by RoxetteBlog only to the extent that is required in order to run the contest. The personal data will be stored for the duration of the contest and – in order to process any claims relating to winnings and damages – for a maximum of 6 months afterwards and they will then be deleted. By participating, you agree to all above mentioned and your name being published on this website, as well as on our social media channels in case you win.

Thanks a lot for the beautiful pics & book & support, Anders Roos!

Stills are from Tres Hombres Art’s instavideo.

Per Gessle – Akustiska kvällar – photo book from the unplugged tour

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It’s been a while since we could flick through a new tour photo book, but now we will have the chance again! The Per Gessle Unplugged adventure started in summer 2021 when Per decided to do 2 shows at Hotel Tylösand. Those 2 planned gigs became 10 in the end and that unplugged session in Solgården turned into a concert hall and theatre tour in autumn 2021. Due to several changes in the live show restriction rules because of Covid, the tour lasted until May 2022 and so it became 31 acoustic evenings altogether.

Photographer Anders Roos joined Per and the gang on many occasions and took thousands of pictures on and off stage, behind the scenes, before and after the shows, during rehearsals and make-up fixing. A couple of photos we could already see on Per’s official social media sites and I think many of us kept their fingers crossed we would get more of them in the form of a book.

Our prayers were in good hands and now a photo book is out! The first selling point is Hotel Tylösand – where it all started. There you can already buy the book in case you are around. The official publishing date is 17th October when the book will be available at Bengans and some more Swedish book stores. You can pre-order the book on Bengans’s website – they also deliver to many countries outside Sweden.

Mr. G took his time the other day and signed all 1000 copies, so either you buy the book at Hotel Tylösand or at Bengans, you’ll get a signed photo book.

Per about his “signing session”:

It’s a pleasure and I’m so happy that I have a really short name!

Besides Mr. G’s artistic signature on the front cover, you’ll read a foreword by Per and you’ll find a surprise inside the book. Each copy includes a print of one of the pics from the book in size 18 cm x 24 cm. There are 30 different prints circulating.

Per says:

Fate will decide what’s coming with your book!

Secure your first Xmas present already now and buy your copy at Hotel Tylösand or pre-order it at Bengans!

It’s a beautiful memory for those who were fortunate to be there at any of the shows and also an amazing item in the collection for those who listened to the unplugged live album or saw the SVT film and want to have the images in print too.

 

 

Stills are from the videos shared on Per’s and Tres Hombres Art’s sites: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5.

Per Gessle’s Roxette – Quotes + pics around Europe in 2018

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When the Per Gessle’s Roxette tour ended in 2018, I wrote this as a closing thought in my last concert review: ”Now fingers crossed for a fat tour photo book full of beautiful pictures, a live CD and a DVD! AND an announcement of any PG-related tour in the not too far future! GT40, anyone?” Oh well… except for a live CD everything else is there to enjoy. Haha.

Per Gessle’s Roxette – Quotes + pics around Europe in 2018 is a photo book consisting of 144 pages which also includes the whole last show of the tour (in Gothenburg, Sweden) on DVD. Together with Anders Roos’ amazing pictures you’ll find interviews with Per and all band members. The edition is limited to 1000 copies, all of them signed by Per Gessle. The book comes in the size of an 7” inch single, 17 x 17 cm. Each book also holds a piece of the printing press plate which makes every book unique.

The book looks beautiful already on the outside. I like the color choice of it, as well as the Per photo appearing on the cover and hey, there is Mr. G’s signature too. It’s actually a box and inside you will find the book. The book’s binding is a bit strange. I’m not a pro in book binding, so I don’t know how this type of bindery is called, but it’s used creatively, the way Per Gessle’s Roxette is printed on it. On the cover of the book you can see another wonderful Per Gessle shot and on the back cover you can see the number of your limited edition copy. Your number / 1000. Don’t be surprised if you bump into an edition that has XXX/1000 written on the back. Some extra copies were printed above the 1000 limited edition for reviewers, give-aways to friends, etc. All those are marked by XXX/1000. The rest is divided among several resellers. So from the official resellers you will get a book with a number / 1000 upon order.

When I first got to know about what would be included in this limited edition goodie, I thought I might have misunderstood something. A piece of the printing press plate. I thought there would be a print-out pic, similarly to the RoXXXette On The Road’s Roxers edition, but it turned out I read it right. It’s indeed a piece of the printing press plate. Nice addition! It’s glued inside, under the cover. Be very careful when you open the book, because this part is sticked together with a velcro fastener. The DVD is in the back of the book and there you also have to be careful when opening it, because the same type of velcro fastener is used on the inside of the back cover too.

As the title says, the book contains quotes. Sven Lindström asked Per and all band members and they shared their thoughts on the tour, the preparations, song choices, the creative process and they also talked about how they had got asked by Per to join him on tour. This is first of all a photo book, so of course there are many pictures of Per and all band members, the crew, taken backstage, at the rehearsals, on stage, in town, in hotel lobbies, on the bus and other strange places. Anders Roos obviously had an all access pass, so he could follow the guys and girls anywhere. This is how we can now see fab photos of Per and Co. in places where we would otherwise never see them. 144 pages make the book thick, but one can flick through very quickly. I would happily flick through at least another 144 pages full of such great pics.

Do you remember? The first song on the setlist was The Look! When the DVD starts and I hear the intro, I suddenly want to be there again, in the front row and listening to those magical Roxette hits live. The DVD contains the complete last show (16th November 2018, Gothenburg). Complete gig is not really true though, because the talking parts are not in there, at least most of them. No band presentation either. It’s all focusing on the songs themselves.

I remember several concerts where Anders Roos was present, taking pictures and I saw him fixing cameras here and there and everywhere. Now one can check out all camera angles on the DVD. Cool thing! The whole vibe of the shot material helps to relive our memories. There are far-away recordings, close-ups, moves that turn into slow mo, as well as shaking camera during uptempo songs while Per is doing his trademark left leg stomping. Lovely to see the interactions between the band members and Per and how they all pay attention to each other. Hopefully, one day we can see them all again on tour with Mr. G.

A trailer is available for the DVD HERE!

The book is officially out on 1st July, but you can already pre-order it e.g. HERE or at Ginza or Bengans. Don’t wait until it’s all sold out!

CONTEST: Per Gessle – En vacker bok

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Anders Roos, photographer and publisher of Per Gessle’s tour photo book, En vacker bok offered us 3 copies for a contest. All 3 copies are signed by Mr. G! So here is your great chance to get hold of it if you don’t have it yet!

In order to participate, answer the following questions correctly:

  1. How many gigs were there on the En vacker kväll tour (except for the pre-premiere show at Leif’s Lounge)? – 21
  2. How many different opening songs did the tour setlists have and which of them was played as an opening song most often? – 2, På promenad genom stan
  3. In which town was the front cover photo of the book taken? – Grebbestad
  4. Each En vacker bok contains a print-out photo. How many different print-out pictures exist? – 4

Send an e-mail with your name, address and the correct answers to the questions to rxbcontests@gmail.com until 23:59 CET, 30th December 2017. The lucky winners will be announced shortly after. Answers to all questions can be found on RoxetteBlog. 😉 Good luck!

Contest terms and conditions:
– In order to participate, you have to send an e-mail to rxbcontests@gmail.com with name, address and correct answers to the 4 questions. We will consider all e-mails we receive until 23:59 CET on 30th December 2017.
– 3 winners will be picked randomly among those who have participated and sent the correct answers.
– You can only participate once, any attempt to participate twice or more times will lead to your disqualification.
– Prizes won’t be paid out in cash. Prizes will be sent by registered mail only once.
– Winners will be announced on this website, on our Facebook page and will also be notified per e-mail. You’ll be required to answer the e-mail confirming your address.
– RoxetteBlog.com will not enter into any correspondence regarding the result of the contest and is not liable for any damages, loss or expenses that may result in connection to the prizes.
– All submitted data will only be used for the purpose of the contest and in case you are among the lucky winners, to send you the prize.

Update on 1st January 2018: The 3 winners are: Guy Nir, Ilya Volkov and Andreas Christodoulou. They were notified via e-mail as well.

Per Gessle – En vacker bok – the tour photo book

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It seems there won’t be any tour without an official tour photo book being published after. And I love this fact! When Per Gessle’s En vacker kväll tour started we could already see photographer Anders Roos being around and I met him at several concerts, so it was quite obvious there would be hundreds of thousands of photos taken and I was already hoping for a fat photo book. Why I love when Anders is in charge of taking pictures is because, I think I already mentioned it in my RoXXXette On The Road review, is that he sees with the fans’ eyes. I mean Per and Co. appear in the pictures exactly how we see them. Anders grabs the perfect moments and provides all of us with an everlasting memory of a beloved tour.

The book comes in soft cover with folded tabs and it has 1 print-out picture inside, between the cover and the first page. There are 4 different print-outs existing. The book consists of 160 unnumbered pages and includes tons of cool shots. The only text appearing in the book is Per’s Gessleish intro in Swedish. He writes about how it all started with the rehearsals, about the band members and Anders Roos, as well as the lovely memory of the tour. The intro was written in November 2017.

The cover photo is an action pic taken in Grebbestad. Even if it was more of a ”ballads tour”, which is well reflected on the live CD, you’ll see quite some action pics in the book. I was a bit sad that Tittar på dej när du dansar didn’t make it many times on the setlist, but at least the dancing PG pic from the soundcheck in Dalhalla made it into the book. Woohoo!

My favourite pics in the book are especially the ones taken from above the stage and of course the backstage or travelling shots. Places where a fan can never really get access to. There is a good ratio of Mr. G photos, band members, crew, crowd, stage set, gear and also Good Harvest and Lars Winnerbäck were caught by Anders’ camera.

There is no PG book without PG drawings. As he says, those popping up in the book were drawn when it was raining. Among some new art and tussilagos, the ”fake guitarist in an 80’s band” drawing pops up here too.

A funny part of the book is a drawing of Per with a guide by make-up artist Åsa Elmgren of how to tape Mr. G’s in-ear system on the man himself. The one who has to do it doesn’t have an easy job, I must say. Haha.

How the photos and drawings appear in the book is designed by Pär Wickholm.

I must mention the paper quality of the book as well. The pages are not as shiny as in the RoXXXette On The Road or the Att vara Per Gessle books, so you don’t really need to wear gloves to turn the pages. Thank God! Haha.

All in all, just like the live CD, the tour photo book is also a great souvenir from this summer for all who were there at any of the gigs and there is also a lot to see for those who didn’t have the chance to attend the EVK tour.

If you pre-ordered or had the chance to go to NK in Stockholm today, you could get your copy signed. If not, then you can still order the book at Bengans (they still offer signed copies) or Bokus (signed copies are sold out there) or CDON (no signed copies there).