Roxette on MTV Unplugged – 30th anniversary

MTV’s acclaimed music series, MTV Unplugged premiered in 1989 and it showcased top artists in the industry performing acoustic versions of their songs. Roxette was the first non-native English speaker band invited. It was a fantastic opportunity for Roxette to show their qualities as a live band to a large audience worldwide. They recorded their show live at Cirkus in Stockholm, Sweden on 9th January 1993 and it was broadcast during MTV’s Roxette Weekend on 20th and 21st February, then on Swedish TV a week later.

Per says in the Att vara Per Gessle book:

It was good for our self-confidence to do the songs acoustically. The sound on the studio versions was based almost exclusively on production technology, but it was still quite easy to strip the songs down and play them in a natural way. And that probably affected the way we approached the new record [Crash! Boom! Bang!]. We wanted to tone down some of the technical stuff and find a more organic sound.

The gang

Lead vocals: Marie Fredriksson
Acoustic guitar & lead vocals: Per Gessle
Drums, percussion & Samsonite suitcase: Pelle Alsing
Backing vocals, accordion & mandolin: Vicki Benckert
Acoustic bass: Anders Herrlin
Acoustic guitar: Jonas Isacsson
Piano & pump organ: Clarence Öfwerman
Backing vocals, percussion & glockenspiel: Staffan Öfwerman

3 songs from the set – Joyride, The Look and Dangerous – were released on Roxette’s Rarities album in 1995, but for the rest we had to wait until their 20th anniversary in 2006 when they released the entire performance on a DVD in The RoxBox / Roxette 86–06 box set.

The 53-minute-long concert – 12 tracks + 3 short interview parts – on the DVD was what anyone could watch on MTV. The 8 bonus tracks weren’t on TV, they saw the light of day only on the 2006 release.

Setlist (they played the songs in this order originally)

  1. Dangerous
  2. Hotblooded
  3. Spending My Time
  4. The Heart Shaped Sea
  5. Fingertips
  6. Cry
  7. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) (Aretha Franklin cover)
  8. Heart Of Gold (Neil Young cover)
  9. Surrender
  10. It Must Have Been Love
  11. So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star (The Byrds cover)
  12. Watercolours In The Rain
  13. Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
  14. Here Comes The Weekend
  15. The Look
  16. Perfect Day

ENCORE

  1. Listen To Your Heart
  2. Church Of Your Heart
  3. Joyride
  4. Queen Of Rain

There would have been a second encore with Things Will Never Be The Same, The Big L. and So Far Away, but unfortunately, it never happened.

DVD setlist on the RoxBox

  1. The Look
  2. Queen Of Rain
  3. Hotblooded
  4. Interview
  5. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) (Aretha Franklin cover)
  6. It Must Have Been Love
  7. Fingertips
  8. Interview
  9. Heart Of Gold (Neil Young cover)
  10. Church Of Your Heart
  11. Listen To Your Heart
  12. Interview
  13. Here Comes The Weekend
  14. Joyride
  15. So You Wanna Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star (The Byrds cover)

BONUS TRACKS

  1. Dangerous
  2. Spending My Time
  3. The Heart Shaped Sea
  4. Cry
  5. Watercolours In The Rain
  6. Surrender
  7. Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
  8. Perfect Day

Now, 30 years later, it would just be amazing to have this gem on streaming services. Both as audio and video. Maybe one day?

Stills are from the DVD.

Photo from the press conference shows Brian Diamond, MTV Europe Executive Producer and Monica Eek, Head of Entertainment at Swedish TV next to Marie and Per.

Per Gessle Unplugged Tour – #21 – 11th May 2022 – Luleå

No rest for the wicked! Without a break, the third show in a row in the North was the last gig on the Per Gessle Unplugged tour. What an amazing acoustic joyride it was, starting out in Tylösand, Halmstad with 10 summer sessions, then 9 shows in autumn 2021 and 12 in the spring of 2022!

As Per said after Skellefteå, it takes at least 30 gigs to get a band really together. For the 31st gig they were as tight as hell and enjoyed their last show very much. All we could hear from them on stage was pure perfection musically, performance-wise and regarding story-telling and jokes as well.

