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

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

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.

Unplugged tour wanted!

Two days ago Per posted a video of Marie, Christoffer and Dea singing an acoustic version of “Stars” during the warm-up in Turku. The video went totally viral afterwards and has been shared 420 times on Facebook. It popped up several times on every Roxer’s timeline and made people go crazy and remember a wish that most of them have for a long time now: an unplugged tour.

The wishes and high hopes for an acoustic set and arrangement already came up when Roxette announced another world tour earlier this year, starting with the shows in Russia, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania. As we all know, it came differently, instead it’s (another) Greatest Hits tour in all the huge arenas around the globe.

Still, the “Stars” video which is furthermore even lo-fi and a totally unpretentious video of warming up made the hearts melt again. So, here there is our wish again: Give us an unplugged tour or at least some unplugged shows, dear Per and Marie. In case you haven’t seen the video yet (which we doubt!), you can watch it here: