STOCKHOLM - “Mazarin’s” success has made Per want even more. “Of course there will be more solo albums,” says Per to Aftonbladet. Naturally there isn’t yet a schedule set for a follow-up album, but Per seems very confident about working on such a projects.

  “In the end it depends on the song material. When there’s a day that I feel that I have had the time and the opportunity to make an album that feels right… that’s when there will be an album,” explains Per.

  As The Daily Roxette has reported, Per’s solo album “Mazarin” has been a huge success in Sweden. According to Aftonbladet, the album has now sold nearly 200,000 copies. The lead single “Här kommer alla känslorna” has sold over 15,000 copies.

  When summer ends, a discussion awaits with the other members of Gyllene Tider to discuss possible plans for next summer’s 25th anniversary.

  “We have to check and see if we can do something relevant,” says Per, “and not just a reunion tour. We don’t want to grow moss onstage.”

• Aftonbladet article (in Swedish)

HALMSTAD (UPDATED) - The tour premiere went well according to Swedish TV4. The announcer called the concert a “greatest solo hits” performance. 13,000 attended and the place was crowded according to Aftonbladet. The set list:




Kung av sand

Vilket håll du än går

Om du bara vill

Gungar

Inte tillsammans, inte isär

(Hon vill ha) Puls

Speedo

På promenad genom stan

Timmar av iver

Segla på ett moln

Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång

Jag tror du bär på en stor hemlighet

Småstad - with MP Persson as a guest guitarist

Smakar på ett regn

Tända en sticka till

Här kommer alla känslorna

Födelsedag

Spegelboll

Juni, juli, augusti

Gå & fiska!



Extras:

Regn

Tycker om när du tar på mej

Det är över nu

Sommartider



Extra extras:



Billy



 Aftonbladet gives the concert “five plus” (world class). Hallandsposten calls the success “monumental”. According to tabloid Expressen Marie Fredriksson was there and she loved the concert. Expressen also gives it four “stingers”.

  After “Här kommer alla känslorna” Per exclaims “Amazing, we should have filmed this!” Well, it isn’t too late. Expressen says “shoot the whole shebang”. Hallands nyheter claims the new world record for whistling out of tune was set during “Känslorna”.

“Give the audience 15 plus!!” Per says to Aftonbladet.

 

• Aftonbladet’s review (In Swedish)
• Hallandsposten (In Swedish)
• Expressen - Marie (In Swedish)
• Expressen’s review (In Swedish)
• Aftonbladet article (In Swedish)

STOCKHOLM - According to today’s Aftonbladet, Per Gessle is pepped up for the sold out tour premiere in Halmstad tonight. Pepped up, but nervous. “Before every gig I’m really nervous, but in a positive way,” Per says to Aftonbladet, during a break in rehearsals.

  There’s a “Mazarin” hysteria in Sweden right now, the album is closing in on 170,000 copies sold - tripple platinum soon. “People are touched in a way I never could have imagined,” says Per. People cry, people write letters, people hug him in the streets.

  One of Per’s biggest interests is F1, and that is very suitable, the last few months have been fast like an explosion. Even a scarred veteran like Per has problems to grasp it. “It’s been totally unbelievable.”

  The tour premiere has been sold out for a month, tonight Per plays before 12,000 people, including friends, families, VIP and sponsors. “It’s gonna be a blast! Here come all the friends all at once,” Per says with a smile.

His album “Mazarin” is still #1 in Sweden, and the single “Här kommer alla känslorna” is #1 since three weeks now. And besides tonight, the concerts in Helsingborg and Gothenburg are sold out.

  They surely won’t be the last.

“It feels like everyone likes this, like everyone wants to see it. It’s not like I’m going uphill, really,” Per Gessle says.

  After all the success he’s had with Gyllene Tider and Roxette Per is used to the fans’ reactions.

  He thought.

  Then came “Mazarin”…

• Aftonbladet’s article (In Swedish)

Read more…

STOCKHOLM - Some weeks ago we reported that the tickets for Per Gessle’s tour premiere concert in Halmstad were sold out just after a few hours they had gone on sale. Some days later Helsingborg got also the “sold out” status. Today EMA Telstar’s site announces that extra tickets have been released for the concerts in these two towns. They can be bought via TicNet or regular sales channels.