Up in the North the crowds seem to like the GT and Mazarin songs the most. The audience in Luleå was the most active during these tracks, but still they were quite reserved during the whole concert. Maybe because it was Wednesday. Or because on Thursday there will be the ice hockey championship final and they save their voices for that occasion. Haha.

After PG greeted the crowd, he asked if everyone had a good meal and drink. The crowd replied „yes” and Mr. G said they did too. While Christoffer here usually says he didn’t, now he said he had the dinner of his life. Per explained that Chris is vegetarian and he just ate a pork chop. Chris informed it was the first in 10 years. PG said the whole band is still in a state of schock. After that, Per mentioned that tomorrow is the hockey final, to which the crowd reacted with a loud cheering. Per said in Halmstad they only have handball and football. He thinks they have a hockey team too, but he doesn’t really know. He said „good luck, anyway, for tomorrow”.

The low-budget-tour capo-fixing joke worked fine last night too and this time when Per managed to fix it and said he finally learned it for the last show, Micke N-S was laughing so loud we could well hear it in the audience – at least in the front. Haha.

Before Det hjärta som brinner Chris said Göran Fritzon is not there. PG said it’s regrettable, but they try to play it without him. After the song, Magnus, Christoffer and Helena left the stage and Per told the Parkliv! story before Ljudet av ett annat hjärta. He again mentioned that it’s a pity that Christoffer went off stage, because he would admit that his favourite film is Parkliv! At this point Chris came back with his special moves for some seconds to confirm.

Magnus had his bass solo session during Tuffa tider, which was very cool in Luleå too. After he got back to his seat, he jumped up again, came to the front and threw his guitar pick towards the audience.

Per talked a bit longer before Min hälsning, saying that this is the last show, the 31st unplugged concert. He thanked the band for coming along and Chris and Helena thanked Per too. Mr. G then turned to the crew and thanked them for their fantastic job. He said they are also working with him since many years. PG also thanked MP for the sound and the audience for coming and gilding the evening.

The crowd stood up before the first encore and was clapping until the gang came back on stage. Before När vi två blir en, we could listen to Per’s anecdote that one can write certain songs when he is very young. He mentioned Flickorna på TV2 as an example, but he said they wouldn’t play that one. Christoffer tried to play it last night again, but after playing only for 5 seconds he said „that’s it”. Haha. Later someone shouted Flickorna på TV2 in the audience, so that the band plays it, but Per said – referring to Christoffer’s trial – „we already played that”. Haha.

After the first encore the audience stood up again and PG came back with the band for the tour’s last encore. Sommartider was a highlight as usual. The crowd didn’t stop clapping after the song and so Christoffer played a little Ljudet av ett annat hjärta (the fast version).

Before performing the last song on this tour, Per said „what a closing of this tour!” and turned to the international fans in the front row. He said „an extra special thank you goes to all our international friends here up front. Thank you for coming to the shows! We appreciate it, of course!” Isn’t he the most attentive artist on earth?

Most people stayed standing for När alla vännerna gått hem and so the very last show also ended with standing ovation!

Before the band took a bow, we showed our banners to the guys and girl and they appreciated it. TACK notes prepared by Basia Konarzewska and a big banner we created with Sandra Knospe, not wanting to miss out on the O’boy jokes during this leg of the tour. Our banner said: ”O’boy! Vilken turné! Vi tror det aldrig kan bli bättre än så här! Tusen tack!” (”O’boy! What a tour! We think it can never get better than this! Thanx a thousand!”) And it’s true! It was a very special tour and we enjoyed this setting so much it’s gonna be hard to beat. But we know Per will try it, of course! Lucky us! Haha.

Unbelievable that these 10 + 21 shows are over now, but that makes us already looking forward to a next tour that seems to be PG Roxette! Are the dates out yet?

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Min plats
6. Tycker om när du tar på mej
7. Det hjärta som brinner
8. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
9. Varmt igen
10. Tuffa tider
11. Juni, juli, augusti
12. It Must Have Been Love
13. Vilket håll du än går

Band introduction

14. Här kommer alla känslorna
15. Min hälsning

Encore 1
16. Födelsedag
17. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
18. När vi två blir en

Encore 2
19. Vid hennes sida
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per after the gig on Facebook:

THANK YOU/TACK! Först ett stort tack till den fantastiska publiken i Luleå. Vilken härlig avslutning vi fick. Otroligt roligt att få vara här i er vackra stad och att få spela för er. Vilken kväll det blev!!!

Och sen tack till alla som kommit från när och fjärran för att förgylla våra konserter. Det här har varit en av de häftigaste turnéerna jag varit med om. Ett helt nytt kapitel för mig och mitt fina lilla band och crew. Jag hoppas verkligen jag får möjligheten att göra en fortsättning på dessa akustiska spelningar, det känns som att vi kan dra detta framåt några snäpp ytterligare framöver. Time will tell!

Nu är det paus i två dagar. Nästa vecka sätter jag igång promotion-arbetet med PG ROXETTE-äventyret. Första singlen kommer ut 3 juni. Den är grym! Och videon är badabam. Jag har världens bästa jobb. Tack alla!

PS. I won’t translate this cos I know you’ve all learned Swedish by now hahaha. Impressive!

On Twitter:

Thx everyone for some beautiful weeks on the road. Superb finish in Luleå last nite. This is one of the most rewarding tours I’ve ever done. I’m so proud of this band+crew. The love+feedback I’m getting from you guys are truly unbelievable. More to come!! Badabam from PG.

And on Instagram:

Tack för en av de finaste turnéerna jag varit med om. Fantastiskt att få spela för er alla. Grym avslutning i Luleå igår. Vi syns igen. Promise.

Per Gessle Unplugged Tour – #20 – 10th May 2022 – Skellefteå

The second to last show on the Per Gessle Unplugged tour happened in Skellefteå last night. The band was in top shape and enjoyed being on stage a lot. Towards the end of the tour they have more and more fun and we like it!

Last night the GT and Mazarin songs worked the best on the audience in Skellefteå and even if they were in a reserved party mood on a Tuesday night, they were clapping along and also singing along much more than the people in Umeå. Maybe we go further up to the north tomorrow and the party animals are there in Luleå. Haha.

O’boy should start sponsoring the band, they mention the brand so many times. The kidding around was cool this time too. Mr. G’s capo adventures continued. Per said „sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, so it’s fifty-fifty”. Later he said he has to practice more for the next tour. Christoffer’s reaction was „1 hour a day at the gym”.

Christoffer already started counting in for Det hjärta som brinner when Per asked him to count, so they started laughing and Chris started counting in again. After the song, Per said it wasn’t bad, Chris added despite the fact that Göran Fritzon wasn’t there. PG said he is always missed. Then Magnus, Christoffer and Helena left the stage and Per asked Clarence if he was still there. Clarence said it’s Göran Fritzon. Mr. G reacted „Göran Fritzon is not here”. They played the most beautiful version of Ljudet av ett annat hjärta. When Per asked if anyone saw Parkliv!, several people replied „yes”, one of them said „many times”. Per was shocked. Then he mentioned that it’s a pity that Christoffer went off stage, because he would admit that his favourite film is Parkliv! At this point Chris came up the stage for a little while to confirm. When the 3 band members came back, Per welcomed them, but said „not that we missed you”. Haha. Chris said he saw Parkliv! when it came out, he was 11 back then and thought it was magical. Per said „and the truth turns out at the second to last gig…”.

Before Vilket håll du än går, PG said they thought to play something uptempo, not that Christoffer falls asleep. Haha.

The crowd stood up before the first encore and waited for the gang to come back on stage while clapping hard. And the band appeared on stage again. Per came after Chris and lifted Christoffer’s hat and put it back again.

Before När vi två blir en, Per told that one can write certain songs when he is very young. He mentioned Flickorna på TV2 as an example, but he said they wouldn’t play that one. Christoffer said he can play it, so PG told him to go ahead. Chris tried, but after two sounds he said he can’t. Argh… Christoffer!!! Practice for the last show! Haha.

Before the second encore the audience stood up again, but the clapping was less loud this time. People already started leaving the concert hall. It was Tuesday after all… Haha. Nevermind! PG & Co. came back on stage for the third time and played their last three songs. Sommartider is always hard to beat! This time Per – just like at an earlier concert – lifted up Christoffer’s hat at one point singing „hej hej”. Everyone was standing and no one sat down for the closing song, När alla vännerna gått hem either. Standing ovation guaranteed at each gig!