• EMA
• TicNet/BiljettDirekt

STOCKHOLM - Swedish tabloid Expressen reports about Swedish summer tours. As we very well know, Per Gessle’s “Mazarin” tour has been a huge success. Many of the concerts have been sold out and according to Expressen, the tour will profit millions of Swedish crowns. “It feels unbelievably cool that the sun is shining on me again,” says Per.

  Not everyone is as happy as Per. A classic Swedish group GES - Anders Glenmark, Thomas “Orup” Eriksson and Niklas Strömstedt - released their second album earlier this year, eight years after their highly successful debut album. Their summer tour was expected to be successful as well, but everything has failed for them. Only 2,000 people appeared to their show in Lysekil, making it the record low for that arena ever and causing a loss of 340,000 SEK. The record high was in 1989, when 24,000 people attended a Badrock concert. According to Expressen the 25 concerts of GES summer tour have mostly been unprofitable and the average loss has been 250,000 SEK per concert.

• Expressen article about GES tour
• Expressen article about Gessle tour (in Swedish)
• Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt

STOCKHOLM - In today’s Aftonbladet Per says that they have plans of letting Marie join on stage to perform “På promenad genom stan”, the song she also sings on on the album. She will not be in Halmstad, which is sold out, but probably later on along the road. “I want to kick off the tour by myself,” Per says. “But you never know with Marie, she may be around in her boat and joins us,” he continues.

  After the enormous success with both the single “Här kommer alla känslorna” and the album “Mazarin” - both are still at #1 - this will be this summer’s big success tour. “It’s you saying that, I won’t say it, yet. But sure, it feels totally amazing,” Per says to Aftonbladet.

  Per also tells Aftonbladet that the situation is a bit weird, after years of having Marie with him, he’s now alone. “I’m very used to having Marie with me on stage, so I can stand around looking at the fans!” he laughs. “I’m all exposed now!”

• Aftonbladet’s article

HELSINKI - FST’s (Finland’s Swedish Television) music interview series “Popsmart” returns this summer with a very interesting interview. On August 4th, Popsmart’s Micaela Metso will have a chat with Per Gessle. The 30-minute-long show will be on TV2 at 22.10 EET. It will also be shown at the same time on FST’s digital channel and rebroadcast on the digital channel on August 6th at 19.30 EET.

  Other visitors on the series this season will be Lars Ulrich of Metallica in the first episode, followed by Per, Carola Häggkvist, Eva Dahlgren, Ulf Ekberg of Ace of Base and Ola Salo of The Ark.

• Ilta-Sanomat article (in Finnish)

STOCKHOLM - Mats Ronander will be Per’s guest and open the shows during the “Mazarin” tour through Sweden. Ronander will offer a different and special performance together with Benneth Fagerlund on the keyboards, while he will play the acoustic guitar. They will perform songs out of Ronander’s repertoire as well as songs from other well-known songwriters.


  Ronander and Fagerlund have recently been on tour in Sweden with their show “Acoustic” during April and May.

• Mats Ronander’s website (in Swedish)

BORGHOLM - Per Gessle was one of the performers invited to the “Grattis Victoria” concert on the Swedish island Öland yesterday evening. The concert was organized to celebrate Crown Princess Victoria’s 26th birthday.

  Per performed two songs from his new album: “Födelsedag” and “Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång).” Especially the first song suited the situation perfectly, as its title means “Birthday” in English. Princess Victoria and her father, King Carl XVI Gustav, seemingly enjoyed the show immensely.

  Per and his band Mazarinerna apparently performed the songs “playback”, so that the music came from a tape, but Per sang live.

  Surprisingly, Per wasn’t the only one performing songs written by him. Peter Jöback performed “Varmt igen”, a song which Jöback released on his solo album this past winter and which is also included on Per’s new album.

STOCKHOLM - As we reported some time ago, Per Gessle will perform at Swedish Crown Princess Victoria’s 25th Anniversary party on July 14th.

  The event, presented by Pernilla Månsson Colt and Ola Lindholm, is called “Grattis Victoria” (Congratulations, Victoria) and will be broadcast on SVT1 from 21.00 to 22.55 CET. Per is scheduled to appear, according to Aftonbladet, at 21.32 and 22.24 CET. International viewers will be able to view the show on SVT Europa.

  The program will have its re-run on July 19th at 15.05 CET.