Last stop is Luleå on 11th May!

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Min plats
6. Tycker om när du tar på mej
7. Det hjärta som brinner
8. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
9. Varmt igen
10. Tuffa tider
11. Juni, juli, augusti
12. It Must Have Been Love
13. Vilket håll du än går

Band introduction

14. Här kommer alla känslorna
15. Min hälsning

Encore 1
16. Födelsedag
17. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
18. När vi två blir en

Encore 2
19. Vid hennes sida
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per after the gig:

SKELLÄFTEÅ! Yep. One of the best shows on this tour just happened! Amazing crowd + this band is just getting smarter + better! I’ve always said it takes at least 30 gigs to get a band REALLY together and this Skelläfteå-show was #30 since we started last summer! How I love to be right hahaha!!! Thanx for showing up, folks. Tomorrow is the last gig on this tour. Scary thought. I love being on the road. I love this band. And this crew. And you’re not that bad either!!!! See y’all tomorrow!

Per Gessle Unplugged Tour – #19 – 9th May 2022 – Umeå

Last 3 shows up in the North! Lucky northern towns got the three tour closing dates with Umeå among them.

Per and the band enjoyed the show so much you could feel it during the whole concert. They were performing fantastically and kidding each other all the time.

After the first song, Per asked the technicians – while he was pointing at his own in-ear system – to turn down the sound of the gentlemen in white next to him, aka Christoffer, because „Christoffer, your voice is so muscular that you take over my brain”. Haha.

The O’boy jokes won’t ever stop! The story-telling was much fun too and the audience liked Per’s anecdotes a lot. Anyway, the crowd was rather reserved until they realized at Min hälsning that this gig can come to an end. Haha. They liked the GT songs the most, but also Småstadsprat, Tycker om när du tar på mej and Varmt igen were among their favourites, giving a long and loud applause after those songs.

Before Det hjärta som brinner, Per asked the crowd what they think about some Gyllene Tider and they were into it. Mr. G said there is a song from 1981 that was released on Moderna Tider and it tends to be fun sometimes.

Ljudet av ett annat hjärta, the most beautiful song on this tour – I know I haven’t mentioned it yet. Haha. Sounded fabulous last night again. Juni, juli, augusti is another favourite of mine in this arrangement and it also sounded amazing in Umeå. Impossible that now it’s only 2 more times we can hear these songs live in this setting.

The bass solo by Magnus was so much fun last night – he is getting more and more creative – that Christoffer couldn’t stop laughing and so his singing in Tuffa tider was hilarious.

The crowd stood up before the first encore and was clapping hard, so the gang came back on stage. Christoffer joked that they would play for another hour, but it didn’t happen, unfortunately. Hard to convince Mr. G. Haha.

Before the second encore the audience stood up again and we didn’t have to wait for too long to have PG & Co. back on stage. Per thanked the crowd and said „we actually live on applause”. Umeå people were very happy to hear Per’s words before Vid hennes sida that it’s from the latest – he hopes, not the last – Gyllene Tider album. For Sommartider we all stood up again and enjoyed it to the full. När alla vännerna gått hem became a sitting song, but the band got their well-deserved standing ovation at the end of this show too.

Next stop is Skellefteå on 10th May!

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Min plats
6. Tycker om när du tar på mej
7. Det hjärta som brinner
8. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
9. Varmt igen
10. Tuffa tider
11. Juni, juli, augusti
12. It Must Have Been Love
13. Vilket håll du än går

Band introduction

14. Här kommer alla känslorna
15. Min hälsning

Encore 1
16. Födelsedag
17. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
18. När vi två blir en

Encore 2
19. Vid hennes sida
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per after the gig on Facebook and Twitter:

En lagom lång flygresa till Umeå och sen var vi här. Äntligen. Grymt gig, underbar publik. Skön lokal att spela i dessutom. Tre konserter på tre dagar sen är turne’n över. Oj, vad jag kommer att sakna det här. Tack alla för att ni kom och sjöng med. Syns snart igen!!!

And on Instagram:

Amazing gig in UMEÅ!!!! Thanx for coming, singing along and making this Monday very special indeed!!

Per Gessle Unplugged Tour – #18 – 6th May 2022 – Helsingborg

Helsingborg I thought would have been an obvious place when it came to the PG Unplugged tour and I remember I was surprised it didn’t make it to the dates in 2021, because all Swedish tours visited Helsingborg in the past. I was glad to see that in 2022 it got on the list. More than that, it got to the No.1 spot on my personal toplist of the concerts on this tour leg!

Anders Roos was on spot again and made THIS stage building time lapse video. Always very cool to have such an insight!

Per and the band were in top top top shape and the audience was just fantastic. Some people made me remember that Helsingborg gigs are usually fun, because the alcohol a bigger part of the audience drinks before the shows cheers the people up even more. Haha. They were clapping and singing along to almost every song! Sounded wonderful! They also applauded the gang for a longer time after each song and were clapping even during songs we usually didn’t clap before, e.g. Juni, juli, augusti. That was amazing! And it was the first crowd that made the first encore a bit different than usual.

It was also the first place where appr. 10 people came in only after the first song and while Mr. G was talking, they tried to find their seats. When Per noticed them, he greeted that little group and told Christoffer they were probably queueing for the T-shirts. Chris said or for his solo album. The whole audience laughed.

It seems that Per realized on the previous concert that he has all the right and can stand up more often than before. Not for complete songs, but to check on the crowd or just to take a break from sitting and do some little exercises. Haha.

It was also fun, when Helena, Magnus and Christoffer left the stage before Ljudet av ett annat hjärta. Per mentioned that he wrote the song on the tour bus in 1981 and they were to be in the movie, Parkliv back then. He told Parkliv is one of Christoffer’s most favourite films besides the Rambo movies. Chris now walked back on stage for a second to confirm. Haha.

The O’boy and capo jokes were not missing, as well as the usual stories. The audience was grateful not only for all the songs, but the fun story-telling too.

From the band introduction it turned out that Magnus is coming from Malmö, but he was born in Helsingborg. He got a loud cheering from the audience.

The crowd stood up before the first encore and wanted the gang back on stage asap. When they were back, Mr. G thanked for the audience’s kindness. As I mentioned, the first encore became a bit different vs. all previous concerts. A guy on the left side, who came several times to the front to take pics of Chris and Per, stood up and started dancing to När vi två blir en. Then he demonstrated that everyone should stand up and so the whole audience stood up and was listening to NVTBE standing. Per and the band loved it and that cheered them up even more.

We stayed standing before the second encore and waited for the band to perform more. For Vid hennes sida we sat down, but for Sommartider we stood up to party. Magnus stood next to Helena and they were now singing into the same mic. PG hi-fived Magnus after the song. It wasn’t the first time that Christoffer – due to the crowd’s awesome reaction to the song with a long and loud cheering – started playing Ljudet av ett annat hjärta (the fast version) after Sommartider, but this was the first time the crowd joined in with clapping and humming. It was fantastic! For När alla vännerna gått hem everyone sat down, but it was yet another gig that ended with standing ovation. Best so far!

Next stop is Umeå on 9th May after well-deserved two days off!

Setlist

1. Kung av sand
2. På promenad genom stan
3. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
4. Småstadsprat
5. Min plats
6. Tycker om när du tar på mej
7. Det hjärta som brinner
8. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
9. Varmt igen
10. Tuffa tider
11. Juni, juli, augusti
12. It Must Have Been Love
13. Vilket håll du än går

Band introduction

14. Här kommer alla känslorna
15. Min hälsning

Encore 1
16. Födelsedag
17. Listen To Your Heart (dedicated to Marie Fredriksson & Pelle Alsing)
18. När vi två blir en

Encore 2
19. Vid hennes sida
20. Sommartider
21. När alla vännerna gått hem

Photos in the article are taken by Patrícia Peres.

Per after the gig:

Wow! Six shows in seven days. Not bad at my (and Clarence’s) age! And yes, what a truly great gig it was tonight in Helsingborg!!! Super crowd + band in top shape! We had a blast. This tour is one of the greatest I’ve ever experienced!!!! So much very special feedback from people + I can play my music in a most intimate way. Love that. Two days off now then we’re going north! Look forward to every second of it. Have a fab weekend y’all!